Malvern Spa Bottle

Mineral water treatments were sometimes used to treat patients, taken from natural spas such as the one at Malvern, Worcestershire. Warm baths were a big part of treatment and were found to have ‘the greatest benefit’. Patients were often taken on excursions to places in Worcestershire, including to Malvern Spa.

Natural spring water has been used as a medical treatment for centuries, but was particularly popular in the Victorian era, when it was known as the “water cure”. Many well-known figures went to Malvern for treatment; including Florence Nightingale in 1860, and Charles Darwin in 1849, who reported that the waters had ‘absolutely cured’ his illness.

On loan from Brian Iles