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The religious turmoil unleashed by Henry VIII had profound implications for Holy Wells. For sites that had become synonymous with the miraculous and inextricably linked with Catholicism the Protestant rejection of shrines, miracles and 'Popish' dressing was a death knell. A more rational world was dawning where Wells had to have a demonstrably efficacious quality to survive, and visitation on other grounds was strictly forbidden. This is perhaps best illustrated in the gradual development of the Spa town from the Elizabethan period. Cities such as Bath once again became famed for the curative properties of their waters, devoid of superstitious acts such as offering a votive for a cure. The resultant success generated an entrepreneurial fervour in which the new scientific rationale that decreed that some well water could be efficacious saw many Holy Wells and wells such as those at Buxton, Cheltenham, Leamington and Harrogate exploited as substantial spa complexes.
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