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Although Scarborough had been a thriving port and fishing centre since at least the twelfth century and Scarborough Harbour was the hub of a flourishing import and export trade it was the chance discovery by a Mrs. Farrow in 1662 of the beneficial qualities of the medicinal spring coming out of the cliffs on the South Bay really set Scarborough apart as a major holiday resort, to be christened nearly two hundred years later as the Queen of Watering Places.
The Great Plague of 1665 raised health matters to the forefront of peoples minds and to many it was therefore reassuring when, in 1667, the Scarborough Spa waters were declared by a Doctor Robert Wilkie to be a cure for at least thirty diseases as well as
a “most sovereign remedy against Hypochondriach Melancholly and windiness.”
Claims such as these were a clear attraction to many who flocked to receive their curative qualities.
By the end of the century doubts were being cast upon the veracity of theses claims but those who recognised the benefits brought to the town pressed for an improvement in the facilities and in 1698 a cistern was built to collect the waters.
The year 1700 saw the construction of the Spa House and the appointment of a Governor of the Spay to collect subscriptions and also to keep law and order.
Following a land-slip in 1737 which resulted in loss of the spring waters for some two months a new pump house was built and remained operational for the next for over a hundred years.
Scarborough Spaw was indeed as much of an attraction as the busy Scarborough Harbour or
Scarborough Castle and became one of the major attractions of the South Bay.
Such was the attraction that in 1827 a new bridge over 400 feet long and known as
Spa Bridge was built to provide easy access to the waters from the town.
In 1851 a Pavilion and formal gardens were commissioned to be built by Sir Joseph Paxton and whilst this was destroyed by fire less than twenty-five years later it was soon rebuilt as Scarborough Spa .
In 1875 a bandstand was erected over the Scarborough Spaw’s pump room although people could still partake of the waters by access down stone steps beneath the bandstand.
The well was finally blocked off in 1931 when the bandstand was demolished and a kiosk erected on the site.
Sadly the kiosk is also now just a part of history, making way for a roundabout in 1980.
Although the pump room still exists beneath the roadway sadly it is not accessible despite occasional pleas to restore a valuable part of Scarborough’s heritage.
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