The Roman Bath Museum is situated in the basement of the Roman Bath pub on St Sampson's Square in the City of York, the Roman Bath has been an inn from at least 1783 and takes its name from the discovery of the first century Roman bathhouse during it's refurbishment in the 1930's. It is now known that this bathhouse was a military bathhouse and was part of the Roman fort.

Military bath-houses were usually built outside the walls of Roman forts. This saved space for more essential buildings inside the fort, removed a possible fire risk and allowed civilian use of the bathing facilities. The bath-house was a place where soldiers could relax and enjoy themselves during off-duty hours.

THE HOT AND WARM ROOMS OF THE BATH-HOUSE WERE HEATED BY THE HYPOCAUST SYSTEM
The room had a raised floor which was supported by pillars of stone or stacked tiles. Hot air from a fire in the stoke hole passed through an arch and into the under-floor space. Heat circulates around the pillars and warmed the floor 'of the building. Hollow box tiles built into the walls of the room allowed the hot air to travel up through the walls, heating them also.