Work continues apace on the lifting of a trial portion of floor at Bath Abbey. Having discovered ‘voids’ – and with concerns about subsidence – church authorities authorised the careful lifting of memorial stones and clearing of already disturbed remains – to enable repairs to be undertaken.
Human remains were first affected when the Victorian installed central heating under a raised flooring. This current excavation will see those remains carefully collected for a later burial and blessing.
The work is also a trial for renewing the Victorian heating system with an installation that utilises hot water from Bath’s thermal springs nearby.
Viewing windows in the screening around the trial works have now been covered while bones are cleared and the floor gradually lowered. It is hoped the trial will prove successful and that the whole of the internal space connected to an under-floor thermally supplied heating system.
