The Water Cure Room

This room is all about Malvern's famous mineral water and its medicinal qualities.

The use of Malvern spring water in health treatment can be traced back centuries, at least to Richard Banister's 'Breviary of one Hundred and Thirteen diseases of the Eyes and Eyelids'of 1622. The water, analysed by Dr John Wall in the mid-18th century, was found to have a very low mineral content...

"Malvern water, says Dr John Wall, is famous for containing just nothing at all."

The water was used externally for eye diseases, ulcers and skin complaints, and internally for digestive and other disorders. Cool water was poured over the patient to revive the blood circulation and to stimulate recovery. With its pure air, pure water and beautiful scenery, Malvern became a desirable place to live and its population rose sharply from c.1800. A contemporary town plan shows the many houses which were built along the Worcester Road at this time, as well as hotels, the library and the Coburg Baths. In 1842 the hydropathic (water cure) doctors, Dr James Wilson and Dr James Gully arrived and set up their practices. The famous, the wealthy and the not-so-wealthy, tried the cure. However by the late 1870s the Malvern Water Cure had declined, following the death of Dr Wilson in 1867, the departure from Malvern of Dr Gully in 1873 and the competition from much cheaper, but equally effective, treatment on the Continent.