A £20 million restoration of Bath Assembly Rooms by the National Trust has uncovered a wealth of Georgian artefacts, including wig curlers, beauty products, wine bottles, and tobacco pipes, offering fresh insight into Jane Austen's social period.
Discoveries Under Floorboards
Archaeologists from Wessex Archaeology found objects hidden under floors and in foundations. Finds include a Georgian beauty pot, an initialled wig curler, clay tobacco pipes, embossed wine bottles, and fragments of a decorative Victorian serving platter. Animal bone remains reveal foods served at grand social gatherings, including turkey, goose, and cod.
Historical Significance
The Assembly Rooms opened in 1771 and were frequented by Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Thomas Gainsborough. Austen lived in Bath from 1801 to 1805, and the rooms feature in her novels Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. Tatjana LeBoff, National Trust Project Curator, said: “These discoveries remind us that Bath Assembly Rooms was never just a beautiful building – it was a place filled with people.”
Details of the Finds
A porcelain ointment pot (1730-1800) once held creams or salves. Small clay cylinders from the 1750s were used for wig curls, with one bearing the initials “WA”. A wine bottle fragment labelled “DOLTON” (1760-1860) may have belonged to a patron. Over 50 clay tobacco pipe fragments were linked to pipe maker Robert Carpenter and his son John. A Victorian serving platter fragment was identified as Minton & Co’s ‘Trophy’ pattern (1867).
Marek Lewcun from Wessex Archaeology said: “It was a privilege to have found so many fascinating objects and through them to be able to help the National Trust present what life was like at the Assembly Rooms.” Many finds will feature in displays when the Grade I-listed building reopens next year.
