When Jane Austen Took a Turn About the Ballroom in Bath, Ancient Roman Artifacts Were Hiding Beneath Her Feet. Now, Archaeologists Have Finally Found Them
Recent excavations at the Bath Assembly Rooms in England revealed Roman-era coins, roof tiles, pottery, glassware, a network of ditches and a fragment of a military helmet
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If you lived in England during the early 19th century and happened to attend a ball in the city of Bath, you might have stumbled into Jane Austen. Today, so-called Janeites flock to the Bath Assembly Rooms to see their favorite author’s old haunt.
The historic Georgian building was a vibrant social hub where locals gathered for balls and concerts. But even at the time, as Austen danced in the opulent halls, ancient history was already hiding in the ground beneath her feet.
The Assembly Rooms are currently closed for renovations, which have given archaeologists the chance to excavate the ground below. They’ve unearthed a network of ancient ditches and dozens of Roman artifacts, including coins, pottery, glassware, roof tiles and a piece of a military helmet.
“Discovering evidence of Roman history is big news in Bath, which is famed for its Roman heritage,” Tatjana LeBoff, the National Trust project curator at Bath Assembly Rooms, says in a statement. “The items uncovered tell us a great deal about the people who lived and worked here nearly 2,000 years ago.”
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The history of Roman Britain stretches back to 55 B.C.E., when Julius Caesar led the first Roman expedition to the region. The emperor Claudius officially ordered the invasion of Britain in 43 C.E., and workers built Bath’s famous bathhouses a few decades later. Constructed around a natural hot spring, they stood beside a temple honoring the goddess Sulis Minerva. The baths served as the centerpiece of the Roman settlement of Aquae Sulis.
The Assembly Rooms opened northwest of the baths in 1771. Austen moved to the city a few decades later. She had mixed feelings about Bath, but she was a frequent presence at the Assembly Rooms, which even appeared in two of her novels, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. “In her hands, the building became far more than just an elegant venue,” according to the National Trust. “It was a space of self-discovery, of navigating social hierarchies and of capturing the exhilaration, hope and anxiety of being young and on display in Georgian society.”
Quick facts: Famous faces in Bath
- Decades after Austen, Charles Dickens also visited the Assembly Rooms, which made an appearance in his novel The Pickwick Papers.
- “In the ballroom, the long card-room, the octagonal card-room, the staircases and the passages, the hum of many voices, and the sound of many feet, were perfectly bewildering,” Dickens wrote. “Dresses rustled, feathers waved, lights shone and jewels sparkled.”
The Assembly Rooms have been closed since 2025, when the more than $25 million renovations began. The work includes repairing damage from World War II-era bombings, replacing the floors and front doors, and conserving ten original Georgian chandeliers. The building will reopen in 2027.
Over the summer, Wessex Archaeology, which is overseeing the excavations, announced the discovery of Georgian artifacts at the site, including wig curlers, tobacco pipes and wine bottles. “Behind every object is a human story: someone preparing for a glittering evening,” LeBoff said in a July statement.
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Officials shared the Roman-era finds earlier this month. One of the most intriguing discoveries is a fragment of a Roman helmet. According to archaeologists, the artifact suggests that members of the military might have helped build the Roman city and the roads that led to it.
The land where the Assembly Rooms now stand was likely an ancient suburb, Wessex Archaeology’s Marek Lewcun tells the Guardian’s Steven Morris. “We’re probably looking at the ordinary folk that you might find in a modern suburb today,” he says, “people who had small shops supplying pottery, bread, things like that.”
Until the recent renovation, the Assembly Rooms’ presence had restricted access to the ground beneath—and any traces of Roman history that survived. As such, the excavations are providing a rare window into the area’s ancient past.
“It’s opened up the possibility that Bath may not just be the Roman Bath we see today above ground,” LeBoff tells BBC News’ Bea Swallow. “It makes you wonder when you’re walking through the city, about the layers of history hidden beneath our feet.”
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