Taking the Waters Trivia Quiz

Answer: Somerset

The healing properties of the water in Bath come from more than forty different minerals. The water comes from the Mendip Hills, and is heated by geothermal energy to 46°C. Théodore de Mayerne, physician to Anne of Denmark, who was the wife of James VI & I, prescribing bathing in the waters of Bath for his patient. The Pump Room, which was built at the end of the eighteenth century, became a fashionable place to be seen drinking the water.

Maybe the most famous of English spa towns, Bath featured in both "Persuasion" and "Northanger Abbey" by Jane Austen, who lived in the town from 1800 to 1805. Its English name comes from the Roman baths which were established after a temple to the goddess Sulis was built in the first century AD; the Roman name for the town is Aquae Sulis. Other notable features in Bath include the Pulteney Bridge, across the River Avon, with its shops on either side, and the Crescent which is a curved row of Georgian houses, one of which has been turned into a museum.

Somerset is in south-west England, between Devonshire, Dorsetshire and Gloucestershire. Bath is its largest town, and lies in the north-east of the county, about thirteen miles from Bristol.

Answer: Derbyshire

The water in Buxton comes from an underground spring, and emerges naturally at a temperature of around 28°C. It is used for both drinking and bathing. A book entitled "The Benefit of the Auncient Bathes of Buckstones, which cureth most grievous Sickness" was written by a Derby man, Dr. John Jones, in 1572. Mary, Queen of Scots, was allowed to visit several times while she was being held captive at nearby Chatsworth House.

The Romans built a settlement called Aquae Arnemetiae, named after the goddess of the grove. However, the town's popularity as a spa began in the sixteenth century. The spring was dedicated to St. Ann, the mother of Mary. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries successive Dukes of Devonshire were involved in developing the town in the style of Bath. A bath house and pump room were built for taking the waters and the spring piped into a public drinking fountain next to the pump room. A crescent was constructed opposite the pump room, which was converted into a hotel in the twenty-first century. An opera house was built at the beginning of the twentieth century, which became the centre of an annual arts festival in 1979.

Derbyshire is in the middle of England, lying between Staffordshire to the west and Nottinghamshire to the east. Buxton is in the north-west of the county, about twenty-five miles south-east of Manchester.

Answer: Gloucestershire

It is said that pigeons, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, drew people's attention to the properties of the spring water in Cheltenham, by pecking at the salt crystals round the edge. Dr. Thomas Short wrote a book which said that Cheltenham had some of the best water in England. That resulted in an influx of visitors, including Georg Friederich Händel and Samuel Johnson. In 1788, George III spent five weeks in Cheltenham on the advice of his doctor.

Several springs in the south of the town produced saline or chalybeate water, which appeared to have healing properties. These had been developed for the use of visitors. However, in the 1820s Joseph Pitt decided to build a big complex on the north side of the town. By the time his magnificent pump room had been constructed, spas had become less popular; he was unable to complete all his plans, and went bankrupt. By the twenty-first century, the only building remaining of Cheltenham's spa history was Pitt's pump room, which was owned by the council who undertook repairs to the water supply so that it could be used for its original purpose.

Gloucestershire lies on the estuary of the River Severn at the southern end of the Welsh border. It is also adjacent to Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire and Somerset. Cheltenham is about ten miles from the city of Gloucester.

Answer: Shropshire

Although Church Stretton lies on a Roman road from Bristol to Shrewsbury, there is no evidence of a bath there. However it seems likely that the abundant fresh water encouraged the growth of the settlement. Unlike many spa waters, the water is known for its very low mineral content. It was first bottled towards the end of the nineteenth century. Queen Victoria was so impressed, she ordered bottles to be sent to all the governors in the empire. Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, later queen consort of George VI, posed as a model for an advertisement for the bottled water.

With the arrival of the railway in the nineteenth century, it was hoped that the town might be developed as a spa. The water and the fresh air from the Shropshire hills were supposed to be very beneficial for many ailments including influenza, gout and anaemia. A hydropathic treatment centre was built in 1900 to add to the town's attraction. It didn't prove as popular as a spa as hoped, although the water bottling business continued into the twenty-first century. However the town remains popular with holiday makers because of the scenery which led to it being described as 'Little Switzerland' by the Victorians.

Shropshire is on the Welsh border, between Cheshire to the north and Herefordshire to the south. Church Stretton is about fifteen miles south of Shrewsbury in the southern part of the county.

Answer: Worcestershire

The town of Droitwich is on the junction of several Roman roads and was known as Salinae in Roman times because of the extremely high salt content of the water. It is said that only the Dead Sea has a higher concentration of salt in its water. The health benefits from the water come from bathing in it, not drinking it. The warm brine was said to good for rheumatism and arthritis.

The old baths were in use until the middle of the twentieth century, when interest in bathing in them declined. However there was renewed interest towards the end of the century and a new complex was built in 1985. The briny water led to the development of a salt industry; John Corbett, known as the 'Salt King' in the nineteenth century used his profits to help develop the spa town. An earlier resident of Droitwich was Edward Winslow, who sailed on the 'Mayflower' in 1620.

Worcestershire is in the middle of England, surrounded by Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, and Staffordshire. Droitwich Spa is in the middle of the county, about twenty-five miles south west of Birmingham.

Answer: Surrey

One story says that cows refusing to drink from a spring on Epsom Common in the early seventeenth century led to a local farmer realising the properties of the water, but others report that the water had been recognised for its "bitter purging salts" before that. Late Elizabethans thought that bathing in the water could cure ulcers, and it was said, in the early seventeenth century, that drinking the water, "which has a taste different from ordinary water", was very beneficial. Charles II visited the spa regularly, and is said to have met Nell Gwyn while there.

The town's popularity as a spa declined from the middle of the eighteenth century, because it had become possible to produce the minerals in the water (known as Epsom Salts) artificially. The Assembly Rooms, built at the end of the seventeenth century, remained in existence, but had become a public house by the beginning of the twenty-first century. However, Epsom is probably best known for its race course, and especially for the Derby, a race for three-year old colts, which is held every year at the beginning of June.

Surrey is in south-east England, west of Kent, and north of Sussex. Epsom is in the north-east of the county, about twenty miles from Central London.

Answer: Yorkshire

Harrogate was formerly High Harrogate and Low Harrogate. At the end of the sixteenth century chalybeate water was found in a spring in High Harrogate; springs of sulphur water were found in Low Harrogate in the following century. Queen Elizabeth's personal physician recommended taking the waters in Harrogate. Both types of water were said to have health benefits. People would drink one or more glasses of the water before breakfast. Invalids would be helped to bathe in the waters, too.

A pump room was built in the middle of the nineteenth century where people could pay to drink glasses of water, which were served at a wooden bar. However there was an outside tap, so that those who couldn't afford the inside prices could also benefit from the water. The pump room was closed at the start of World War II, and subsequently turned into a museum, with just the outside tap remaining. Charles Dickens visited in 1858, and described it as "the queerest place, with the strangest people in it, leading the oddest lives". Other notable visitors include the poets Lord Byron and William Wordsworth. To complement the pump room, a baths complex was built at the end of the nineteenth century. By the twenty-first century only the Turkish baths were still in use, the rest of the buildings being used for other purposes. Harrogate also came into the spotlight in 1926 when Agatha Christie turned up there, after disappearing from her home in Berkshire.

Yorkshire was originally one large county in the north-east of England, traditionally divided into three ridings, the North Riding, the East Riding and the West Riding. Governmental reorganisation created three new counties, North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. Harrogate, formerly in the West Riding, found itself in North Yorkshire; it's about twenty miles west of the city of York.

Answer: Worcestershire

The water at Malvern is described as pure, and is famous for containing almost no minerals. Rainwater and melted snow flow through the limestone of the Malvern Hills to emerge at one of the many springs around the hills. The water was said to have healing properties as far back as the Middle Ages. A pioneering oculist, Richard Banister, wrote in 1622, "A little more I'll of their curing tell. // How they helped sore eyes with a new found well. // Great speech of Malvern Hills was late reported // Unto which spring people in troops resorted." In the eighteenth century, Dr. John Wall was instrumental in the development of Malvern as a spa town; he wrote a fourteen-page pamphlet in 1756 extolling the advantages of the water; seven years later the third edition ran to 158 pages.

Malvern water has been bottled since the beginning of the seventeenth century. It is reported that Elizabeth II always takes a supply with her when she travels. One of Malvern's most famous former residents is the composer, Sir Edward Elgar.

Malvern lies in the south-west of Worcestershire, almost on its border with Herefordshire.

Answer: Warwickshire

Although the Romans had known about the waters in Leamington, it was not until the late eighteenth century that they were rediscovered, and the town was developed as a spa resort. Visitors began to flock to the town to bathe in the waters and drink them, too. By the beginning of the nineteenth century more facilities were needed, and a new building was erected on the north side of the river, close to the old town. The new Pump Rooms & Baths was opened in 1814; almost immediately work started on an extension to cope with the demand.

Queen Victoria visited the town twice, and granted it the 'Royal' prefix in 1838. Thirty years later, demand had declined and the buildings were sold to the local health board. Since then, they have remained in public ownership. At the end of the twentieth century, the public library and tourist information centre were moved into the building.

Warwickshire is in the middle of England, bordered by Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire and Worcestershire. Royal Leamington Spa is in the middle of the county, about twelve miles north-east of Stratford-upon-Avon.

Answer: Kent

In 1606, one of James I's courtiers had been staying in Eridge so that the country air could do him good; when he was out one day he discovered a spring and took a drink. He was so impressed by how well he felt after drinking the chalybeate waters, that he recommended it to his friends. It was well established as a spa when Queen Henrietta Maria, consort to Charles I, visited in 1630. The place became known as Tunbridge Wells, after the nearby town of Tonbridge (then Tunbridge), and the wells that produced the waters for drinking and bathing.

At first there were very few buildings, but by the end of the seventeenth century, a promenade known as 'The Walks' (now 'The Pantiles') stretched for 175 yards, with a variety of shops along its length. Lodging houses were being built nearby. By the middle of the eighteenth century, sea bathing became popular and fewer people visited Tunbridge Wells for the waters. But the town's increasing transport links with nearby Tonbridge, and so with London, meant that it once again attracted visitors in the nineteenth century. A new bath house was built on The Pantiles in 1817, where it was still possible to take a glass of water in the twenty-first century. A young Victoria, before she became queen, visited the town with her mother; she returned some forty years later, as queen, to visit a biscuit factory in the town. King Edward VII gave the town its 'Royal' status in 1909.

Kent is in south east England, between London and the English Channel. Royal Tunbridge Wells is in the south-west of the county, on its border with Sussex. It is about forty miles west of Canterbury.