Harrogate

For the Borough of Harrogate, a local government district, see Harrogate (borough). For other uses, see Harrogate (disambiguation).
Harrogate

Harrogate cenotaph
Harrogate
 Harrogate shown within North Yorkshire
Population 75,950 (2013)
OS grid referenceSE303550
   – London 180 mi (290 km)  SSE
DistrictHarrogate
Shire countyNorth Yorkshire
RegionYorkshire and the Humber
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town HARROGATE
Postcode district HG1, HG2, HG3, HG5
Dialling code 01423
Police North Yorkshire
Fire North Yorkshire
Ambulance Yorkshire
EU Parliament Yorkshire and the Humber
UK ParliamentHarrogate & Knaresborough
Websitehttp://www.harrogate.gov.uk/
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire

Coordinates: 53°59′28″N 1°32′20″W / 53.991°N 1.539°W / 53.991; -1.539

Harrogate is a spa town in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa waters and RHS Harlow Carr gardens. Nearby is the Yorkshire Dales national park and the Nidderdale AONB. Harrogate grew out of two smaller settlements, High Harrogate and Low Harrogate, in the 17th century. Since 2013, polls have consistently voted the town as "the happiest place to live" in Britain.[1][2][3][4] In 2013 Harrogate was declared to be the third most romantic destination in the world,[5] beating off rivals including Paris, Rome and Vienna.[6]

Harrogate spa water contains iron, sulphur and common salt. The town became known as 'The English Spa' in the Georgian Era, after its waters were discovered in the 16th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries its 'chalybeate' waters (containing iron) were a popular health treatment, and the influx of wealthy but sickly visitors contributed significantly to the wealth of the town.

Harrogate railway station and Harrogate bus station in the town centre provide transport connections. Leeds Bradford International Airport is 10 miles (16 km) south-west of Harrogate. The main roads through the town are the A61, connecting Harrogate to Leeds and Ripon, and the A59, connecting the town to York and Skipton. Harrogate is also connected to Wetherby and the A1, by the A661. The town of Harrogate had a population of 71,594 at the 2001 UK census;[7][8] the urban area comprising Harrogate and nearby Knaresborough had a population of 85,128, while the figure for the much wider Borough of Harrogate, comprising Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon and a large rural area, was 151,339.[9]

The town motto is Arx celebris fontibus, which means "a citadel famous for its springs."[10]

History

Royal Pump Room

The name Harrogate is first attested in the 1330s as Harwegate. It seems to derive from Old Norse hǫrgr 'a heap of stones, cairn' + gata 'street', in which case the name presumably meant 'road to the cairn'.[11] For hundreds of years from medieval times to the Victorian times, Harrogate was a township in the ancient Parish of Knaresborough.

Before the discovery of its iron and sulphur rich water, Harrogate comprised two hamlets, High Harrogate and Low Harrogate. The first mineral spring was discovered in 1571 by William Slingsby who found that water from the Tewit Well possessed similar properties to that from springs in the Belgian town of Spa, which gave its name to spa towns. The medicinal properties of the waters were publicised by Edmund Deane. His book, Spadacrene Anglica, or the English Spa Fountain was published in 1626. Harrogate developed a spa town following the enclosure of surrounding lands in 1770, when 200 acres (81 ha) were reserved as a public common, the Stray, which has remained public open space.[12] To provide entertainment for the increasing numbers of visitors the Georgian Theatre was built in 1788. Bath Hospital (later the Royal Bath Hospital) was built in 1826. The Royal Pump Room was built in 1842. The site of Tewit Well is marked by a dome on the Stray. Other wells can be found in the Valley Gardens and Royal Pump Room museum.

In 1870, engineering inventor Samson Fox perfected the process of creating water gas, in the basement laboratory of Grove House. After constructing a trial plant at his home on Skipton Road, making it the first house in Yorkshire to have gas lighting and heating; he built a town-sized plant to supply Harrogate. After Parliament Street became the world's first route to be lit by water-gas, newspapers commented: "Samson Fox has captured the sunlight for Harrogate." After donating the town's first fire engine, and building the town's theatre, he was elected mayor for three years, an unbroken record.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Harrogate was popular among the English élite and frequented by nobility from mainland Europe . Its popularity declined after the First World War. During the Second World War, Harrogate's large hotels accommodated government offices evacuated from London paving the way for the town to become a commercial, conference, and exhibition centre.

In 1893 Harrogate doctor George Oliver was the first to observe the effect of adrenaline on the circulation.

Former employers in the town were the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB), the Milk Marketing Board and ICI who occupied offices and laboratories at Hornbeam Park where Crimplene was invented in the 1950s and named after the nearby Crimple Valley and beck.

In 2007, two metal detectorists found the Harrogate hoard, a 10th-century Viking treasure hoard, near Harrogate. The hoard contains almost 700 coins and other items from as far away as Afghanistan. The hoard was described by the British Museum as the most important find of its type in Britain for 150 years.[13]

Governance

Harrogate Town Hall

The MP for the Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency is Andrew Jones, a Conservative. He was elected in 2010, ousting the Liberal Democrats who had won the seat at the previous three general elections.[14] The town is part of Harrogate Borough Council, which since the 2010 election has had a Conservative majority.[15]

Harrogate is twinned with:

Geography

The town is a dormitory town for commuters working in Leeds and Bradford.[17][18] Harrogate is prosperous and has some of the highest property prices in England, with many properties in the town and surrounding villages valued at £1 million or more.[19]

Harrogate is situated on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, with the Vale of York to the east and the upland Yorkshire Dales to the west and north-west. It has a dry and mild climate, typical of places in the rain shadow of the Pennines. It is on the A59 from Skipton to York. At an altitude of between 100 and 200 metres, Harrogate is higher than many English settlements. It has an average minimum temperature in January of slightly below 0 °C (32 °F) and an average maximum in July and August of 20 °C (68 °F).[20]

 NW: Pateley Bridge Ripon NE: Boroughbridge
Skipton Knaresborough, York
   Harrogate  
SW: Otley Leeds SE: Wetherby

Divisions

Curtain and orchestra pit of the Harrogate Theatre

Economy

Hotels such as the Majestic now serve Harrogate's conference industry

Harrogate has a strong and varied economy. The conference and exhibition industry is the focus of the town's business, with Harrogate International Centre[21] the third largest fully integrated conference and exhibition centre in the UK, and one of the largest in Europe.[22] It brings in over £150 million to the local economy every year and attracts in excess of 350,000 business visitors annually.[23] The town is home to the Great Yorkshire Showground and Pavilions of Harrogate, which are major conference destinations.

The Great Yorkshire Showground is the hub of the regional agricultural industry, hosted by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society. The Great Yorkshire Show, Countryside Live and the twice yearly Harrogate Flower Shows take place there annually.

The many business visitors to Harrogate sustain a number of large hotels, some originally built for visitors to the Spa.

Harrogate's main shopping district is focused on Cambridge Street, Oxford Street, Beulah Street and James Street where most of the high street shops can be found. There is a wide range of boutique and designer shopping on Parliament Street and in the Montpellier Quarter, as well as independent shopping around Commercial Street.

Eating out is popular in Harrogate, and the town well served by restaurants. Parliament Street and Cheltenham Parade are lined with many independent and chain restaurants, while there is also a concentration of chain restaurants on John Street and Albert Street.

Landmarks

Cambridge Street, Harrogate
Betty's is one of Harrogate's best known landmarks

There are many fine examples of architecture about the town. The only Grade I listed building in Harrogate is St Wilfrid, Duchy Road, which was designed by the architect Temple Lushington Moore and is often considered to be his masterpiece.[24] Another main landmark is the Royal Hall theatre, a Grade II listed building designed by Frank Matcham.[25] As the only surviving Kursaal in Britain, the Royal Hall is an important national heritage building.[26] Restoration work was completed in 2007, and the hall was reopened on 22 January 2008, by The Prince of Wales.[27]

The Royal Pump Room houses Europe's strongest sulphur well,[28] but is now a museum showcasing the town's spa history.

Two military installations are located to the west of Harrogate, the Army Foundation College and RAF Menwith Hill, an electronic monitoring station.

Montpellier Quarter

Bettys Tea Rooms are regionally renowned. They are owned by Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate - the same company that makes Yorkshire Tea. Bettys has a second tea room at the RHS Harlow Carr Gardens.[29]

The Mercer Art Gallery[30] is home to Harrogate district's art collection which consists of some 2,000 works of art, mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries. The collection includes works by William Powell Frith, Atkinson Grimshaw, Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Dame Laura Knight, Alan Davie and many more.

The Montpellier Quarter is the centre of the town's nightlife, which is mainly centred on the renovated Royal Baths development.

Parks and gardens

The Valley Gardens, in Low Harrogate, is the town's main park and covers much of the area originally known as 'Bogs Field', where a number of springs were discovered. Valley Gardens has an ice cream parlour, children's play area with outdoor paddling pool, a skate park, frisbee golf and also crazy golf and mini golf. The Sun Pavilion at the northern edge of the park can be privately hired. Tennis courts and a bowling green are located in the west of the park. The Friends Of Valley Gardens group was formed in 2009 to support the park. It works in partnership with Harrogate Borough Council to guide the park’s future development.

The Stray is an area of open parkland in the centre of the town. It was created in 1778 to link most of Harrogate's springs in one protected area by an act of Parliament which fixed its area as 200 acres (81 ha), and even now when part is removed, e.g. due to road widening, it must be replaced elsewhere. During the Victorian period, there was a racecourse for horses there.

RHS Harlow Carr gardens, on the western edge of Harrogate, are award-winning themed gardens and are the Royal Horticultural Society's main presence and representative in the North of England.

Crescent Gardens is a small open area in central Harrogate surrounded by some of the town's main tourist attractions including the Royal Pump Room, Royal Baths and Royal Hall, as well as the Town Hall. Hall M of the Harrogate International Centre also fronts onto Crescent Gardens.

The town has several smaller parks and gardens, including The Softpot Garden at Grove House, the Jubilee Gardens and Victoria Gardens on the eastern side of central Harrogate.

Culture

On 11 January 1900, Harrogate Grand Opera House, now Harrogate Theatre opened with a charity gala in aid of British soldiers fighting the Boer War in South Africa followed on 13 January 1900 by Mr J Tully’s pantomime, “Dick Whittington”.

In 1966, the Harrogate Festival of Arts & Science was established, now known as the Harrogate International Festivals and the North of England's leading arts festival [31] incorporating a number of festivals within the portfolio including the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival & Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival, Harrogate Music Festival and a number of year-round events within the portfolio.

The town hosted the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest in the conference centre.

Harrogate won the 2003 Britain in Bloom in the category of 'Large Town' and the European Entente Florale in 2004 reprising its win in the first Entente Florale in 1977. Harrogate was a gold medal winner of Europe in Bloom in 2004. In 2005, a Channel 4 TV show listed Harrogate as the UK's third best place to live. In 2006 it came fourth in the same league; the programme claimed that it placed lower due to "a slight dip in exam results", although presenter Phil Spencer noted that it was his personal favourite.[32]

Sport

The Olympic Cauldron for the 2012 London Olympics was built in a ‘Bond Gadget Workshop’ in Harrogate, said designer Thomas Heatherwick.[33]

On 5 July 2014, Harrogate served as the finish line of the first stage[34] of the Tour de France. The event attracted record crowds to the town centre and was televised to a global audience. British cyclist Mark Cavendish was forced to exit the race when he crashed a few metres from the finish line and suffered a dislocated shoulder [35]

Transport

Rail

Harrogate station's platforms and tracks, seen from the pedestrian bridge

The town is served by four railway stations; Harrogate (for town centre), Hornbeam Park, Pannal (towards Leeds) and Starbeck on the Harrogate Line to Knaresborough and York. Trains are operated by Northern Rail. Trains run every half-hour to Leeds and Knaresborough, and every hour onto York. There are extra non-stop commuter services at peak times between Harrogate and Leeds.

There is one daily weekday service to London King's Cross operated by Virgin Trains East Coast.

The former railway lines to Ripon and Wetherby (see Wetherby railway station) were dismantled in the 1960s. A prospective railway company, First Harrogate Trains, proposed to run trains from London King's Cross to Harrogate,[36] but failed to get approval in a process that ended in February 2009.

Ripon Railway from Harrogate

The Ripon line was closed to passengers on 6 March 1967 and to freight on 5 September 1969 as part of the wider Beeching Axe, despite a vigorous campaign by local campaigners, including the city's MP.[37] Today much of the route of the line through the city is now a relief road and although the former station still stands, it is now surrounded by a new housing development. The issue remains a significant one in local politics and there are movements wanting to restore the line.[37] Reports suggest the reopening of a line between Ripon and Harrogate railway station would be economically viable, costing £40 million and could initially attract 1,200 passengers a day, rising to 2,700.[37][38][39] Campaigners call on MPs to restore Ripon railway link.[40]

A61 Station Parade, Harrogate

Buses

Buses are every 15 minutes between Harrogate, Ripon and Leeds (via Harewood, Moortown and Chapel Allerton) on route 36. The 770 route also runs to Leeds via Wetherby, Boston Spa and Seacroft as well as other parts of semi-rural Leeds. There are also services to Otley, Bradford, Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge.

Harrogate is strongly connected to Leeds, in both rail and road transport. This is also evident in the volume of high school students coming from Leeds to Harrogate every day. The strong transport connection is very important for some of the Harrogate schools, especially Rossett School. Road transport to Leeds is via the A61 (north and central Leeds), A658 (north-west Leeds/Leeds Bradford International Airport) and A661 (for north-east Leeds). The A61 also continues northwards to Ripon, while the A658 connects to Bradford after passing through north-west Leeds. The A658 also forms the Harrogate Bypass that skirts the south and east of the town, joining the A59 linking York and the A1(M) to the east and Skipton to the west with Harrogate.

Airports

The nearest airport is Leeds Bradford International Airport, 10 miles (16 km) to the south-west, to which there are bus services on route 747. It is located near to Horsforth station on the Harrogate Line. Manchester Airport is also accessible by rail via Leeds railway station.

Harrogate Linton-On-Ouse (HRT) is a military airfield located approximately 15 miles to the east in Linton-on-Ouse.

Education

Media

Notable statistics

In 2012, Harrogate had the highest concentration of drink drivers in the UK.[43] A March 2013 survey from the British property website Rightmove ranked Harrogate as the "happiest place" to live in the United Kingdom, an acclaim repeated in 2014 and 2015.[44] Harrogate District Hospital also has the best cancer care of any hospital in England.[45]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Harrogate named as happiest place to live in Britain", BBC, 6 August 2015
  2. ↑ Collinson, Patrick; Norton, Jim. "Harrogate is 'happiest town' to live in in the UK | Money". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  3. ↑ "The happiest place in Britain? Harrogate: Residents from North Yorkshire town are most satisfied with where they live". Daily Mail (London).
  4. ↑ "Best places to live in the UK - our top 30". housetohome.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  5. ↑ "Harrogate tops the City of Love". Harrogate Advertiser. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "Harrogate Third Most Romantic Destination – In The World!". Visit Harrogate. 12 February 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  7. ↑ Office for National Statistics : Neighbourhood Statistics Retrieved 18 September 2009
  8. ↑ The population of the Harrogate Unparished Area is derived from the totals for Bilton; Granby; Harlow Moor; High Harrogate; Hookstone; Low Harrogate; New Park; Pannal; Rossett; Saltergate; Starbeck; Stray; and Woodfield wards then subtracting that part of Killinghall Civil Parish within Saltergate Ward. The population for the portion of Killinghall Civil Parish is derived from subtracting the populations of Nidd and Ripley Civil Parishes from the total for Killinghall ward. This gives the portion of Killinghall Civil Parish in Killinghall Ward; this is then subtracted from the total for Killinghall Civil Parish to give the total for the portion of Killinghall Civil Parish in Saltergate Ward.
  9. ↑ "North Yorkshire population information". North Yorkshire County Council. 19 December 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  10. ↑ M2 (9 December 2003). "Harrogate". Bottled Water of the World. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
  11. ↑ Victor Watts (ed.), The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), s.v. HARROGATE.
  12. ↑ Harrogate Borough Council: the Stray
  13. ↑ "Viking treasure hoard uncovered". BBC News. 19 July 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
  14. ↑ "UKPollingReport Election Guide 2010 » Harrogate and Knaresborough". ukpollingreport.co.uk.
  15. ↑ "Harrogate". BBC News Online. 19 April 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  16. ↑ "International partnership between City of Barrie, Canada and the Harrogate district". Harrogate Borough Council. 7 June 2013. Archived from the original on 2 August 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  17. ↑ "Rail misery for commuters". harrogateadvertiser.net.
  18. ↑ untitled
  19. ↑ "The most expensive streets in Yorkshire and the Humber 2008". The Times (London). 19 February 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
  20. ↑ "Harrogate Historical Weather Conditions". Uk.weather.com. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  21. ↑ "Harrogate International Centre". harrogateinternationalcentre.co.uk.
  22. ↑ Harrogateinternationalcentre.co.uk Archived 10 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  23. ↑ What HIC means to Harrogate Harrogate International Centre
  24. ↑ Pevsner, Nikolaus (1967). The Buildings of England. Yorkshire: The West Riding (2nd ed.). London: Penguin Books. p. 248. ISBN 0 14 071017 5.
  25. ↑ "Harrogate International Centre". Royal Hall. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  26. ↑ "Harrogate.co.uk - Guide to Harrogate B&Bs, Hotels, Restaurants & Attractions". harrogate.co.uk.
  27. ↑ "Prince reopens saved Royal Hall". BBC News. 22 January 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
  28. ↑ "The Royal Pump Room Museum on". Aboutbritain.com. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  29. ↑ "Harrogate". bettys.co.uk.
  30. ↑ Mercer Art Gallery
  31. ↑ "An arts festival truly for all". harrogateadvertiser.co.uk.
  32. ↑ "Channel 4 Best & Worst". channel4.com.
  33. ↑ "Olympic Cauldron Built In 'Bond Gadget Workshop', Says Designer Thomas Heatherwick". The Huffingham Post. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  34. ↑ See also : http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2014/us/stage-1.html
  35. ↑ "Tour de France: Mark Cavendish recovering well after crash". BBC Sport.
  36. ↑ First Group -Harrogate Trains
  37. 1 2 3 "Reopening line makes economic sense, says study". NorthernEcho.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  38. ↑ "Backing for restoring rail link". BBC News Online (BBC). 11 May 2004. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
  39. ↑ "Railway plan may be back on track". ThisIsTheNorthEast.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  40. ↑ "Campaigners call on MPs to restore Ripon railway link". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  41. ↑ "Transfer of activities at Harrogate College from Leeds Metropolitan University to Hull College", Hull College website, accessed 28 August 2008
  42. ↑ "Harrogate Ladies' College - Independent School Harrogate". HLC.
  43. ↑ "Harrogate tops drink-driver list". BBC News. 7 December 2012.
  44. ↑ "Harrogate is the UK's happiest place to call home". Rightmove.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  45. ↑ "Harrogate District Hospital - Harrogate Still Number 1 in England for Cancer Care". Hdft.nhs.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  46. ↑ Mullender, Richard: "Nicola Lacey, A Life of H.L.A. Hart: the Nightmare and the Noble Dream - H.L.A. Hart in Anglo-American Context", Web Journal of Current Legal Issues (review 2007). Oxford University Press, (2004). ISBN 978-0-19-920277-5
  47. ↑ "Corporal Charles Hull". Harrogate People and Places. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  48. ↑ "Second Lieutenant Donald Simpson Bell". Harrogate People and Places. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  49. ↑ Levine, Nick: "Utah Saints", Digital Spy, 14 March 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2008

External links

Media related to Harrogate, North Yorkshire at Wikimedia Commons

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Harrogate.
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