White Wells is a
spa bath
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...
on
Ilkley Moor
Ilkley Moor is part of Rombalds Moor, the moorland between Ilkley and Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. The moor, which rises to 402 m (1,319 ft) above sea level, is well known as the inspiration for the Yorkshire "county anthem" ...
in
West Yorkshire, England
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exist ...
.
White Wells was built around 1700 at the back of the current Spa Cottage as an open air spa bath. They were later enclosed, A single
plunge pool survives today inside the Cottage.
History
The original White Wells spa bath was built by landowner Peter Middleton (c.1655-1714).
In 1791, Robert Dale built two baths on the current site, enclosed by walls on three sides but not roofed over. Dale placed an advertisement in the
Leeds Intelligencer
The ''Leeds Intelligencer'', or ''Leedes Intelligencer'', was one of the first regional newspapers in Great Britain. It was founded in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, in 1754 and first published on 2 July 1754. It was a weekly paper unt ...
of 26 April 1791 in which he claimed that the medicinal properties of the 'Spaw' could heal 'bad eyes', 'tumours and sores', 'scrophula' and 'all cases where the spine is affected.
ic
In 1793. Anne Harper, the nine year old daughter of butcher William Harper, drowned in the spa bath. The Spa Cottage contains a memorial plaque dedicated to Harper.
New Year's Day
The plunge pool is used to welcome in the
New Year
New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...
and is noted as the most popular day of the year for plunging.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Ilkley
Ilkley is a civil parish in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It contains 80 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, three are listed at Grade I, t ...
Footnotes
References
*Hunnebell, M., (2010) ''That Place on Ilkley Moor: A History of White Wells'', Yeadon, Smith Settle / Croft Publications,
External links
White Wells on Visit Bradford
{{coord, 53.91690, N, 1.82177, W, display=title, region:GB_type:landmark
Ilkley
Buildings and structures in the City of Bradford