The Old Spaw
500 ft above sea level stands one of Ilkley
Moor's landmarks, White Wells, the old 18th century bath-house.
In 1973 it was rapidly going to rack and ruin, but today presents
a new image entirely. Thanks to the efforts and generosity of Mr
Eric Busby, former proprietor of the Goosewell Gallery at nearby
Menston, the White Wells premises were saved, restored and
repainted, and handed over for safe keeping to Bradford Metro's
Museums and Art Galleries Committee. When reopened the old
bath-house was furnished as in its heyday, in the middle of the
19th century, complete with ferns and picture gallery.
Eventually, it was intended to equip an ante-room to house a
permanent exhibition on the development of the English Spa towns,
of which Ilkley was one of the first.
Squire Middleton erected the Spaw Bath House in the eighteenth
century. Its existence paved the way for the "Hydropathic
boom" of last century, for it was after deriving curative
benefit at The Spaw that a wealthy gentleman named Hamer
Stansfield resolved to form a company to erect a
"Hydropathic establishment" in the area. That was in
1843 and the site to be chosen was at Wheatley - later to be
known as Ben Rhydding - and in charge of the Hydro was one Dr
Rischack, who had been brought from Silesia - formerly Austria.
The enterprise was successful, for in 1850 it was reported that
500,000 gallons of moorland water was being piped annually to the
Ben Rhydding Hydro. Its success led to other Hydros being built
in Ilkley, perhaps the most notable being Wells House (designed
by Cuthbert Brodrick, who was responsible for Leeds Town Hall).
Then came Troutbeck, Craiglands, and other smaller
establishments. Ilkley led the way, and soon the great English
Spa town building boom was going ahead. In those early years of
Victoria's reign, a widely experienced London doctor set out to
survey the English Spa resorts, large and small, and record his
findings in a tome titled "Spas of England" published
in 1841.
The result was a critical comment upon what A.B. Granville, MB,
FRCS, saw at the time, and makes interesting reading. The writer
of this article had a look at what remained of the mineral
springs in this immediate area, not all of them brought to the
attention of the worthy London physician, although probably in
existence at the time. Dr. Granville, in his 1841 visit to The
Spaw, noted that the chief constituent of the waters was
"Carbonate of Lime, together with Sodium," a mixture he
described as "efficacious to the circulation." The
medico went on to observe that the principal function of the Spa
was for bathing, in particular the application of a
"douche" to a diseased limb.
At the time of his visit, a young girl of about 11 years of age
was being subjected to the cold "douche" under the
supervision of "an old, primitive dame who, besides acting
as Bath Woman, escorts invalids to the white wells on a climbing
quadruped - an ass." Dr Hunter, at the time a noted
physician in Ilkley, commenting on the action of the waters,
wrote: "One of the coldest natural Baths to be met
with" and goes on to add "Its effect is highly
invigorating, promoting both the secretions and excretions of the
body, and giving a keen edge to the appetite." No wonder
that in view of such strong and influential medical approval,
Hamer Stansfield went ahead with his scheme to promote a Hydro at
Ben Rhydding!