Spadacrene Anglica - The English Spa Fountain by Edmund Deane
page 6 of 75 (08%)
page 6 of 75 (08%)
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waters of Harrogate, and that which is to be found in more recent
writings on that subject. These modern accounts cannot be better or more authoritatively exemplified than by taking a short extract from the article "Harrogate" in the "Encyclopædia Britannica."[1] "The principal chalybeate Springs are the Tewitt well called by Dr. Bright, who wrote the first account of it, the English Spaw, discovered by Captain William Slingsby of Bilton Hall, near the close of the 16th. Century...." This paragraph, as a statement of facts, accurately sets out what is to be found in more or less detail in the accessible literature of to-day and will be referred to afterwards as the recognised history of Harrogate. It has received the express or tacit sanction of the Corporation of Harrogate and is embodied in its publications. Further a memorial has been erected to Sir William Slingsby, the Captain William Slingsby of Bilton Hall referred to in the above quotation, as the discoverer of the Tuewhit Well. Notwithstanding the complete credence that has been given to this account for many years, I think there can be no doubt that it is entirely erroneous, and that unmerited fame has been given to Sir William Slingsby as the discoverer of the medicinal qualities of the Tuewhit Well, and to Dr. Bright as the author who first wrote an account of it. Deane's history of the medicinal springs of Harrogate in the Elizabethan period is to be found in the earlier chapters of his book. It is |
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