Royal Leamington Spa: The Flourishing Spa Town of the Victorian-era

The transformation of the small village of Leamington Priors into the flourishing spa resort town of Royal Leamington Spa was largely attributed to the discovery of saline water.

The mineral-rich River Leam had already been known in Roman times and was rediscovered during the Victorian era. With the increasing popularity of the water’s therapeutic properties, the town experienced one of the most rapid expansions in 19th-century England.

Originally, there was a small mineral water well in Leamington, situated next to the Parish Church and owned by the Earl of Aylesford. This natural spring was intended by the Earl to remain freely accessible to everyone. In 1786, Benjamin Satchwell, the village cobbler, discovered a second spring on William Abbott’s land. Their entrepreneurial spirit led to the commercialization of the saline water. By 1788, Abbotts’s Baths were established, followed by a series of other facilities built to cater to paying visitors seeking health and leisurely pursuits through the consumption and bathing in the water. Satchwell gained local fame through his poetry and articles, which depicted the village and its spa water.

The Royal Pump Room and Baths is one of the most notable buildings of the town. Originally designed to be one of the finest bathhouses in the country, it was opened in 1814 and later expanded in 1864 to include a Turkish bath and swimming pool. Notably, the baths were featured in the music video for Mick Jagger’s 1992 song ‘Sweet Thing’.

Dr. Henry Jephson, the renowned physician in Leamington, began his practice at the Royal Pump Room and Baths in 1823, coinciding with the town’s prosperous emergence as a health resort. His prescribed treatments involved various methods of consuming and bathing in the water, alongside strict dietary regimens and regular walks. These treatments gained immense popularity and attracted numerous affluent and renowned patients to the town. In recognition of Jephson’s contribution to the community of Leamington, the Jephson Gardens were named after him.

During the 1840s, the viability of the saline spas in Leamington faced a threat from the rising popularity of hydrotherapy, which used pure water rather than mineral-rich waters, as well as the increasing demand for spas in continental Europe and seaside resorts. By the 1860s, all of the bathhouses in the spa town had ceased operations, except for the Royal Pump Room and Baths, which continued to provide spa treatments until the 1990s.