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ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS CHAPTER I
THE DISCOVERY OF THE SPRINGS (1606)
In the history of many watering-places there is frequently to be found in the earlier historians some marvellous legend concerning the discovery of the springs that brought it into notoriety. Bath, for instance, has its prehistoric legend, as, indeed, befits the oldest spa in the kingdom. Its authentic account begins with the Romans, under whose rule Aquae Sulis (or Solis), as they called it, became a place of considerable importance. The traditions, however, go back so far as the British King Bladud, son and successor of Hudibras, and father of Lear. Geoffrey of Monmouth, writing in the middle of the twelfth century his Historia Britonum, states that " Bladud built Kaer-badus, now Bath, and made hot baths in it for the benefit of the publick, which he dedicated b 17 |
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