Leamington's Development Into a Typical Spa Town

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Leamington's Development Into a Typical Spa Town

A typical spa town is known to be a place where mainly wealthy people

would come to consume the towns spa water as a laxative. After taking

the water the people would take a long stroll along the main street

known as the "parade" or "promenade" or maybe go to the gardens to

find suitable marriage partners.

To be given the proud name of a "spa town" the town would need to have

all these essentials; firstly the most important is the own supply of

water in the form of springs, wells and numerous baths and the pump

rooms. The entertainment facilities would have to include a theatre

and assembly rooms. There would need to be walkways and a main street

along with gardens. There would have to be Georgian/Pilladian/ Regency

architecture on all the main streets. Because spa towns would have

attracted a lot of tourism there would need to be many houses to

accomodate everyone, that would usually be found in circuses,

crescents, sqaures and terraces. There would also be a need for grand

hotels. Churches would also be a main part of a spa town, as people

would be religious, and of course good transport links.

All of this could never happen to a town without the odd determined

people who invested thier lives into making a town a succesfull spa

town.

Before Royal Leamington Spa was transformed into a spa town it was

initially known as Leamington Priors belonging to the Priory in

Kenilworth. It was a tiny village consisting of 300 people and 67

houses until the era of the 1800's. The land, in 1529, got passed

between numerous nobles, landowners and crowns. The spring waters were

first ac...

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...chitecture was

the important individuals who gave up most of their time and money to

invest into making this town succeed as a spa resort.

Without the help of Lord Aylesford, William Abotts and Benjamin

Satchwell, Dr Jephson, Dr Hitchman and C.S Smith maybe the place we

live in today might have still been that tiny village over 500 years

ago.

The doctors are mostly to thank because they were the ones that the

population listened to saying that spa water is great to clean the

body of harmful substances.

I also think that if it wasn't for the important and famous people who

visited Leamington may not have been as big as it is today, because

back in the day when spa towns were fashionable people would usually

flock to the places that important people went to see what was there

to make those famous people go.

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