Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire

Historical Description

Leamington or Royal Leamington Spa, a town, a municipal borough, and a parish in Warwickshire. The town stands on the river Leam, in a sheltered and well-wooded valley, amid a fertile tract of country, 2 miles E by N of Warwick, 23 SE of Birmingham, and 90 from London. It took its name from its situation on the Leam, and it is also called Leamington Priors, from its having belonged to Kenilworth Priory, and to distinguish it from Leamington Hastings. The manor around it belonged to Turchill, the Saxon Earl of Warwick; went after the Conquest to Roger de Montmorency, who became Earl of Shrewsbury; passed soon to the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, and then to Geoffrey de Clinton, the founder of Kenilworth Castle and Priory; was given by the latter's family in 1160 to Kenilworth Priory; went at the dissolution to the Crown; was given by Elizabeth to Dudley, Earl of Warwick; reverted at his death to the Crown; was given by James I. to Sir Fulke Greville, who became Lord Brooke; and was subsequently divided among various proprietors. The manor and much of the property now belong to the Earl of Aylesford. Medicinal waters here were noticed in 1586 by Camden; they were mentioned afterwards by Speed, Dugdale, and Fuller; they began to attract public attention about 1784; and they have occasioned what was, so late as about 1812, only an obscure village of 500 inhabitants to rise to the condition of a famous watering-place, and of a large, beautiful, and prosperous town. The Queen, when Princess Victoria, visited the town in 1830, and gave her sanction in 1838 to its being called Royal Leamington Spa. The town is modern and well built, and, taken altogether, is one of the most pleasant and attractive in England. It is largely visited by Americans. The streets are spacious, and mostly intersect one another at right angles. The town-hall and municipal buildings, on the Parade, were erected in 1884, and comprise the municipal offices, a fine assembly-room, and a school of art. The old town-hall, with police station, in High Street, was erected in 1831. The Theatre Royal, in Regent Grove, was erected in 1882. The public library and reading-room, established in 1857, is now situated in the new municipal buildings. The drill hall, in Adelaide Road, is the headquarters of the local companies of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment. An excellent water supply is obtained from wells sunk in the new red sandstone formation, and is pumped to a reservoir situated on the Campion Hills to the NE of the town. The sewage is pumped on to a sewage farm at Heathcote belonging to the Earl of Warwick, who pays an annual sum of £'250 to the corporation towards the cost of pumping.

The parish church, or All Saints, stands near Bath Street. It was originally a chapel to the parish of Leek Wootton; underwent enlargement in 1816 and subsequent years; was reconstructed and further enlarged in 1843 and following years; is principally Perpendicular in style; comprises clere-storied nave with aisles, apsidal chancel, transepts with aisles, and S porch, with a tower and spire; measures 126 feet in length, 64 in width, and 76 in height; has a W seven-light window of stained glass, 42 feet high and 20 wide; and contains monuments to Chief-Justice Willes and Mr Abbotts and Mr Satchwell. St Mary's Church, near Radford Road, was built in 1839; is in the Decorated style, of cemented brick; comprises nave, aisles, and chancel, with embattled tower, and was restored in 1888. Christ Church, in Beauchamp Square, was built in 1825, is in the Norman style, and has a low square tower. St Luke's Church, in Augusta Place, was built in 1851. Trinity Church, in Beauchamp Square, was built in 1847, and is a cruciform structure of nave, aisles, chancel, transept, and a tower. St Paul's Church, in Leicester Street, was erected in 1874; is a cruciform building in the Early English style, and consists 'of chancel, nave, aisles, transepts, N and S porches, and a tower and spire. The Church of St John the Baptist was erected in 1884. St Alban's Church, in Warwick Street, is in the Early English style. The Congregational chapel in Spencer Street was built in 1836; is a fine brick structure, and has a massive portico. A second chapel, in Holy Walk, was built in 1849, and is a fine brick structure in the Pointed style. A third, in demons Street, was at one time converted into a theatre, but was restored to its original use in 1886. There are two Baptist, a Primitive Methodist, a Free Methodist, and two Wesleyan chapels, and also chapels for the Plymouth Brethren and the Catholic Apostolic body. The Roman Catholic chapel in Dormer Place was rebuilt in 1884, the previous structure having been almost-entirely destroyed by fire. The public cemetery, on Whitnash Road, was formed in 1869, and has two chapels. The Leamington College, in Binswood Avenue, was built in 1847; is in the Pointed style, of red brick, interlaced with grey; presents a frontage of 155 feet; contains a hall 95 feet long and 32 high; was founded for sons of the higher class on Church of England principles, and trains pupils also for the army and the navy. There is also a high school for girls, and many other educational establishments. The Warneford Hospital, so called after the name of the founder, Dr Warneford, was erected in 1832 for gratuitous medical advice and baths to the poor, and now comprises an infirmary with 120 beds, a dispensary, a children's hospital, a sanatorium, and a nursing institution. The Midland Counties Home for Incurables is in Tachbrook Street. There is a provident dispensary in Lower Holly Walk.

The spas all belong to the corporation. They are variously saline, sulphurous, and chalybeate; are used both externally and internally; and are regarded as beneficial in diseases of the skin, the stomach, and the viscera. The one first discovered, now called the Old Spring, is in the vicinity of the parish church, and was inclosed within a small edifice in 1803 by the Earl of Aylesford. The Royal Baths and pump rooms were erected there in 1812 by the earl's grandson. They had a frontage 106 feet in length and 30 in height, flanked by 67* two wings each SO feet in length, and surrounded on three sides by a handsome Doric colonnade, and they were reconstructed in 1868 at a cost of nearly £15, 000. The old, pump room was converted into a spacious saloon for balls and concerts; the hot and cold saline baths were entirely renovated; a large swimming bath and Turkish baths were added; and attached gardens were beautifully adorned. In 1893 additions were made to these gardens by the opening of the York Bridge and Promenade. An open-air swimming bath is provided by the corporation for the poor at a charge of one halfpenny, and there are swimming baths for both sexes of the better class at the pump rooms. In 1894 an additional £1000 was spent on the Turkish and other baths, which are now considered the most perfect in the kingdom. The Jephson Gardens are near the foot of Lower Parade; have two handsome small lodges at their principal entrance; are traversed by paths, and beautified with a large artificial lake, and with the waters of the Learn; contain a Corinthian temple, with a marble statue of Dr Jephson, and a granite obelisk to Edward Willes, who took the chief part in obtaining the gardens for public use. Many attractive objects and places are in the near neighbourhood or within easy reach, including Warwick Castle, Guy's Cliff, Kenilworth Castle, Hatton, Stoneleigh Abbey, Coventry, Stratford-on-Avon, and Combe Abbey.

The town has a head post office, a station on the G.W.R. and another on the L. & N.W.R., and publishes five weekly newspapers. Little trade is carried on, but there are iron foundries and a large brewery. The town was incorporated in 1875, and is governed by a mayor, 8 aldermen, and 24 councillors. The boundaries of the municipal borough were extended in 1890 to include the parish of Lilliogton and a portion of that of Milverton. It has a separate commission of the peace, and is a seat of petty sessions. Acreage, 2816; population, 26, 930. Leamington, Milverton, and Lillington are included in the parliamentary borough of Warwick and Leamington.

The parish comprises 1595 acres; population, 23, 124. The parochial living is a vicarage in the diocese of Worcester; net value, £225 with residence; population, 9824. The churches of St John the Baptist, St Mary, and St Paul are attached to separate ecclesiastical parishes; population, 4927, 4185, and 4188 respectively. The livings are vicarages in the diocese of Worcester; gross value, £300, £400, and £200 respectively. Patrons of St Mary and St Paul, the Church Patronage Society. Holy Trinity, Christ Church, St Alban's, and St Luke's are proprietary chapels. The livings are perpetual curacies.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

The Warwickshire County Record Office hold the following registers for Leamington Spa:

Most of the records prior to 1911 have been digitised and are available on Ancestry.co.uk

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Royal Leamington Spa from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Leamington, or Leamington-Priors (All Saints))

Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Warwickshire is available to browse.

Maps

Online maps of Royal Leamington Spa are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Warwickshire papers online:

• Leamington Spa Courier

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Warwickshire 1619 is available on the Heraldry page.