Woodhall Spa was founded in the 1830s following the discovery of a spring in 1823 that gained a reputation for having healing properties (see PRN 46429). The first spa baths were built in about 1829-30 and were replaced by a proper bath house and hotel in 1838-39 (see PRN 46430). The railway arrived in 1855 and the resort's popularity continued to grow. In 1886 a syndicate was formed in order to develop Woodhall Spa as the 'Lincolnshire Buxton'. In 1887 the syndicate employed London-based architect Richard Adolphus Came to plan the 'new town', resulting in a planned town that remains today as the core of the settlement. A golf course was added in 1890 and the town became popular for golf as well as the spa. The town's heyday was the Edwardian period, and it declined somewhat after the First World War although it remained prosperous. The railway closed in 1954, and the spa baths were taken over by the National Health Service in 1946 and were closed in the 1980s. As well as many original buildings including former boarding houses and hospitals, the town retains a number of original items of street furniture such as Victorian and Edwardian post boxes. {1}