The Spa and Social Life

The Spa and Social Life

Witham became a centre of social importance in the middle of the 18th.century and, briefly, the influx of many fashionable people caused Witham to believe that it could rival Bath and Cheltenham.

The town's transformation was due to the efforts of one man, Dr.Taverner, who in 1737 rediscovered the medicinal properties of a mineral spring near a row of lime trees which at that time, flanked the drive leading from Faulkbourne Road to Witham Place. The doctor widely advertised the spring.... "This most excellent mineral water whose singular virtues and efficacy will render it beneficial in many if not in most chronic diseases incident on mankind" To encourage visitors to the town he convinced them that the water was "of so exceeding volatile a nature" that it could not be transported "even if the bottles are ever so carefully corked and cemented". Dr.Taverner encouraged the local inns not only to accommodate visitors but also to entertain them. So both The White Hart and The George held assembly balls, concerts, dinner, card games and, at The Black Boy, even cock fighting was provided to attract aristocratic clients.

The appearance of Newland Street changed dramatically during this time as false Georgian facades were added to existing timber frame buildings. Horace Walpole wrote: "What pleased me most in my travels was Dr.Sayers'parsonage in Witham which he has made one of the most charming villas in England."

By the end of the 18th.century, a young doctor recorded that Witham was "a smart little town with rather high aristocratic pretensions". The Pattison family, major landowners in the town, were well connected socially and renowned for the sophistication of their entertaining. They spent a great deal of money buying property in Witham and were responsible for much of the refronting of the buildings in Newland Street, including their own home, Witham House, now the Midland Bank at No.57. However, the gentrification was not to everyone's taste and a century later the Rev John Bramston wrote: "What I most complain of is that from that time a universal spirit of sham seemed to come over our houses. Every cottage must needs look like a mansion, every dwelling must be ashamed of its roof and put on a new brick front...."

The spa literally changed the face of Witham, but its success was short lived. After Dr Taverner died in 1748 it gradually declined in popularity, with only a brief revival among the local townspeople around 1796.