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A SECOND SHAFT FOR A SECOND SPA · CROMWELL AVENUE AREA

Stop 17
Came Well & the Royal Hotel Spa

Uncover the extraordinary lost system that carried mineral water from a 151-metre shaft beneath the railway to the Royal Hydro Hotel.

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Historic photograph of the Came Well shaft being dug in winter 1904 to 1905
Digging the Came Well shaft in winter 1904–05. Photograph courtesy of Woodhall Spa Cottage Museum.
01

WhereCromwell Avenue and Arnhem Way area
02

AccessInterpret from public space only; well site is private
03

StoryA hidden well and an ambitious hotel spa
The story behind the stop

A 492-foot shaft, a settling pond and pipes beneath the railway

Richard Adolphus Came wanted an independent supply of spa water for his Royal Hydro Hotel and Winter Gardens. In the winter of 1904–05 he chose a site between Cromwell Avenue and Arnhem Way after observing a band where snow appeared not to settle.

A brick-lined shaft reached spa water at 492 feet — about 151 metres. Water was pumped to an elevated settling pond, then carried through pipes beneath the railway to the hotel, where a tower supplied pressure for treatments. The Royal Hotel Spa opened in November 1906 but closed during the First World War and never reopened as a spa. The well was later filled and the area developed for housing; there is no public well to visit today.

Image credit: Historic image: Woodhall Spa Cottage Museum, reproduced on the Woodhall Spa Community Website.
Read the complete Came Well investigation →Trail overview
Provisional direction · physical check pending

Next: Cornwall Terrace & The Mall

Continue only by the public pavement route confirmed during the physical test towards Cornwall Terrace and The Mall. Never route visitors through the private well site.