There were no caravans in Cromer 400 years ago, Benidorm's beach was deserted, and the Inca Trail was still in the hands of Conquistadors. Back then there were no holiday destinations because holidays, at least in the modern sense, did not exist. Holidays were entirely synonymous with religious festivals, rather than the rest and recreation with which we tend to associate them today.

The transition from piety to pleasure owes much to political, social and technological changes that have taken place in Britain's recent history. But the origin of the transition dates back to Tudor times, to prominent spa towns like Bath and Buxton. Spas, of course, are ancient inventions. It was the Romans, after all, who first put Bath on the map. But in the 16th and 17th centuries, the spa underwent something of a revival as the medical profession threw its weight behind the healing properties of mineral waters.

The early spa towns could hardly be called resorts. They catered for the sick and diseased, who came hoping to find physical and spiritual sustenance. If the hype was to be believed, almost every ailment imaginable, from leprosy and scurvy to fertility and melancholy, could be cured by a visit to the spa. At Bath, the waters were held in such high regard that Queen Elizabeth I was sent there by her doctors.

Royal patronage had the immediate effect of turning spas into health resorts for the rich. Lodging, shops, assembly rooms, theatres and bowling greens were built to meet the demands of a new clientele, seeking to recuperate from their exhausting lives of leisure.

However, it wasn't until after the Civil War, and the demise of Puritanism, that the popularity of spas really took off. In the second half of the 17th century, new spas began springing up all over the place. Epsom, Scarborough and Tunbridge Wells became established social centres for the upper classes, while London spas at Islington, Streatham, Richmond and Hampstead offered ideal weekend retreats.

Spas became part of the fabric of English life; they were self-contained centres of exclusivity, the Ascot and Henley of their day. They remained popular well into the 19th century, but were eventually undermined by the more sophisticated spas of Continental Europe, and advances in medical knowledge.