The development of Royal Leamington Spa
The history recorded on these pages has been compiled for use within English language classes for speakers of other languages.
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Part 1
1. Read the text and look at the photographs. Click on the hyperlinks to find out the meaning or grammar of a word or phrase.
Records show that people have lived south of the River Leam in what is now Old Town for almost a thousand years. Modern Leamington Spa began as the small village of Leamington Priors, built on marshland in this area. In 1801 there were only 67 houses and a population of 310.
This view from Newbold Comyn shows the settlement of Leamington Priors with Warwick in the distance.
Natural springs were discovered in 1784 on land owned by William Abbotts - who with a local business man, Benjamin Satchwell, decided to exploit the healing properties of this salty water and opened Abbotts’ Original Baths on Bath Lane, now named Bath Street.
This map shows the early development of housing and businesses. Abbotts Street can be seen adjoining Bath Street.
During the next few years other springs were discovered and more baths were opened in the area that is now Clemens Street. As a result, leisure and health businesses developed and were promoted to people from all over the country. In the early 1800s, people came by horse and carriage to “take the waters”. Visitors to the small town were wealthy and brought their servants with them, creating a demand for large houses and hotels.
The New Inn was one of these hotels, built by William Abbotts and later rebuilt on the same site as The Bath Hotel. It had coach houses and stabling for horses.
The hotel on Bath Street before it was demolished. The site is currently Nisa supermarket.
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