The British led the way in holidaymaking. This four-volume primary resource collection brings together a diverse range of texts on the various forms of transport used by tourists, the destinations they visited, the role of entertainments and accommodation and how these affected the way that tourism evolved over two centuries. Volume 2: Spa Tourism This volume traces the development of the spa from modest arrangements that emerged in the early modern period, to the large, thriving spa towns that existed in the nineteenth century. Documents show how spas evolved as well as the treatments they offered. Specific case studies of key spas - Bath, Tunbridge Wells and Cheltenham - are used to illustrate this process. Bath's popularity as a tourist destination grew throughout the eighteenth century. In the eighteenth century it was one of the most popular destinations in Britain. Royal Tunbridge Wells was its greatest rival, and both towns benefited from the patronage of celebrated dandy, Beau Nash. Cheltenham's fashionable status was ensured by a visit from George III and his court in 1788.

Susan Barton, Allan Brodie

Part I: Spas Introduction The Travels through England of Dr Richard Pococke, ed. J J Cartwright, 2 vols (1888), vol. 1, extract; O Goldsmith, The Life of Richard Nash, of Bath, Esq; Extracted Principally from his Original Papers (1762), extract; [Anon], Sunday Walks, round London and Westminster; to which are Added the Adventures of Two Young Gentlemen in and Near Town (1795), extracts; W F Mavor, The British Tourists; or, Traveller's Pocket Companion through England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, 6 vols (1798-1800), vol. 6, extract; A F Hargrove, A Brief Description of Places of Public Interest in the County of York, within Twenty-Six Miles of the City (1843), extracts The Science behind the Use of Mineral Waters: J Floyer, An Enquiry into the Right Use and Abuses of the Hot, Cold, and Temperate Baths in England, etc (1696), extract; J Atkins, A Compendious Treatise on the Contents, Virtues, and Uses of Cold and Hot Mineral Springs in General (c.1730), extract; Peter Shaw, An Enquiry into the Contents, Virtues and Uses of the Scarborough Spaw-Waters (1734), extract; J King, An Essay on Hot and Cold Bathing (1737), extract; R O Allsop, The Hydropathic Establishment and its Baths (1891), extracts Climate, Air and Sunshine in the Treatment of Patients: T B Burr, The History of Tunbridge-Wells (1766), extract; [J Sprange], The Directory: or, The Ancient and Present State of Tunbridge Wells (1816), extract; J Clark, The Influence of Climate in the Prevention and Cure of Chronic Diseases, More Particularly of the Chest and Digestive Organs (1829), extracts; J McPherson, The Baths and Wells of Europe (1873), extract; J Braun, On the Curative Effects of Baths and Waters: Being a Handbook to the Spas of Europe (1875), extracts; R F Fox, Strathpeffer Spa, its Climate and Waters (1889), extracts; H D Rawnsley, 'Sunlight or Smoke?', Contemporary Review (1890) Part II: Case Studies of Spas Bath: J Atkins, A Compendious Treatise on the Contents, Virtues, and Uses of Cold and Hot Mineral Springs in General (c.1730), extract; E D Clarke, A Tour through the South of England, Wales and Part of Ireland, Made during the Summer of 1791 (1793), extract; G S Carey, The Balnea, or, an Impartial Description of all the Popular Watering Places in England (1799), extract; E Lee, The Baths and Watering-Places of England, Considered with Reference to their Curative Efficacy (1848), extract Tunbridge Wells: J Macky, A Journey through England, 2 vols (1722), vol. 1, extract; T B Burr, The History of Tunbridge-Wells (1766), extract; [J Feltham], A Guide to all the Watering and Sea Bathing Places, with a Description of the Lakes; a Sketch of a Tour in Wales, and Itineraries (1803), extract; [J Sprange], The Directory (1816), extracts; J Evans, Recreation for the Young and the Old (1821), extract; J R Thomson, Pelton's Illustrated Guide to Tunbridge Wells (1893), extract Cheltenham: A Fothergill, A New Experimental Inquiry into the Nature and Qualities of the Cheltenham Water, etc (1785), extract; [D Williams], Royal Recollections on a Tour to Cheltenham, Gloucester, Worcester and Places Adjacent, in the Year 1788 (1788), extracts; E Lee, The Baths and Watering-Places of England, Considered with Reference to their Curative Efficacy (1848), extract; [Anon.], The New Cheltenham Guide (1861), extracts Editorial Notes List of Sources