Learn about Ilkley’s rich history. Humans have lived here since the early bronze age and the Romans had a presence here. More latterly the town became famous as a spa town in the 19th century, with notable visitors including Charles Darwin, who came to take the ‘Water Cure’ at Wells House in 1859. The advent of the railway in 1865 bought additional visitors to Ilkley and a boom in the Victorian era, reflected in it’s beautiful architecture.