Less than four months after the opening of the Spa Rooms, the owner of the Swan Inn, Jonathan Shutt, took his regular morning walk down Swan Road past the Old Sulphur Well, which in 1835 was still covered with the open circular temple of 1808. On peering in to the well, Mr Shutt was alarmed to see that the water was far below its normal level, and appeared to be draining away.
The sulphur water was Harrogate’s life blood and its disappearance boded catastrophe, especially for the innkeepers and doctors, of which former class Mr Shutt was a leading member.
Gazing round the well, Mr Shutt’s attention was then caught by the activities of workmen, who were inside a shop which was at the back of the Crown Hotel, facing the publicly owned Old Sulphur Well.
On going across, Mr Shutt found that the workmen were digging a fresh well in the shop’s interior, and that this well was filling up with strong sulphur water. It appeared that Jonathan Shutt had discovered an attempt by Joseph Thackwray, owner of the Crown Hotel, to divert the waters of the Old Sulphur Well from public land into his private Crown Hotel estate.
The alarm was raised and some of the town’s leading citizens assembled to discuss what action should be taken. Shutt of the Swan was joined by Dearlove of the Queen, Frith of the Dragon, and Benn of the Granby, who as a body sent for solicitor Samuel Powell. Mr Powell was obviously the man to deal with the problem, as he was not only the most influential and respected solicitor in the area, but also the steward of the Royal Forest and the Duchy of Lancaster’s agent.
These men were eventually joined by Carter of the Prospect, and John Williams, owner of the Victoria Baths and the Spa rooms, who was one of Thackwray’s keenest rivals. The innkeepers’ case was not helped by the fact that the wily Joseph Thackwray promptly engaged Samuel Powell to act on his behalf, thus depriving his opponents of their best legal advice.
After several years of wrangling, and exhaustive tests at the wells, the case was tried at York Assizes in March 1837, heard by Baron Alderson, at which agreement was reached. Mr Thackwray would move his tenant out of the shop, and make it and the well over for public use. He would also agree not to deepen any other wells. In exchange, there would be no conviction.