Harrogate, West Riding of Yorkshire
Historical Description
Harrogate, a town and a municipal borough in Knaresborough parish, W.R. Yorkshire. The town stands on the N.E.R., in Knaresborough Forest, near the river Nidd, 199 miles from London, 3 SW of Knaresborough, 11 from Ripon, and 15½ N of Leeds, and is so situated in regard to railways that it is easily accessible from all parts. It is a fashionable watering-place, visited annually by large numbers of persons, not only from various parts of Britain, but from foreign countries, and like many other places of its class it cannot boast of any antiquity. It acquired some celebrity about 1576 by the discovery of the first-known of its mineral springs, but it was then an almost inaccessible spot amid a thick forest on the wolds, and it was hindered by many circumstances from rising much or soon into public notice. The tract around it was of a character exceedingly adverse to its ever becoming a seat of population or a centre of commerce, and at the time when Smollett wrote his "Humphrey Clinker" continued to be a "wild common, bare and bleak, without tree or shrub, or the least signs of cultivation;" even yet it is comparatively so open, bare, and unsheltered as to appear to some visitors at first sight not very attractive. It is now well-wooded and planted in many of the roads. But the discovery of more mineral springs, many and various, the high repute which these obtained for medicinal virtue, the salubriousness of the climate, the effecting of great local improvements, and the existence within easy distances of numerous attractions of scenery and antiquities, eventually overcame every disadvantage of situation, and secured for the town the position of one of the most favourite watering-places in the kingdom.
The site ranges in height, above sea-level, from 326 feet at the Cheltenham Pump-room, to 596 feet on Harlow Hill. The town consisted originally of two villages-High Harrogate on the E, Low Harrogate on the W, lying nearly two-thirds of a mile asunder, but it now has streets and places uniting these, and forms the central ward of the municipal borough, and it has been described in regard to its general ground plan as " a huge quadrant, whose curvature is turned eastward, having its extremities expanded into two similar wings." The structure of it, as to streets and houses, is so peculiar as to make it look like a mixture of villages with bits of town and bits of city, and most of it, at the same time, stands completely open to the sunshine and the green fields. A non-enclosed common of 200 acres, called the Stray, also lies along the greater part of its S side, is open to the public for every kind of exercise, and has been drained and otherwise improved at a considerable cost by the Stray owners. The hotels are very numerous, ranging from first-class to small; the chief of them are among the most prominent buildings, commanding fine views, and several are very handsome. Many private houses for residents and visitors are also elegant. The pump-rooms, the baths, and the pleasure-grounds, are in good style, and form an interesting aggregate. The Observatory on Harlow Hill was erected in 1829, is a square tower about 100 feet high, with raised platform at the top, commands a panoramic prospect over a radius of 60 or 70 miles, and has powerful telescopes for examining the distant features of the landscape. There are almshouses, erected and endowed in 1868 by Mr George Rogers, for twelve aged couples or widows and spinsters. Other public buildings of interest are-the town-hall, theatre, the Spa concert hall and theatre, the Harrogate club, erected in 1885, and the county police and fire brigade stations. A golf club was formed in 1892. A statue of her Majesty was erected as a jubilee memorial, and presented to the town by the mayor. The statue stands under a canopy surmounted by a spire; the total height of the monument is 45 feet. There are two cemeteries, formed in 1864 and 1869, with mortuary chapels, and under the control of burial boards. The Public Libraries Act of 1855 has been adopted, and a free lending and reference library has been established. There is a church institute, erected in 1888, comprising a library and reading-room, where lectures are delivered during the winter. A market, erected in 1874, is opened daily throughout the year. Saturday is the chief market day. Christ Church, in High Harrogate, was built in 1831 at a cost of £4000, altered and enlarged in 1862 at a cost of, £3200, and restored in 1886-87; is in the Early English style, and has a tower with pinnacles and a fine reredos in mosaic by Salviati. St Mary's Church, in Low Harrogate, was built in 1825, and is also in the Early English style, with a tower. St Peter's Church, in Central Harrogate, was erected in 1875-76; is in the Early Decorated style, and has a chancel, nave, aisles, and transepts. The Congregational chapel was built in 1863 at a cost of £7000, superseded a previous one in James Street, and is in.the Decorated English style, with a tower and spire 130 feet high. The Wesleyan chapel, in Chapel Street, nearer to Parliament Street than a previous one, was built also in 1863, and is in the Italian style. Another Wesleyan chapel in West-End Park, a building in the Gothic style, was erected in 1880 at a cost of £10, 000. A Baptist chapel in the Decorated Gothic style, at a cost of about £9000, was opened in 1883. There are also a mission church at Harlow Hill, Primitive Methodist, United Free Methodist, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic chapels, and meeting-houses for Friends and Plymouth Brethren. There is an endowed school at Bilton for poor boys and girls in the township of Bilton-with-Harrogate.
The mineral springs are variously saline, sulphurous, and chalybeate, and notes of the analyses of the waters, of their respective medicinal virtues, and of the modes of using them, can readily be obtained from local publications. The Tewit well was the earliest discovered, is situated in South Park, and is surmounted by a fine cupola, supported by eleven pillars. The Sweet spa was discovered in 1631, ½is situated about one-fourth of a mile S of the Tewit well, and is covered by a neat octagonal building erected in 1842. The old wells were discovered about 1656, are situated at the Wend of the Crown hotel, were formerly covered with the cupola which now stands over the Tewit well, and are enclosed in an ornate octagonal building called the Royal Pump-room, crowned with a large dome. The Montpelier springs are situated in fine pleasure grounds at the E end of the Crown hotel, and are enclosed in a neat octagonal building in the Chinese style. The Montpelier baths, situated in the same grounds, were erected in 1834, are extensive and commodious, and have a handsome front with a portico, and a lofty entrance hall with a glazed dome. The Victoria baths were erected in 1871, on the site of the gardens belonging to the old Victoria baths, which were built in 1832. The Royal Cheltenham Pump-room stands about 200 yards NE of the Crown hotel, is a spacious edifice in the Doric style, opened in 1835, with pleasant gardens attached to it; has a saloon 100 feet long, 33 wide, and 27 high; is used as a reading-room, a promenade room, and for concerts. The Harlow Can- springs are situated near the Observatory, have the advantage of a quiet and secluded neighbourhood, and are adjoined by baths and a hotel. In 1894 the corporation decided to erect a new bathing establishment, winter gardens, pump-rooms, &c., at a cost of £63, 000. They also secured the property known as the Crescent estate for free public gardens, in close proximity to the wells and baths. Thirty-two sulphur springs, called the Bog wells, are situated to the W of Low Harro-gate, lie near one another and yet have separate and distinct qualities, and are considered as great curiosities. The Royal Bath Hospital is situated a little W of these wells; was erected in 1824 on land given by the Earl of Harewood; was rebuilt in 1888-89, and opened by H.R.H. The late Duke of Clarence; is used for the gratuitous relief of poor persons residing at a distance and requiring the benefit of the Harrogate waters; and has accommodation for 75 patients. A wing was added at a cost of £10, 000, by the munificence of the late Miss Rawson, to serve as a convalescent home, and has accommodation for 50 patients. Other spas and baths might be mentioned, but they are of secondary importance. New virtues in some of the waters were discovered in 1865.
The town has two railway stations at Harrogate and Starbeck, both on the N.E.R., a head post office, four banks, and it publishes five weekly newspapers. It was governed by twenty-one commissioners under the Improvement Act of 1841, until 1884, when it was granted a charter of incorporation, and is now governed by a mayor, two aldermen, and six councillors for each of the three wards into which the borough is divided. A commission of the peace was granted to the borough in 1885. Balls are held weekly during the season, at the Crown, the Granby, the Prospect, and the Queen hotels. The promenades in the Montpelier and Cheltenham rooms are usually crowded and gay. Billiard rooms, reading-rooms, libraries, and other appliances of recreation are abundant. The Bog Valley Gardens, opened in 1887, the Montpelier Gardens, opened in 1888, were acquired by the corporation and form fine pleasure grounds and promenades. Harlow Moor, consisting of 36 acres, is also leased by the corporation, and opened free to the public. Races were occasionally held till about 1857. Many places of interest are within easy walking distance of the town, and carriages of all kinds can readily be had for excursions. Fountains Abbey, Bolton Abbey, Bieveaux Abbey, Borough-bridge, Aldborough, Knaresborough (with its "Dropping Well"), Ripon, York, and numberless attractive places of less note, are within a circuit of 18 miles. The borough comprises part of the township of Bilton-with-Harrogate, in the parish of Knaresborough, and part of the parish of Pannal. Area of the municipal borough, 1268 acres; population, 13, 917.
The borough comprises three ecclesiastical parishes, viz., Christ Church, St Peter's, and St Mary's-the two former in the parish of Knaresborough, and the latter in the parish of Pannal. The populations respectively are 7965, 5453, and 2526. The livings are vicarages in the diocese of Ripon y net value of Christ Church, £250; of St Peter's, £442 ½ gross value of St Mary's, £700-all three with residence. Patrons, the Bishop, the Church Patronage Society, and trustees.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Yorkshire | |
Civil parish | Knaresborough | |
Riding | West | |
Wapentake | Claro |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
Findmypast, in conjunction with various Archives, Local Studies, and Family History Societies have the following parish records online for Harrogate, St Mary:
Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
---|---|---|---|
1830-1915 | 1858-1907 |
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Harrogate from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Harrogate)
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for the West Riding of Yorkshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Harrogate are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following West Riding newspapers online: