A NEW METHOD OF ADMINISTERING THE MINERAL WATER OF THE ROYAL LEAMINGTON SPA. By JAMES THOMPSON, M.B. In April 1874, in an effort to promote the health-giving benefits of English mineral water and to defend English Spas against a popular perception that those of Germany were more beneficial, Dr James Thompson wrote to the British Medical Journal in … Read more
Built in 1875, at the instigation of Henry Bright, backed by Aldermen Wackrill (then Mayor), Bishop and Bradshaw, Campion Terrace Water Works were the first publicly owned waterworks in the country to supply a whole town – Leamington Spa – and the surrounding area with potable (drinking) water. When Mayor Henry Bright laid the Foundation … Read more
Housing, Inhabitants, and the Impact of Public Health Reforms Many books and commentaries have been written in praise of Leamington, of its architecture, spa waters, doctors, parks and gardens, and were published to promote the town as a healthy place to visit and live. Naturally, anything that may have contradicted this picture was excluded, suppressed … Read more
Two hundred years ago, Leamington grew and prospered as wealthy visitors arrived for the health benefits of the spa waters. But what of those many people who couldn’t afford to pay medical fees? The building shown offers some fascinating clues to this story. This building in Holly Walk, now offices, was built in the early … Read more
The Leamington Priors mineral springs had been exploited by local physicians from the early eighteenth century but it wasn’t until the start of the nineteenth century that they were promoted on a commercial basis. Drinking health-giving mineral waters and regular bathing in them was a well established custom widely practised and known as ‘taking the … Read more
Few if any of those waiting for their prescriptions in a south Leamington chemist will know that the father of modern forensic medicine was born in the flat upstairs. On 16 May 1877 the manufacturing chemist James Spilsbury’s first child was born in the flat above his shop at 35 Bath Street, Leamington Spa (4th … Read more
Dorothy started working life in service, then worked at the Midland Counties Home for Incurables. She recounts what it was like to work there. 41 mins. 43MB mp3 file. This recording was made as part of the “History @ Bath Place” project, 2007-9. dorothy-marlow
Bonesetter? What are, or were, bonesetters, you may ask. They were healers, joint manipulators, and setters of fractured bones, long before the advent of X-rays, Plaster of Paris, and now, MRI scans. Often unqualified other than by experience, their ‘trade’ generally ran in families, handed down from father to son or daughter. It used to … Read more
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer. In July 1853 he was appointed US consul in Liverpool by President Franklin Pierce, and during the ensuing 5½ years in England spent 2 periods in Leamington, in 1855 and 1857. At the end of his term of office, the family toured France and Italy, … Read more
Contact the Secretary, Margaret Rushton: secretary@leamingtonhistory.co.uk
October 20, 2026
October 16, 2026
October 13, 2026