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Modern Royal Leamington Spa was largely created in the nineteenth century by the exploitation of the local saline springs, which were thought to have healing properties. The result was the transformation of Leamington Priors, which in 1800 was a village with a population of around 300, into the fashionable spa resort renamed Royal Leamington Spa, which by mid-century had a population of over 15,000. The American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne, who stayed in Leamington in the 1850s, wrote that from the springs 'have gushed streets, groves, gardens, mansions, shops and churches and spread themselves along the banks of the little river Leam.'
To find out more about the growth of Leamington, and the recent refurbishment of the Royal Pump Rooms, the town's iconic spa building, visit:
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