Many children in early Victorian England never went to school. More than half of them never learned to read or write. For many families, this was of little consequence; with no welfare state and many mouths to feed, their concern was to send their children out to work to earn whatever they could towards the … Read more
All Saints Church is Leamington’s original, and until the early days of the nineteenth century, the only parish church. It is suggested that the building, or at least its predecessor, dated from the 13th. or 14th. century and there is also a mention in the Domesday Book of a priest. The explosion in population brought … Read more
The Palais de Danse was opened on Spencer Street in 1926 and called the Bath Assembly Hall. It was designed by Birmingham architect Horace Bradley for a local entrepreneur, Edith Dowding, who was a partner in the Bath Hotel. The 1920s saw the beginning of a dance craze in Britain and many palaises were built … Read more
The site for the 1831 Town Hall is land at the corner of High Street and Althorpe Street. It was assembled over a long period and in a rather complicated way. The first Town Hall was built by the Leamington Commissioners who had been appointed under the provisions of an 1825 Act of Parliament. They … Read more
(compiled from extracts from ‘living memory’ interviews conducted 2006/2007) Recollections 1920’s-1930’s Over a lifespan of 120 years, there was little structural change in the houses on Althorpe Street from their being built in the mid 1830’s to being demolished in the early1950’s. The street was basically two long rows of terraced houses broken up by … Read more
Occupational shift In the Victorian era between 1841 and 1901, Leamington as a Spa town grew in terms of its population; its size and its wealth. Conversely, according to data extracted from the 1901 Census, Althorpe Street was in comparative decline with evidence of a significant social change. Of the 206 residents, the male:female ratio … Read more
Population growth In 1781, Leamington Priors was a village of 300 people built around a muddy mineral spring and the modern Althorpe Industrial Estate was primarily agricultural land owned by the Church. The next fifty years saw the population of Leamington Priors grow significantly as the Industrial Revolution in Britain gained momentum. The building of … Read more
Beginnings In 1784 Benjamin Satchwell and William Abbotts discovered a spring in Bath Lane in the hamlet of Leamington Priors, and 2 years later opened Abbotts Original Baths. At this time, much of the hamlet and surrounding land was owned by a handful of wealthy families, including the Wise family. In 1783 Bath Lane (not … Read more
Leamington has lost, over the last hundred years or so, three towers. None of these has been of any great architectural merit, although they all have had a measure of curiosity value. The earliest is the so called ‘Pepper pot chapel’, although the Milverton Chapel was its formal title. The chapel, as it was not … Read more
With special thanks to Jeff Clarke for his contribution to this history of Clemens Street.Additions in 2026 are by Michael Jeffs. Clicking on the images will bring up a larger more detailed picture. Leamington or ‘Lamintone’ was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as “240 acres of land worth £4 with two mills worth … Read more
Click on the thumbnails to enlarge them.
Priory Terrace is a short street near the centre of Leamington Spa. One end is between All Saints Parish Church and the main Post Office, near the Pump Rooms; the other end runs into Leam Terrace at the junction with Mill Street. Click on any of the pictures below to enlarge them. The street runs … Read more
Contact the Secretary, Margaret Rushton: secretary@leamingtonhistory.co.uk
November 7, 2026
November 6, 2026
November 6, 2026