Spa Baths, Park Rd, Ripon, N Yorks
Posted by: 
bill&ben
N 54° 08.172 W 001° 31.647
30U E 596206 N 5999677
A plaque on the wall of the Spa Baths giving the history of the baths.
Waymark Code: WMRPNH
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/19/2016
Views: 1
The Spa at Ripon was a latecomer to the fashion of Spa treatments, being the last English spa to open. It was opened in 1904 to celebrate the tercentenary of Ripon’s charter. Ripon already had a sulphur spring in Stonebridgegate, dating to 1760,, but a spring in Aldfield, discovered in 1698, was chosen instead, the water being brought the 4 miles to Park Rd by pipe.
The site of the Spa was originally the Drill Field owned by the Marquis of Ripon. The baths were designed by Harrogate Borough’s Surveyor, Samuel Stead, in a sumptuous art nouveau style. The baths were opened on 24 October 1905 by Queen Victoria’s daughter, Princess Henry of Battenburg. In 1909 the Spa Hotel opened nearby.
The Spa was short lived, being in competition to its neighbour Harrogate, that could boast 88 springs. In the 1930s the Council spent £11,600 converting treatment rooms into a swimming pool, and in 1947 the Ripon Spa scheme was abandoned.
The plaque reads
Ripon Spa Baths : Built to mark the tercentary of Ripon's 1604 Charter, this was the last English spa to be opened, by Princess Henry of Battenburg in 1905. Spa water was pumped four miles from Aldfield. In the 1930s a swimming pool was added. The elaborately tiled entrance hall still retains its (now dry) pump basin from which patrons would be served the waters.
Blue Plaque managing agency: Ripon Civic Society
Individual Recognized: Ripon Spa Baths
Physical Address:
Park Rd
Ripon, N Yorks UK
Web Address: [Web Link]
|
Visit Instructions:
To log an entry for a "Blue Plaque," please try to include a picture of you next to the plaque!
Recent Visits/Logs:
| There are no logs for this waymark yet. |
|
|
|