Whether our ancestors stood under waterfalls or poured jugfuls of water over their heads, the pleasure of taking a refreshing shower is something humans have delighted in for thousands of years. Evidence of waterfall ablutions has long been washed downstream but history throws up many tantalising insights into how we progressed from public bathing to the sophisticated showers of today.
Incredible as it seems, it’s only in the past 50 years that many people in the UK have been able to shower at home, yet wealthy ancient Egyptians were enjoying that luxury thousands of years ago. Excavations of palaces around the Nile have uncovered the remains of shower rooms where a bather could stand on a slab of stone with a drain while they, or a servant, poured water over their head.
The Romans too, although better known for their love of baths and bathing, knew a thing or two about showers. “The Romans definitely preferred a good bath, but showers with thermo-mineral water are mentioned in ancient medical texts,” says Dr Giacomo Savani, a Marie Curie Fellow at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, who specialises in the cultural and social role of bathing. “The customers of the Roman spa at Bourbon-Lancy, in the Saône-et-Loire department in central France, might have enjoyed such treatment,” he says, “as suggested by the discovery of pipes in the upper parts of some of the baths’ walls.”
Since those early times, interest in the curative powers of water has never really gone away. “In the late middle ages and the early modern period, showers were one of the treatments that doctors in Italy prescribed for their patients visiting a spa,” says Savani, describing a raised shower bucket from which water could be directed on to the head or the shoulders. “Sometimes, patients wore wooden helmets with holes, perhaps to reduce the impact of the jet. The procedure must have been rather unpleasant, as many complained, including Federico Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, who said that every hour-long session seemed a thousand times longer.”
It’s clear that showers have not always been the blissful experience we expect today. The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh mentions in an article that 18th-century prescriptions could include shower bathing or, as one recipient wrote: “Cold bath of pails of water thrown upon me from head to foot.”
The showering evolution: from left, an early catalogue; 1930s; 1960s; and 1970s. Photographs: Getty Images, Advertising Archives, Mira Showers, Alamy
The first patented shower was reportedly invented in the 18th century by William Feetham, a stovemaker from Ludgate Hill in the City of London. It is said that the device involved using a hand pump to send cold water to a tank above the bather’s head, which then fell through holes before being recirculated – and so the trickle of an idea was born. But it wasn’t until 1872 that something closer to the shower we know today came along. François Merry Delabost, a prison doctor in Rouen, France, was looking to reduce disease among inmates when he struck upon the idea of showering them with warm water to keep them clean. To limit the amount of water used, he created a sprinkler-style showerhead for his “rain baths”, and thus is often cited as the inventor of the modern shower.
While nowadays many of us envisage stepping into a toasty deluge, cold-water bathing and showering has become a badge of honour over recent years, especially among sportspeople seeking respite from aching limbs. But, again, this isn’t new. “There are some interesting Greek vase paintings showing athletes taking cold showers after their training in the gymnasium,” says Savani, whose book Rural Baths in Roman Britain: A Colonisation of the Senses is forthcoming in 2025. “In one particular vase from the late sixth century BC, now in Leiden, in the Netherlands, we see athletes washing under sprays of water from panther-headed spouts.”
Bathing in public was to remain the norm until the transformational effect of infrastructure such as Sir Joseph Bazalgette’s London sewer system, which was finished in the mid-1870s. Less than a century later, nearly every UK home had a plumbed-in bathroom, according to the BBC’s How the Design of the Modern Bathroom Evolved. The days of dragging a tub in front of the fire and getting someone to scrub your back were over. By the late 1970s, home showers were becoming popular, whether handheld over the bath (annoying) or attached to the wall (better).
Today, the shower is the font of many debates – morning or evening, hot or cold, short or four hours long – as well as a spring of creativity. Archimedes may have had his “Eureka” moment in the bath, but showers are also ideal for ideas. Known as the “shower effect”, this phenomenon has been attributed by scientists to people allowing their minds to wander, while also remaining moderately focused on the task of getting clean.
So, where will showers go next? Electric versions, such as those from Mira Showers, offer unprecedented control of temperature, power and sensations. In high-end spas, mists and jets combine with light, sound and even scents for a truly holistic experience. While our ancestors favoured water laced with herbs and florals, will fragrances become part of our home-shower experience?
Whatever the future holds, it clearly follows in a long tradition. In the first century AD, the Roman philosopher Seneca observed his countrymen’s love of luxurious bathing at complexes that boasted large mirrors, imported marble – and “silver spigots with water pouring from them”.
A shower fit for tomorrow
Water has long been considered a precious resource, but our awareness has sharpened in recent years. That’s why a modern shower must do more than simply feel good.
Featuring cutting-edge advances, the new Mira Sport Max Dual is designed with the future in mind. It features Airboost technology that amplifies the power of the water flow by up to 30% without using extra water. Then there’s Mira Clearscale, which reduces internal limescale – helping the shower last longer and work better. And if you do need support, Mira Showers offers repair and replacement services using approved engineers for your peace of mind.
With separate power and temperature controls and two shower heads, the Mira Sport Max Dual also delivers on experience, so make it part of your home-showering story. Find out more
