Information for record number MWA3784:
Royal Victoria Spa, Bishopton

Summary The site of Royal Victoria Spa, also known as Bishopton Spa, dates from the 1740s to the Imperial period. The complex included buildings with gardens, with walks and ponds, which were created during the Imperial period. This was located on the northern side of Stratford.
What Is It?  
Type: Baths, Spa, Well, Garden, Building
Period: Imperial - Industrial (1751 AD - 1913 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Old Stratford and Drayton
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 18 56
(Data represented on this map shows the current selected record as a single point, this is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an accurate or complete representation of archaeological sites or features)
Level of Protection National - Old SMR PrefRef (Grade: )
Listed Building (Grade: II)
Sites & Monuments Record
Description

  
Source Number  

1 The Victoria Spa was built c.1834 by a consortium of local business people, with the idea of developing a fashionable inland resort. The Spa opened in 1837, to mark the 17th birthday of Queen Victoria but later failed because the social life associated with other Spas of that period was lacking. Members of the consortium bought land in the area, laid down a road (Victoria Terrace) and built houses (Linden house, Bishopton Lodge) in an attempt to attract development around the resort. However the investors lost their money and the Spa closed.
2 Kelly's Directory of 1884 claims that the Spa had been popular for 200 years by that date. But the surviving buildings (including pump house and Lodges) and grounds were developed in 1837. This venture had failed by 1870s. Grounds consist of villa type pleasure grounds with walks and pond. Recommended for inclusion on Local List.
3 The Bishopton waters were first publicised in 1744. The Royal Victoria Spa was apparently the first establishment to be named after the future Queen Victoria and formed part of an ambitious plan to create not only a medicinal establishment and hotel but a new residential district. Contemporary illustrations [one reproduced] show the pump house and grounds, which remain, the latter overgrown. Identified as a key site for the Local List.
4 The OS 1:10560 Sheet Warks 44NW shows the surviving pump house, villas and garden features.
5 The springs at Bishopton were first brought to the attention of the public by Dr Charles Perry in 1744. The spring is situated in a field called Shottery. The water rose perpendicularly out of the earth into a pretty large pit or reservoir. There was a second pit 2.1m from the first. The spring was covered with a wooden building with thatch roof. The spring was being visited for its curative properties by 1800, but it was not until the 1840s that proposals were put forward to develop it into a fashionable inland resort. A building replaced the rudimentary sheds in 1831 and a syndicate of four Stratford gentlemen bought the site in 1834 and began to erect a modern pump room, baths and hotel. They acquired a new favourable analysis of the waters and the Spa was launched with great euphoria in 1837. Speculative plans for developing the area S and E of the Spa were initiated in the 1830s. roads and drives were laid out and a church built (PRN 5304). However, a number of building plots did not find purchasers and in 1855 most of the area was sold off as agricultural land. The Spa buildings were reopened in 1868, but were not sold when offered for sale. The Spa and a hotel on the site have been converted to private residences.
6 History and mineral analysis of the water in HMSO publication.
 
Sources
Source No: 6
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Wells and Springs of Warwickshire
Author/originator: HMSO
Date: 1928
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Bishopton
Author/originator: Hooke D
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Warwickshire Register Review Data Tables (Stratford on Avon)
Author/originator: Lovie, Jonathan
Date: 1997
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Warwickshire Register Review Report & Recommendations
Author/originator: Lovie, Jonathan
Date: 1997
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Map
Title: 44NW 1:10560 1886
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1886
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 44NW
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Serial
Title: Bishopton Spa, Warwickshire History II, no 6
Author/originator: R Bearman
Date: 1974-5
Page Number: 20-34
Volume/Sheet: 2
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
designation Listed Building Buildings and structures, such as bridges, that are of architectural or historical importance are placed on a statutory list. These buildings are protected by planning and conservation acts that ensure that their special features of interest are considered before any alterations are made to them.

Depending on how important the buildings are they are classed as Grade I, Grade II* or Grade II. Grade I buildings are those of exceptional interest. Grade II* are particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Those listed as Grade II are those buildings that are regarded of special interest.
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period Modern The Modern Period, about 1915 AD to the present (the 20th and 21st centuries AD)

In recent years archaeologists have realised the importance of recording modern sites. They do this so that in the future people will be able to look at the remains to help them understand the events to which they are related.
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period Imperial 1751 AD to 1914 AD (end of the 18th century AD to the beginning of the 20th century AD)

This period comes after the Post Medieval period and before the modern period and starts with beginning of the Industrial Revolution in 1750. It includes the second part of the Hannoverian period (1714 – 1836) and the Victorian period (1837 – 1901). The Imperial period ends with the start of the First World War in 1914.
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period modern About 1915 AD to the present (the 20th and 21st centuries AD)

In recent years archaeologists have realised the importance of recording modern sites. They do this so that in the future people will be able to look at the remains to help them understand the events to which they are related.
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monument HOTEL * A large building used for the accommodation of paying travellers and guests. back
monument HOUSE * A building for human habitation, especially a dwelling place. Use more specific type where known. back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument LODGE * A small building, often inhabited by a gatekeeper, gamekeeper or similar. Use specific type where known. back
monument BUILDING * A structure with a roof to provide shelter from the weather for occupants or contents. Use specific type where known. back
monument GARDEN FEATURE * Unspecified landscape feature. Use more specific type where known. back
monument POND * A body of still water often artificially formed for a specific purpose. Use specifc type where known. back
monument CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. back
monument DRIVE * A road/carriage way giving access from the main road to the house, stables. back
monument ROAD * A way between different places, used by horses, travellers on foot and vehicles. back
monument INDUSTRIAL * This is the top term for the class. See INDUSTRIAL Class List for narrow terms. back
monument WALK * A place or path for walking in a park or garden. Use more specific type where possible. back
monument PIT * A hole or cavity in the ground, either natural or the result of excavation. Use more specific type where known. back
monument VILLA * A term for a type of house, with varying definitions according to period. Roman villas were high-status and usually associated with a rural estate, whereas Georgian and later period villas were often semi-detached, town houses. back
monument PUMP ROOM * A room or building where a pump is worked. back
monument WELL * A shaft or pit dug in the ground over a supply of spring-water. back
monument FIELD * An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock. back
monument BATHS * A building, usually open to the public, containing a number of areas for bathing. In the case of such a complex containing baths for swimming, also index with INDOOR or OUTDOOR SWIMMING POOL. back
monument GARDEN * An enclosed piece of ground devoted to the cultivation of flowers, fruit or vegetables and/or recreational purposes. Use more specific type where known. back
monument SHED * A slight structure built for shelter or storage, or for use as a workshop, either attached as a lean-to to a permanent building or separate. Use more specific type where known. back
monument PUMP HOUSE * A small pumping station. back
monument SPRING * A point where water issues naturally from the rock or soil onto the ground or into a body of surface water. back
monument SPA * A medicinal or mineral spring often with an associated building. back
monument TERRACE * A row of houses attached to and adjoining one another and planned and built as one unit. back
monument RESERVOIR * A large natural or artificial body of water, sometimes covered, used to collect and store water for a particular function, eg. industrial or public use. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record