The Little History of Bristol by Maurice Fells

Author:Maurice Fells [Fells, Maurice]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: history, Europe, Great Britain, General
ISBN: 9780750995870
Google: SgXnDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: History Press
Published: 2021-03-19T00:14:38.982523+00:00

A Spa for Clifton

To build a spa with a pump room for Clifton, George Newnes converted three houses at the end of Princes Buildings. Apart from guests taking the spa water, Newnes wanted his patrons to enjoy lunchtime concerts, too. His project came to fruition in 1894 with water being pumped up some 240ft though the rocks of the Avon Gorge. Russian, Turkish, douche, hydro, steam, massage and electrical baths were provided for guests in their private suites.

Newnes’ Grand Clifton Spa and Hydropathic Institution received a civic seal of approval when it was officially opened with a formal dinner attended by the Lady Mayoress of Bristol and 700 specially invited guests. Many of them had been selected as they circulated in influential and wealthy social circles from which Newnes hoped to draw some of his patrons. After dinner the guests were entertained with music from the 1st Band of the Life Guards and singing from Madame Strathearn.

One newspaper reported that the spa was ‘one of the best in the kingdom’. Its medical director had carried out research at spas on the Continent to bring the latest ideas back to Bristol. A guide book published in 1902 noted that the pump room had ‘twenty massive pillars of Cipollino marble’. It seems that money was no object in providing guests with the best facilities.

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