The Spa in the Eighteenth Century

The first "Spaw" House (the spelling used until the early nineteenth century) appeared on or near this site in the early 1700s and a Governor, Dickie Dickinson, a great character, was appointed. The building was a basic wooden structure designed for the sale and dispensing of the waters and to provide basic amenities to visitors eager to try their curative effects. The water was also bottled and sold further afield.

By the mid 1700s, Scarborough was well established as a seaside resort as well as a Spa town with the added attractions of horse racing on the beach, boating and sea-bathing. Scarborough was one of the first places, if not the first, to use bathing machines and the 1735 engraving below shows the first ever recorded bathing machines in use.

The engraving also shows that access to the Spaw house was either from the beach or down the cliff paths from the area where the Grand Hotel now stands. This was a difficult route for the elderly or infirm who were hoping to be cured by the waters. The Spaw house was protected by a wooden wharf or staithe that was washed away in heavy seas in 1735. In 1737 a major cliff fall obliterated the house and the wells. Within five weeks the wells were rediscovered and it was said the waters had actually improved in quality!

 
At this time there were apparently two distinct types of water, both said to have their own particular restorative or health-giving powers.

The speed with which the wells were reinstated after such a major catastrophe shows their importance to the town. In 1739 a sizeable building or saloon was built with fine views over the sea and the wells were accessed by a long flight of stairs.