BATH, ENGLAND—According to a report in The Guardian, an eighteenth-century structure for cold-water bathing, two dressing rooms, and a niche that would have held a statue have been uncovered in the southwestern English city of Bath, which has been well-known for its hot-water springs since the Roman era. The excavation was carried out by Wessex Archaeology. Historical records show that a cold bath was built under the ballroom in the Bath Assembly Rooms, but the bath had been covered with flooring and then tons of rubble during World War II, so its condition was unknown. Construction of the assembly rooms, which hosted leisurely pursuits such as billiards, dancing, coffee drinking, and gambling, was completed in 1771. When some eighteenth-century medical practitioners began recommending cold-water baths for various ailments such as gout, the cold bath was added to the assembly rooms to draw elite visitors. “The cold bath at the assembly rooms is highly unusual,” said Tatjana LeBoff of England’s National Trust. “It is a rare, if not unique, surviving example, and possibly it was the only one ever built in an assembly room.” For more on the therapeutic qualities of the hot springs at Bath, go to "The Pursuite of Wellness."