This plan, drawn as part of the survey conducted before the baths were demolished in 1974, shows the courtyard and five buildings (numbers 14-18 Queen Street) which comprise Historical Monument 132 in Salisbury's Cross Keys Chequer.*

The first storey of the two-storey Turkish baths at No.16 Queen Street—as rebuilt after the 1881 fire—is shown in the north east corner of the plan. However, because we do not know the actual area occupied by the baths or the layout of its rooms, we can only positively identify two specific features: the Jacobean staircase leading off Plume of Feathers Yard, and the unmistakable octagonal cooling-room with its connected hot rooms and shampooing room.

In the absence of an obvious plunge pool on the plan, we might conjecture that it must have been on the lower floor, reached by an internal staircase.

This page first published 01 January 2023