Bath and Wells

Bath Abbey has teamed up with the University Of Bath to help with its £18 million Footprint Project, which aims to preserve and extend the Abbey. Four final year students replicated a section of the Abbey’s stone floor and new underfloor heating system in laboratory conditions, and conducted a feasibility study into the efficiency of the scheme. In order to do this, the students tested the water temperature against seven different floor types of varying materials and thickness. If successfully applied, the new underfloor heating system will reduce energy costs as well as carbon emissions for the Abbey and surrounding buildings. Charles Curnock, Footprint Project Director at Bath Abbey, said: “This is a well managed and well considered project that will be seriously useful in helping us design the new floor at the Abbey.”