Earliest Beginnings
In 1819 John Ramsden (92) then Ilkley’s oldest resident, said that visitors from London and other distant places came to Ilkley in his father’s time. Another village woman also confirmed that her father, grandfather, and great-grandfather remembered the springs being visited by invalids.
Around 1700, the central section of White Wells was built, featuring an open-air bath at the rear that held 1,150 gallons and filled in just 13 minutes.
Pure Water – Not Mineralised
‘clear, brisk and sparkling, has no taste nor smell different from common water’ 1734 Thomas Scott
White Wells Development
In 1791 Robert Dale, then White Wells custodian on behalf of the Middeltons (Lords of the Manor), built two new ‘commodious’ baths of similar size to the original. One to the east (2026 seen today) and one to the west (2026 under Café floor) of the central house. They were still open to the air, and the water was a constant 4.4oC
From 1801 Thomas Beanlands and then his son Joseph held White Wells. In 1820 William Butterfield was appointed bathman. His family were associated with White Wells until 1918.
Early 1800s ‘Ilkley Cure’
Patients and visitors came to Ilkley from all over the country, staying ‘lodging houses’ set up for visitors. In 1829 there were 36 lodging houses, by 1835 this had risen to 44. Usher’s Lodging House on Wells Road was one such business. The Water treatment at White Wells proved popular but was not cheap.
1829 Prices
(1s. may be £10 in 2026)
- First Bath 3s. each person
- Second Bath 2s.
- Poor half the above
- Bathers allowed to drink water gratis
- Drinking water from 1s. per week
Ilkley Bath Charity Bath
So ordinary people could benefit, in 1829 Rev. George Fenton, curate in charge of Ilkley Parish established the Ilkley Bath Charity that utilised the ‘Charity Bath’ built to the west of White Wells for that purpose by Mr. William Middelton. The charity gave grants of 5s. to referred poor cases.
Mid 1800s Expansion
The increasing demand for the ‘Ilkley Cure’, the new hydropathic treatment first established at Ben Rhydding Hydro in 1844 and the arrival of the railway in 1865 led to a growth of hydros in Ilkley. The Charity Hospital (2026 Abbeyfield), built by the Ilkley Bath Charity in 1862 served to ensure the poor could also receive the treatments.
White Wells
While most new hydros had their own water supplies and bathing facilities, smaller establishments, often lodging houses calling themselves hydros, relied on White Wells for treatments. In 1872 the Ilkley Local Board assumed control of White Wells from the Wells House Hydropathic Company, which had enclosed the baths & operated them since the late 1850s.