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forest of Dean, are brought by a tram road, communicating with the docks at Gloucester.

The market on Thursday is amply supplied from the surrounding country with meat, vegetables, fruit, poultry, eggs, butter, &c., beside which the shops in the town daily exhibit the necessaries and luxuries of life in great abundance; meat here is remarkably fine, while from the proximity of the railway, fish of every sort in its season is always at hand; indeed epicures may meet with every delicacy that their fastidious tastes can desire at this London-like emporium; there is also a market for corn, which is sold by sample, on Thursday. Fairs are held on the second Thursday in April, Holy Thursday, August the 5th, 2nd Thursday in September and 3rd Thursday in December; and statute fairs called "Mops" on the Thursday preceding and on Thursday following old Michaelmas day.

The Hotels and Inns are of the first order and replete with every comfort and convenience; there is nothing remarkable in the structure of any of them, excepting the Queen's Hotel, which is a stately edifice of the Grecian order, adorned with Corinthian columns, surmounted by a handsome pediment, Occupying (with its appurtenances) the whole of the south side of Imperial square, and from its extent, position and magnificence, forms a prominent object, being one of the most imposing architectural ornaments of the town; its interior, capable of accommodating 300 persons, is elegantly fitted up and commands pleasing and picturesque prospects; immediately overlooking a nursery ground, a promenade and a drive of about half-a-mile in length, reaching down to the High-street, and planted with double rows of ornamental trees in great variety, whose waving umbrage forms on each side graceful and shady avenues for pedestrians. In the entrance hall is a handsome stone statue of her present Majesty in her coronation robes, sculptured by Mr. Papera, of this town.

Cheltenham possesses the advantage of railway communications with the west and north of England, by means of the Bristol and Birmingham line, the station being about one mile and a half distant from the town; at present passengers for the metropolis are conveyed by this route to Gloucester, thence, via Great Western rail. The Great Western Railway Company are now constructing a branch to unite with the

Gloucester and Swindon Junction line, thus avoiding the break of guage and circuitous route to the former place, leaving it about two miles to the west; a station house is now erecting for this Company on the far-famed nursery-ground of Mr. C. H. Jessop; but doubtless ere long a more direct communication with London, &c., will shortly be effected, parliamentary notices for the ensuing session having been given by two powerful Companies, viz. the North Western and Great Western, to construct a line to this place,—the first-named Company's branching from their trunk line at Tring, then by way of Thame, Oxford, Witney, &c.,—while the plan of the latter is an extension from their terminus at Oxford.

Cheltenham derives its importance and celebrity from its mineral springs or spas, which vary in proportions, containing chalybeate, aperient neutral salts, sulphate of soda, sulphate of magnesia and oxide of iron, and are highly useful in disorders of the digestive organs, indigestion, hypochondriasis, bilious and feminine complaints, visceral obstructions, costiveness, organic, nephritic and inflammatory diseases, cutaneous eruptions, scrofula, tumours, &c.

The Royal and original Well was discovered accidentally in 1716, and in 1718 a small thatch shed was thrown over it; in 1738 the property devolved upon Captain Skillicorne, who first built a dome over the well; and in 1755 the present pump room was erected, in order that the increasing number of those who resorted to the waters might be more suitably accommodated. This Spa is on the south side of the town, about a quarter of a mile distant from the parish church; the approach to it is through a double row of lofty elm trees, planted in 1743 by Mr. Andrews, from a design by Lord Botetourt.

Cheltenham was visited by George III. in 1788, who remained some little time, drinking the waters of this well, from which it acquired the appellation of King's well; his Majesty occupied the late Lord Fauconberg's residence (now Bay's hill house, until very lately a private academy); and such was the influx of visitors at this time, that for apartments let the preceding season at three guineas per week, no less than twenty-five guineas per week were received, and in consequence of the overflow of Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and Prestbury were crowded.

Cambray Spas. The carbonated chalybeate is the only one of this description here, and was discovered in 1807; it is situate in Cambray gardens, from whence the water is conveyed by pipes to the Cambray Spa pump room, immediately under which is the well of the Aperient Saline Chalybeate, 66 feet deep; this water was discovered in 1834. The pump room, situate at the south end of Rodney terrace, is a very unique and elegant Gothic structure, and has a striking and picturesque effect.

Montpellier Spa, about half a mile south of High street, was established in 1809, by the late Henry Thompson, Esq. who purchased the De-la-Bere property near the old Wells, and commenced making experiments on the medicinal waters obtained on the estate. The original pump room being found too small from the increase of visitors, in 1817 the verandahs which surrounded it were removed, and a handsome and commodious room erected in front of it, around which runs an elegant colonnade, while over the front entrance, leading into the pump room from the grand drive, is a lion couchant carved in stone, which has a very imposing effect. In 1826 Pearson Thompson, Esq. son and successor of the original proprietor, added the great rotunda, or magnificent circular room; from the ceiling of this elegant room rises a capacious dome, in the upper part of which is a lantern, admirably constructed for the admission of light. The diameter of the rotunda is 50 feet, and the height to the apex of the lantern 54 feet. The interior of this edifice is fitted up in the most splendid manner; the water is conveyed through crystal tubes, that are attached to the pump, which is surmounted with a beautiful model of the Warwick vase; the front of the counter is of Spanish marble, the chimney pieces are also black marble, while from the centre is suspended a costly chandelier; in fact the interior must be viewed ere its beauty can be duly appreciated. In this building concerts, balls, musical soirees, &c. are occasionally held. B. Papworth, Esq. was the architect of this structure.

Opposite the pump room is a spacious garden, having an extensive lawn pleasingly diversified with walks, shrubberies, parterres of flowers, &c., and sheltered from the solar rays by umbrageous trees of great beauty; here are also some splendid conservatories, stored with the choicest exotics; fronting these is an elegant Chinese pagoda, fitted up as an orchestra,

while at the extreme end of the garden an ornamental fountain ejects its limpid element, refreshing and cooling the surrounding atmosphere. During the summer season musical promenades, fetes champetres, &c. both morning and evening, take place in these gardens and Montpellier Walks, when an excellent band performs every morning from eight to ten, and in the evening if the weather be favorable. Contiguous to Montpellier and Suffolk Square is the

Park Estate, where is a handsome circular drive, 60 feet in width, and about a mile in extent, with promenades and plantations on either side; the walks and gardens are prettily laid out, and a lake, on which are many aquatic fowls, adds materially to the interesting scene. Around the park are a number of elegant detached mansions; in front of these are lawns judiciously planted with many varieties of evergreens, and crossed by serpentine or semicircular gravelled walks or drives leading up to the houses.

Pittville. This beautiful and improving quarter of Cheltenham is situate at the north part of the town, and was planned in the year 1824, when upwards of a hundred acres of land, the property of the late Joseph Pitt, Esq. were disposed of, under certain restrictions; the plan included a pump room, lawns, shrubberies, promenades, rides and drives, which comprise a circuit of nearly six miles in extent, and 120 acres of land, studded with elegant detached mansions, and highly respectable rows of handsome houses, while on either side of the walks and drives are well-trimmed hedges, overshadowed by many graceful trees; the larch, the birch, the weeping willow and wimpering ash, with here and there a proud laburnum's gold-like flowers, which seem to illume the various shades of green, so grateful to the eye, contribute to enrich the view. At the northern extremity of this enchanting locality, on an acclivity about half a mile from the High street, stands

Pittville Spa, which was opened on July the 20th, 1830, the foundation being laid on the 4th of May, 1825, a grand masonic procession being formed for the occasion. The style of this noble building (said to be in imitation of the Temple on the Ilyssus at Athens), is Grecian Ionic; its exterior is 90 feet in length, and 43 feet in breadth, surrounded on three sides by a colonnade 20 feet wide; the roof is supported by Ionic pillars, surmounted with capitals; over the

principal entrance is a colossal statue of Hygeia, while at each end of the wings are statues of Hippocrates and Æsculapius. In the centre is an elegant dome, 90 feet in height, richly ornamented with highly-wrought panels, and round its base runs a light tasteful gallery, encircled by an iron railing. This gallery commands a complete panoramic view of the town, while, if the atmosphere be propitious, the eye ranges over an expanse of country stretching away to the highlands at the southern and western extremities of the fertile vale of Gloucester, with the mountaius of South Wales in the distance, and terminated on the north and east by the romantic Malvern and Cotswold hills.

The pleasure grounds in front of this classic pile exhibit the grandest effects of landscape gardening, being elegantly laid out in walks, lawns, flower parterres and shrubberies, charmingly diversified with a rich profusion of choice evergreens and ornamental trees, and, to render this locality still more attractive, a verdant lawn leads to the margin of a lake, where objects of great beauty meet the view; its mirror-like surface being ornamented with a miniature frigate, and occasionally rippled by the rapid motion of majestic swans, which proudly float upon its quiet bosom, and greatly tend to animate the scene. Around the lawn is a grand promenade adorned at each end by a handsome stone bridge, the opposite shore is covered with flowering shrubs; the ash, the weeping willow and the drooping birch, break the line of the more distant parts:

Here rising boughs with summer's pride adorn
The tranquil lake, the ever-verdant lawn;
Whilst gently perching on the leafy spray

Each feathered warbler tunes his various lay.

Indeed every thing appears to increase the charms of a spot so rich in the combined beauties of nature and art.

The Montpellier Baths are situated in the Bath road, and contain cold, tepid, hot, shower, douche, steam, hot air, vapour, chlorine, medicated, and every variety of bath, constructed agreeably to the most modern improvements; all the baths are lined with marble or Dutch tile, and the interior of this commodious building admirably fitted up for its intended purposes; the swimming bath is 75 feet in length, and 25 wide, heated from 75 to 80°; adjoining this

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