BRITISH TURF. 237 



place takes its name from the small river Chilt, 

 which rises at Dowdswell, in the vicinity, 

 and runs through the town in its course to the 

 Severn. Cheltenham derives its importance from 

 its mineral springs, the oldest of which was first 

 noticed in 1716 ; since which time various others 

 have been discovered, the last in 1803 by Dr. 

 Thomas Jameson, who has analysed the waters. 

 In 1721, the old well or spa to the south of the 

 town was enclosed, and in 1738, Capt. Skillicorn 

 erected over it a brick pavilion, built a pump-room, 

 and laid out walks for the accommodation of 

 visitors. 



In 1780, the number of lodging-houses amounted 

 only to thirty ; but since the visit of George III, 

 in 1788, Cheltenham has been rapidly rising into 

 note as a fashionable place of resort, and is at 

 present famous for the elegance of its buildings, 

 the extent and variety of its accommodations, and 

 the rank and number of its visitors, of whom, in 

 the course of the season, there are generally no 

 less than 15,000. The principal street is more 

 than a mile and a half in length, containing many 

 handsome ranges of buildings. Besides the pa- 

 vilion over the old well, above mentioned, and 

 which was enlarged by the erection of a new pump- 

 room, in 1803, there is the Montpelier Spa, the 

 pump-room of which is a spacious and handsome 

 rotunda, with a colonade in front, and nearer the 

 town in the same direction, the Imperial Spa, an 



