Roman Baths lose £90,000 after switching to contactless wishing well

A popular Bath tourist site has spoken out after it was revealed that they lost £90,000 after switching to contactless wishing wells. Wishing wells traditionally work by throwing pennies inside, but the Roman Baths banned pennies and switched to a contactless card system in March 2022.

A sign at the wishing well read: "Please do not throw coins in the bath[.] Tap the contactless sign or use the cash box to make your offering". But since then, donations reportedly fell to £9,490 in the financial year 2023/24, with around a quarter- 24.6% - being from contactless donations (£2,335). In contrast, the Roman Baths received over ten times more donations in 2018/19 with £104,129 raised.

Bath and North East Somerset Council, which oversees the Roman Baths charity, said to the Telegraph the decision was made in part due to a “notable decline in the use of cash” since the pandemic and that the age-old tradition had “begun to damage the 2000-year-old structure”.

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The council also concluded it was “no longer a viable income source” because it took a long time to drain the bath to collect the coins, that some coins were “garbled” and could not be banked and that the process “wasted water”.

When asked by Somerset Live if there were plans to allow cash and coins in the wishing well again, a representative for Bath and North East Somerset Council claimed pennies could damage them. The spokesperson said: "The Roman Baths is a post-pandemic success story and in the last financial year it generated more income from ticket sales and other activity than ever before.

"As we explore creative ways to retell the story of the Roman Baths over the coming years we expect support and donations to increase alongside our earned income. In addition our priority is to care for and conserve the Roman Baths, one of the world’s great historic sites. The tradition of throwing coins into the water had begun to damage the 2,000-year-old structure of the circular bath, putting the monument at unnecessary risk.

"Managing water-damaged coins and the decline in cash usage post-pandemic further supported our decision to look at other ways to encourage support. We have introduced new contactless donation points and will be launching a new legacy scheme in Autumn.”

The Roman Baths are almost 2000 years old and have been standing since 70AD. The baths can be visited at standard price for £27 on weekdays and £29 on weekends and bank holidays. You can book your visit online.

It ranks as the most popular attraction outside of London after Stonehenge and is made up of the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman Bath House and an accompanying museum.