21 November 2008
The Seventeenth Century
A Mrs Farrer or Farrow discovered the natural mineral waters on this site in the 1620s. Today the only visible evidence of these is the well set in the wall on the steps down to the beach on the North side of the Complex.
The strong mineral content of the water is readily apparent in the staining caused to the stone, the reason why the waters were originally discovered as they trickled over the rocks and stones somewhere near this site.
Mrs Farrer soon discovered the medicinal benefits of the water and by the 1690s the wells were famous and Scarborough had made its first steps not only as a Spa town but as the original English seaside resort.

