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The meteoric rise and fall of Llandrindod Wells typifies the flirtation that the Victorian age had with natural waters. Although the healing power of water from springs was recognised from Roman times, it was the Victorians who made a real industry from it.
The aim of this Earthcache is to provide you with an opportunity to explore the town rather than just passing through, and to think how a natural phenonemon can lead to a whole town becoming established, and then fade away within 100 years.
Spa towns exist purely and simply because of geology. Without the correct combination of rocks, springs would not exist and it would not be possible to partake "of the waters". There are many spa towns in the UK, and across the world. Some enjoy hot springs, others cold waters.
In the case of Llandrindod, it all begins with the underlying and surrounding rock structures. Essentially the town sits on top of a plate of rock formed over 430 million years ago. This rock is a combination of mud and ancient sea creatures which settled and then was crushed together forming a solid mudstone cap to underlying caverns. Next, and importantly, to the east are hills which are formed from volcanoes erupting approximately 470 million years ago.
Volcanic rock is porous, and this means that rain falling on the hills can filter down through the natural hollows in the rock to form reservoirs of water in the caverns. This filtering takes an incredibly long time, it takes thousands of years for water to reach the water reservoirs, and the water now emerging from the springs probably fell over a million years ago.
However the mudstone rock contains fractures, known as faults, formed during ancient earthquakes. These faults penetrate from the earths surface through the mudstone and into the reservoirs. As the water in the reservoirs is being constantly added to by the rainwater filtering through the volcanic hills it is under pressure, and through these faults it is able to escape.
The fact that Llandrindod sits on the meeting of two of these faults means that there is a surplus of springs in the surrounding area. Basically we have a massive natural siphon, water falls at a high point, sinks down to deep reservoirs and then is forced back up and out of the ground at points lower than the hills. As the water escapes it is drawing more after it, much like siphoning water from a sink in to a bucket. Thus we get the spa springs. These can be one of two types, either naturally flowing or those that have to be bored, forming wells.
The additional key to a spa town, is that these waters have been sitting in the rocks gradually absorbing the surrounding minerals over millions of years. It is the minerals that give the water its healing qualities.
The use of spring water as a curative goes back to Roman times, and there is evidence that the Romans knew of the springs around Llandrindod Wells. Later history records that in 1670 a spring was called "The Well of the Blacksmiths Dingle", supposedly after a blacksmith had treated an eye problem. Surprisingly though, Llandrindod did not exist as a town until around 1750, previously being a simply collection of farm buildings and common land. The sudden fame came from a book written by Dr Linden who had drunk from a saline spring and was cured of a number of illnesses. He declared the waters here to be of better quality than any others he had visited. While this recognition was the start for the town, it was really the coming of the railway in the 1800's that allowed the burgeoning of the town.
Spa water was used by the Victorians as "The Cure". Many spa towns appeared as if from nowhere. Often treatment was in the summer and lasted for a minimum of three weeks. Different waters were given depending on the condition, with saline before breakfast and chalybeate after meals. You could either be treated at the pump rooms and spa buildings or have the water brought to your hotel. Although spas can be viewed as a Victorian habit, spa treatment was actually available under the NHS up until the 1950's.
Springs included saline, radium, suphur, magnesium and chalybeate. The Chalybeate Spring is the only one left in the town that can be drunk from, and it was the only free flowing spring to be found here, all the other springs being from wells. Feel free to taste the chalybeate waters, but be warned, they are not for the light-hearted. Chalybeate is iron based and, as such, this water was seen as being ideal for anaemias and general debility. Possibly the most famous chalybeate spring is that at Tunbridge Wells, but Tunbridge did not offer the variety and extent of other mineral springs to be originally found here at Llandrindod. Radium springs, with a mild level of radioactivity, were used to provide vitality and youth as well as detoxifying. Sulphur, should you be able to put up with the smell of rotten eggs, was good for rheumatism and asthma, although the primary use was probably skin disease.
To claim this Earthcache, email the answers to me via my profile page:
1) Find the chalybeate spring. Looking at it, how can you tell that it is iron based?
2) Near the chalybeate spring there is a waterfall. What feature of the waterfall helps you understand how springs form?
3) Go to the waypoint, what structure are you standing next to?
4) Go to the waypoint, why might these be called "Temple Gardens"?
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