Decaying spa baths, entrance

Introduction

The photograph on this page of Decaying spa baths, entrance by E Gammie as part of the Geograph project.

The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk

Decaying spa baths, entrance

Image: © E Gammie Taken: 29 Aug 2008

The entrance to the spa baths was designed such that patients could be transferred directly from transport to reception under cover. These buildings have been empty and decaying since their closure in 1983. The original shaft was sunk in 1821 in search of coal, but a salt water spring high in iodine content was discovered instead and the coal shaft was abandoned in 1822. During the 1820s and 1830s a local landowner developed it into a bath house with 6 treatment rooms and a hotel. In 1887 it was purchased by a business syndicate who added wooded gardens and walks. Over the years interest in 'taking the waters' diminished but it continued to be used by the health services until 1982. On 21 September 1983 the well wall collapsed, undermining and causing the collapse of a large chimney which in turn damaged some of the buildings. The well was later filled with the rubble.

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0

Image Location

coordinates on a map icon
Latitude
53.15522
Longitude
-0.213465