WATCH: Take a look around the refurbished Bath Abbey as Footprint construction work completed
More than three years worth of work has seen the floor completely re-laid and a new heating system created among other things
Last updated 28th Oct 2021
We've been given a look around Bath Abbey as the famous site celebrates the end of construction in its monumental Footprint Project.
Three and a half years of work has seen the Abbey floor completely re-laid and an underfloor heating system installed, which partly uses Roman technology built 2,000 years ago.
A new underground learning space has also been built using old Abbey vaults, as has a Song School using the Victorian basements of neighbouring buildings.
We paid a visit and spoke to project manager Nathan Ward about the work.
WATCH: Take a look at our video report on the work below:
"It's a momentous point in the project," he tells us.
"The construction phase started back in May 2018, so it's been the best part of three and a half years on site construction.
"We've finally reached a point where we're at the end of that construction phase, we're now just moving on to the main fit out, we've got work going on in the museum, but the Abbey is largely done..."
As well as a museum, work is ongoing to create a new Abbey shop, but the work left to do simply involves fitting it out. No more building work is required.
We asked Nathan to tell us more about the floor and heating work.
"All of the floor has been lifted, so around about 2,000 stones, almost 900 ledger stones, individually lifted and re-laid.
"The floor has been excavated down to about a metre and has been built up with new materials, so concrete, lots of insulation and obviously the underfloor heating system."
That system uses old technology created by the Romans two millennia ago.
"We obviously have the Roman Baths next door," Nathan says.
"We've got the spring water that flows through the baths, all the way down the Roman drain that was obviously built 2,000 years ago, which runs along York Street, about seven metres below the road.
"That flows through Parade Gardens and into the river.
"What we've done is we've tapped that supply of hot water. In York Street we've inserted energy blades...which have a water system inside so they extract the heat, around about 38 degrees centigrade.
"That heat in the water is extracted, it's pumped to the Abbey plant room and then the temperature is just lifted slightly before it's then pumped into the Abbey to heat the underfloor system."
Overall the project has cost around £21 million to date.
Most of that money has come from the Heritage Lottery Fund but it is also possible to donate to the work via the Abbey website here.