Spadacrene Anglica: The English Spa Fountain

"Spadacrene Anglica: The English Spa Fountain" by Edmund Deane is a 17th-century medical book that shines a spotlight on the healing powers of Harrogate's mineral waters, specifically the Tuewhit Well. It illustrates the area around it and emphasizes how important it was to early English spa culture. The book starts by setting the scene of Harrogate as a small village within the Royal Forest of Knaresborough and retells the discovery of the Tuewhit Well by Mr. William Slingsby, highlighting its promising results noticed by doctors of that time. Deane explains why he wrote the book, as he seeks to correct false accounts that have spread about after the discovery of the spa and guide the reader into a scientific study of the waters, setting the stage for conversations about the therapeutic benefits.