Visit to Royal Leamington Spa Pump Rooms, Museum and Art Gallery
Overview
This event is in the process of being postponed. If you were interested in booking, please add yourself to the waiting list and we will let you know once a new date has been arranged.
Spice Exclusive!
Today we have an opportunity to visit the Royal Pump Rooms at Royal Leamington Spa.
We will be able to see inside the Assembly Rooms and the Conservatory, neither of which are usually open to the public.
The Royal Pump Rooms now house Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum and the Library.
The Royal Pump Rooms
The Royal Pump Rooms building was opened in 1814, when the small agricultural village of Leamington Priors was fast growing into a major spa resort. Since the 1780s increasing numbers of wealthy visitors had been coming to Leamington to ‘take the waters’ for their health while mixing with fashionable society. Their needs were met by several spa baths built south of the river Leam, in the area around All Saints’ Church, but the Royal Pump Rooms was the first (and as it turned out, only) spa establishment built north of the river. Its Regency assembly room and 20 baths made it the largest and most prestigious of all the spa bathing places in Leamington.
The Royal Pump Rooms’ location on the north bank of the Leam was an important step in the development of the newly laid out area which became known as the New Town. This was in contrast with Leamington’s historic core south of the river, which began to be referred to as Old Town. Leamington Prior’s arrival as a major spa town was recognised when in 1838 Queen Victoria allowed it to adopt the name Royal Leamington Spa.
The fashion for taking health cures at inland spas began to decline after the 1840s and over the next two decades the spa baths in the Old Town all closed. The Royal Pump Rooms, though, was already recognised as a major landmark building so it was refurbished and extended in 1863 to provide a Turkish Bath and swimming pool. Further redevelopments followed, notably the opening in 1890 of another swimming pool, and later the introduction of facilities for physiotherapy treatments.
During our visit we will be able to have a look at current exhibitions in the Art Gallery and Museum.
Once we have completed our visit we will find somewhere for refreshments or a light lunch.
Includes
- A private visit to the Assembly Room and the Conservatory which are not usually accessible to the public.
- Access to the Art Gallery and Museum.
- Access to the Leamington Spa and The Black Atlantic exhibition.
- A small admin fee and a warm welcome from your Spice Voluntary Coordinator.
By road
If travelling by car, leave the M40 at Junction 13 and follow directions into Royal Leamington Spa on the A452.
By rail
If arriving by train, the Royal Pump Rooms is 10 minutes’ walk from Leamington Spa Railway Station. There are direct services from London Marylebone, Birmingham, Oxford and Coventry.
There is limited parking directly outside the Royal Pump Rooms. Parking is reserved for disabled visitors approximately 10 metres from the entrance. There is a drop off point for coaches on Newbold Terrace. St Peter’s car park is 5 minutes’ walk from the Royal Pump Rooms.
Host & Everything Else
Gallery
