Jane Austen author: 1775-1817. The Long Rooms & Hot Baths. Built in 1767 on the shore-line outside the town walls, The Long Rooms and Hot Baths were the fashionable centre of Southampton as a spa resort. The Lance Family of Chessel House, Bitterne (where Lances Hill preserves their name), invited the Austens to a dance in The Long Rooms in January 1807, shortly after they had moved into their new home in Castle Square.