History of
Cheltenham
Cheltenham has
grown from a small village beside the River Chelt to the outstanding,
vibrant and cosmopolitan Gloucestershire town that it is today.
Most of the
Cheltenham town centre lies within a conservation area of outstanding
importance.
Cheltenham became
a spa town in 1716. The first medicinal waters were believed to
have been discovered when locals saw pigeons pecking at salty deposits
which had formed around a spring. Cheltenham received Royal patronage
in 1788 when King George III came to drink the waters.
This led to
the rapid development of Cheltenham as a fashionable spa between
1790 and 1840 and The heritage of those times can be seen in the
town's Regency architecture. Cheltenham is the most complete Regency
town in England.
Cheltenham was
patronised by noble and royal visitors including the Duke of Wellington
and Princess Victoria (who later became Queen Victoria). Distinguished
literary figures who also visited have included Lord Byron, Jane
Austen and Charles Dickens.
Dickens and
Daniel Defoe both commented favourably on Cheltenham, Dickens even
went so far as to write, "Rarely have I seen such a place that
so attracted my fancy."
Cheltenham is
one of the few towns in England where traditional and contemporary
architecture complement each other so perfectly. Some of the buildings
are of great age. The Neo-Gothic styled Victorian school buildings
of Cheltenham College date from 1843 and Cheltenham Ladies' College
from 1873.
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