Warwick and Leamington (page 1/4)

See all the images…

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s House

“The way to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘nest of a place’ is up the shady Holly Walk, which leads immediately out of the Royal Parade, [...] by the imposing Renaissance Town Hall and the [...] [more...] [$]

The Parade and Pump Room, Leamington

“Crossing the gay Parade from the Jephson Gardens just at its very gayest here, the Grand Pump Rooms and Baths, erected in 1813 at a cost of £30,000, and greatly enlarged and improved since, stand before us, with their imposing colonnade supported by Roman Doric pillars, their spacious gardens, with a picturesque kiosk for the band in the centre, and a shady avenue of lindens, extending from east to west, on the North. Though the former glory of the Pump Rooms, when Royalty and the fashionable world of England were wont to sip their morning glass of spa water [more...] [$]

The East Gate, Warwick

...the beholder now looks down a narrow street, on each side of which here and there are dwelling-houses preserving their Elizabethan aspect, and at the further end of which, looming up like the background to a stage scene, stands, in all the grandeur of centuries of decay, the ancient East Gate of the town – all, indeed, that remains of a building ornamental [...] [more...] [$]

In the Jephson Gardens, Leamington

“Enter the Jephson Gardens now by this eastern end, and go right through to the Parade, and to the Pump Room and Gardens across the Parade. These handsoe Gardens take their title from the celebrated Dr. Jephson, who for many years was a resident of Leamington and made it his home, living in the elegant stonehouse at the corner of DaleStreet called Beech Lawn – making Leamington and himself famous at the same time.

“Here, in these fair Gardens, is the very receptacle of Nature in the middle of a town – a sanctuaryfor birds, an extended bed of roses in June, an ornamental lodge at each end, broad stretches of turf, sweet flower-bordered pathways, a lake with an island and a swannery, secluded glades, sloping woodland walks leading down to the river, a Corinthian temple with statue therein of Dr. Jephson, and a quite Oriental bandstand with a glass-covered auditorium where high-class concertas are held in the summer months. There are but few places in England which can boast of so perfect a beauty-spot, so fair a haunt of the Muses. The town is indebted to the Willes family, of Newbold Comyn, an ancestral estate at the extreme eastern end of the Holly Walk, and especially to the late Edward Willes, [more...] [$]

Front cover of “Warwick and Leamington”

All of the colour plates from this book are online here, including a higher-resolution version of the cover picture, Leycester Hospital. [more...] [$]