The Mediaeval East gate is still visible, below ground level (at the medieval level of the old city). It leads out to the quay where the Horseshoe Weir is now situated. The gate was protected by strong doors and a large lock, the hinge of which  can still be seen on the gate.The Eastgate is the last survivor of the gates to the medieval city of Bath (the north, west and south gates were demolished 1754-76). It originally led to the city mill and the ferry to Bathwick. The wall to the south was largely demolished during construction of theThe Empire Hotel was designed by the City Architect, Major Charles Davis, and built 1899-1901. it was requisition by the Admiralty in 1939 and remained in their possession until 1995. It has now been converted into apartments and restaurants.
The city wall originated in C4 towards the end of the Roman period. It was repaired in the early C10, and was then kept in use until the Civil War. Pepys reported that it was in good condition in 1668, but it gradually decayed until most was demolished in the C18: the Corporation demolished the north and south gates in 1755, and the south gate followed in 1776. Its narrowness suggests that this was never a principal entrance, but is nonetheless of great significance as the only surviving medieval gate in the city.

The cellars in the south-west corner of the Empire Hotel basement are in fact the retained cellars of an eighteenth century building, originally the Bowling Green house, and tavern. In the later nineteenth century this became a “Soda Water Manufactory”. Evidence of the industrial processes was recorded during underpinning work.