Abbey Street - Ye Olde Spa Inn

(Written by Wayne Anthony & Richard Felix)

In around 1773, a Dr Chauncey came across a mineral spring just off Abbey Street, Derby. Chauncey was an entrepreneur and seized the opportunity to rival places like Buxton and Bath. Simpson's History of Derby states: 'He put down a basin into the spring of it, to come out fresh: he built a cover over the spring which discharges itself by a grate and keeps the place always dry'. About 20 yards below the spa he made a handsome cold bath and some rooms to it at considerable expense!

Apparently Chauncey was only exploiting something which was already well-known. In 1611, the burgesses of Derby were already receiving rent for 'a watering place at the nether edge of Abbie Barne', so it appears that the commercial properties of the spring had been realised for at least 120 years before he decided to capitalise on them. Unfortunately Dr Chauncey died in 1736, and his spa seems to have died with him.

A double-gabled cottage was built on the site of the spa. It then became a farm and in the l9th century, a public house, which is what stands there today.

The buildings appear to be haunted, but whether by the ghost of Dr Chauncey, no one seems to know. On frequent occasions the landlord has sensed that he is not alone in the cellars, and on three occasions his name has been called by a strange voice when there is no one else there.

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