“I’m fairly level-headed, but I imagine some people might be quite scared by that”
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An ominous notice warning people about the "curse of Bath" has appeared on the door of a former hospital in the city centre.
Penny Fisher, a local woman who used to work at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases – fondly known as the Min – was walking along Upper Borough Walls last Wednesday (February 22) when she saw the strange sign.
She said at first she assumed it was an official notice pertaining to planning approval, as there are plans to turn the building into a hotel and spa. However, about halfway down, the notice took a bizarre turn.
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Penny said: "It was only when I happened to look a bit closer that I read all this intimidating stuff about the 'curse of Bath'. I'm fairly level-headed, but I imagine some people might be quite scared by that."
She added that when she worked at the Min between 2002 and 2017, people spoke of a "presence" in the basement. "No one wanted to be first in or the last to leave because if you were there on your own, you were aware of somebody watching you," she said.
Two Roman mosaics were discovered under the hospital in the early 20th century. One is still in the basement and the other has been mounted on a wall. However, Penny said no one had ever mentioned a "curse" to her, or anything about Roman tablets.
The old mineral hospital was built in 1738 by a philanthropic group of men and women for the benefit of the nation. Bath’s thermal waters were famed for their curative powers – even reportedly clearing up King Bladud’s skin disease before the city existed.
By the 18th century, the city’s reputation for its medicinal springs had led to its expansion and popularity. According to Bath Medical Museum, bathing at the Min did appear to ease a small group of disorders which included certain types of paralysis, muscular and joint pains and some skin diseases, which later turned out to be caused by lead toxicity.
The building is currently owned by the Singapore-based Fragrance Group, which secured planning approval in 2021 to turn it into a 160-bed luxury hotel and spa. This will mean altering the existing structure and extending the building across the former hospital staff car park.
Bath Live went through each claim in the intimidating notice and checked it against the facts. Penny confirmed that some ashes had been scattered in the garden of the hospital and that it may have been used as a burial ground for leprosy patients centuries ago.
However, we could find no mention of it being consecrated in the official consultation responses to the planning application, or any mention of this online or on old maps of the site.
It is not clear which "preservation order" the notice refers to. There are at least two tree protection plans in place, but the largest tree in the middle of the garden will be cut down to make way for the extension.
Local planning authorities may also serve a Building Preservation Notice (BPN) on the owner and occupier of a building which is not listed, but which they consider of special architectural or historic interest and is in danger of demolition or alteration in such a way as to affect its character.
Yet the Min is already Grade II*-listed and Historic England has not objected to the plans to convert it into a hotel, so this does not apply here. We could not find any evidence of a "curse of Bath". The closest we could find was one linked to Bath in North Carolina.
Finally, there are 130 "curse tablets" in Bath, which date from between the second and fourth centuries AD. However, they were found in the Sulis Minerva spring, which was discovered under the King's Bath, near Bath Abbey. They were not found underneath the Min. The text at the bottom of the notice has been directly copied and pasted from this Wikipedia page.
If you have any information about this notice, feel free to email imogen.mcguckin@reachplc.com
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