8 facts you didn’t know about Leamington Spa

1. It used to be an elephant’s bath

We’re going to go ahead and bet that you’ve heard of Leamington’s more glamorous spa clientele, but did you know that some of our most famous bathers were of the four-legged variety?
Specifically, three female elephants called Wilhelmina, Trilby and Haddie!

Part of Sam Lockhart’s most famous circus troupe, these lovely ladies were known collectively as the Three Graces. According to local legend, the gentle giants often went from big top time to bath time – in the River Leam. Contemporary evidence is patchy – but there is a ramp of sorts still visible from the Mill Road footbridge. So, was Leamington’s ‘elephant era’ a legend or reality? You decide!

2. It was the first town to serve up lawn tennis in England

While the grass court season will naturally make you think of a certain place, the very first lawn tennis club in England was actually formed five years before Wimbledon’s first championship. It opened in Leamington in 1872 on Avenue Road, next to the Manor House Hotel.

Even once Wimbledon took centre ‘court’, Leamington continued to stand proud, with resident William Charles Renshaw winning 12 Wimbledon titles: 7 in singles and 5 in doubles with his twin brother Ernest. William was the world number one at the time, and his singles title record stood for an incredible 128 years, until it was finally surpassed in 2017 by Roger Federer. William’s run of 6 consecutive singles titles (1881–86) remains undefeated.

Game, set, Leamington!

3. Its bowls club is world famous

And it isn’t just tennis where Leam’s sporting credentials shine. The town’s first bowling green opened in Victoria Park in 1913 – more than century later, the venue has rolled onto the global map, as one of the most famous bowling establishments in the world.

As well as hosting the lawn bowls events at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Leamington will be the venue for the 2027 World Bowls Championships – the first time the event will be held on English soil in its current dual-gender format.

4. It was a national spa resort

Leamington’s valuable mineral springs were acknowledged in the Middle Ages, but in 1784, the discovery of a second spring in Bath Street led the residents to start building baths around some of them. This is when Leamington truly went from village to vogue, drawing people from around the UK to ‘take the waters’.

The most luxurious of these was the Royal Baths and Pump Room. The town soon began to attract many wealthy guests, who all wanted to experience the magical qualities of the water. But Leamington wasn’t just a hub for tubs – it’s one of the UK’s earliest examples of location-based marketing: health, luxury and status were the core value props.

5. It’s one of just three towns with the ‘Royal’ prefix

Leamington is one of only three towns in the country with a ‘Royal’ prefix, the others being Royal Tunbridge Wells and Royal Wootton Bassett.

Queen Victoria was a big fan of Leamington – spending her first overnight stay in a public building as an 11-year-old princess and later granting the town the ‘Royal’ prefix in 1838. Following her death, a statue of the famous monarch was erected outside Leamington’s town hall in 1902.

6. It played an important (but hidden) role in WWII

Almost 40 years later, the aforementioned statue was shunted by several inches when a stray German bomb exploded on the Parade in 1940 – on the same night as the infamous Coventry Blitz. It was never returned to its original position, and a plaque now commemorates the event.

But that’s not where Leamington’s WWII involvement ends. A Special Interest plaque on the wall of the old Regent Hotel tells the story of the Civil Defence Camouflage Establishment (CDCE), which moved here from London in 1939. This was where experts developed clever camouflage to help hide key civilian sites – from factories and power stations to airfields – from enemy planes overhead.

7. It was a launchpad for a daring act of resistance

Jephson Gardens are a favourite haunt for the Denfield team, and if you’ve visited the town, you might have walked past the Jephson Memorial. Next to it is a memorial fountain, which commemorates the members of the Free Czechoslovak Army who were based in Leamington during the war after their home country was occupied by the Nazis.

In 1942, they set out on a successful mission to execute the SS military governor of Czechoslovakia and Hitler’s confidante (and believed natural successor), Reinhard Heydrich.

History buffs also have the town of Warwick next door to enjoy, with plenty of Tudor-style buildings and the popular medieval Warwick Castle, dating back to the 11th century.

8. It’s been home to many famous residents over the years

Leamington Spa has a rich history of producing remarkable individuals whose influence has reached far beyond the town itself. Among the most notable is Sir Frank Whittle, the RAF engineer and inventor of the jet engine, who spent his formative years in Leamington. He learnt his trade in his father’s workshop – the Leamington Valve and Piston-Ring Co. on Clinton Street.

In sport, world middleweight boxing champion Randolph ‘Randy’ Turpin was born here in 1928, later earning a place in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. The town also has a link to global stardom through actress Sophie Turner, who grew up nearby before finding fame in Game of Thrones and X-Men.