Leamington Spa

Leamington was originally a small village known as Leamington Priors. Its name came from Anglo-Saxon Leman-tūn or Lemen-tūn = "farm on the River Leam". It was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Lamintone. For 400 years, the settlement was under the control of Kenilworth Priory, from which the older suffix derived. Leamington began to develop as a town at the start of the 19th century, due to the rediscovery of spa waters, which had been known in Roman times, and their rediscovery in 1784 by William Abbotts and Benjamin Satchwell led to their commercialisation, with invalids beginning to resort here in 1786. Six of the seven wells were drilled for; only the original spring at…

Two theatres are located in Leamington: the Spa Centre and the amateur The Loft, with outdoor summer productions in Jephson Gardens. Leamington also has two cinemas: the Spa Centre and a multiplex.

The popularity of the town's waters in the 19th century led to the town's initial growth, making tourism Leamington's primary industry in the 19th century. In the 1950s, the Lights of Leamington Festival held in Jephson Gardens drew large crowds.