Humphreys is the first recruit for new coach Michael Foley and is looking forward to a fresh start with his new club.

"I am delighted to be joining Bath," Humphreys said. "It is a club with a tremendous tradition.

"I am looking forward to the challenge of being a part of putting Bath back where it belongs at the top of the English game."

The former Wales skipper, who led his country 17 times in a 33-cap international career, is the second big-name player to quit the Arms Park in a week.

Wales lock Craig Quinnell stunned the Blue and Blacks last week by signing a lucrative four-year deal with Saracens, another Zurich Premiership side.

Humphreys is the longest-serving member of the Cardiff squad and is in his 12th season at the club, having made his debut in September 1989.

However, the 33-year-old hooker says that he needs a fresh challenge at this stage of his career.

"This decision has been particularly difficult," Humphreys told the Cardiff website. "I owe a lot of people at the club so much, especially the chairman, Peter Thomas.

"I am also very conscious of Cardiff's wonderful supporters and members who have been so kind to me throughout my time at the club.

"They have been a special inspiration to me on the bad days as well as the good and, thankfully, the latter has usually been the case.

"In the end it was a personal decision which in no way should be seen as a negative reflection on the club.

"The fact is that at this stage in my career I feel that I need the challenge of a new experience in club rugby.

"I also have personal ambitions to play international rugby again.

"I believe that by joining a club across the border I might shake off the mistaken perceptions in some Welsh rugby circles that my best years are behind me."

Humphreys made his international debut in the 1995 World Cup against New Zealand but has not figured in a Wales shirt since the match against Japan in the 1999 World Cup.

Humphreys may struggle to oust England hooker Mark Regan from the starting spot in the No 2 shirt, but the Welshman's arrival could push Andy Long further down the pecking order.

However, the 24-year-old, who has been capped twice by England, could ironically find himself a target for Cardiff.

The Bournemouth-born player is believed to be attracting admiring glances from the Arms Park along with young Wales scrum-half Gareth Cooper.