Boston Spa
Encyclopedia
Boston Spa is a village
and civil parish in the City of Leeds
metropolitan borough
in West Yorkshire
, England
, 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Wetherby
, on the banks of the River Wharfe
. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 4,006 and it is in LS23 (Wetherby) postcode district
.
In 1744, John Shires established Boston as a spa town
when he discovered magnesian, limestone
and sulphur
springs. In those days it was known as Thorp Spa. It declined when Harrogate
became very popular as a spa town.
In 1753, a turnpike
was built on the Tadcaster
to Otley
road, which runs through Boston Spa. In the same year, Joseph Taite built a house for the accommodation of visitors in Boston Spa that became the Royal Hotel, which is still standing, but converted into flats and shops. By 1819, Boston Spa had a population of over 600, and several inns and other houses offering accommodation. Spa baths were built to allow visitors to take the waters. On the east bank of the river lies the village of Thorp Arch
, which predates Boston Spa by several centuries.
Thorp Arch hosted a World War II
Royal Ordnance Factory
, ROF Thorp Arch, an ammunition Filling Factory
. ROF Thorp Arch closed in 1957. Part of the site is the home of the Northern Reading Room, Northern Listening Service and Document Supply Collection of the British Library
. The remainder of the site is occupied by Thorp Arch Trading Estate
and two prisons, now combined as Wealstun Prison
.
The Boston Spa and Thorp Arch Conservation Area
was designated in 1969 and extended across both Boston Spa and Thorp Arch
parishes. It was revised in 2009, restricting the boundaries to Boston Spa parish and reshaped to exclude Areas of late-20th-century estate housing to the south of the High Street as they are of insufficient historic significance to merit inclusion and had not been built at the time of designation in 1969. The current conservation area boundary focuses more closely on the historic settlement. The conservation area was also extended to the west to encompass West End, an area of dwellings constructed during World War II to house workers from the nearby Thorp Arch munitions factory. The War had a major effect on Boston Spa's population, society and surroundings, and these buildings stand as a testament to that history.
as the dominant building material is one of the key characteristics of Boston Spa. The stone most widely used in Boston Spa is fine-grained and lends itself well to high-quality ashlar
facing. Ashlar is,however, reserved for the highest status buildings and the majority of properties in the conservation area are faced with coursed stone, which adds an element of texture to the stonework not present in ashlar. Colour is also a significant feature, and the uniform palette of pale cream is a key characteristic of the village. While almost all of the 18th and 19th century houses are roofed in slate, pantiles are commonly used on subordinate buildings such as outhouses. Limestone slate or thatch are not seen in Boston Spa.
There was very little expansion of the village after 1850 until major growth in the late 1970s. This has resulted in considerable uniformity among the historic building stock and stark contrast with the post-war developments, which made little concession to the character or layout of the earlier buildings.
Boston Spa has a relatively large village centre. There is a post office
, a small library, a filling station and branches of Natwest and the Leeds Building Society
. There are three pubs (the Crown Hotel, the Admiral Hawke and the Fox and Hounds), a small Costcutter
supermarket situated in the former Royal Hotel (the former Costcutter being now a bar), and several independent retailers within the village centre (a butcher, hardware shop and several takeaways), with a small off-licence on Wickham Avenue serving the surrounding council estate.
is Boston Spa School
, the local secondary school
with a quite diffuse catchment area, typically taking pupils from areas which also feed comprehensives in Wetherby
, Garforth
and Pendas Fields
. The school is noted for its successes in sports and science
teaching, and caters for pupils undertaking GCSEs
, A levels, GNVQs and those with special needs
.
Other establishments with postal addresses of Boston Spa although sited in the nearby parish of Clifford include the children's hospice Martin House
and St John's Catholic School for the Deaf
which has a UK-wide catchment.
There are no colleges in Boston Spa, however Leeds City College
has a centre in Wetherby There are several further and higher education institutions in Leeds.
villas and town houses on High Street.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish in the City of Leeds
City of Leeds
The City of Leeds is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, governed by Leeds City Council, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough. The metropolitan district includes Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Garforth, Guiseley, Horsforth, Morley, Otley, Pudsey, Rothwell,...
metropolitan borough
Metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts, however all of them have been granted or regranted...
in West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Wetherby
Wetherby
Wetherby is a market town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Wharfe, and has been for centuries a crossing place and staging post on the Great North Road, being mid-way between London and Edinburgh...
, on the banks of the River Wharfe
River Wharfe
The River Wharfe is a river in Yorkshire, England. For much of its length it is the county boundary between West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. The name Wharfe is Celtic and means "twisting, winding".The valley of the River Wharfe is known as Wharfedale...
. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 4,006 and it is in LS23 (Wetherby) postcode district
LS postcode area
The LS postcode area, also known as the Leeds postcode area, is a group of postcode districts around Leeds, Wetherby, Tadcaster, Pudsey, Otley and Ilkley in England...
.
History
Spa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
when he discovered magnesian, limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and sulphur
Sulfur
Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
springs. In those days it was known as Thorp Spa. It declined when Harrogate
Harrogate
Harrogate is a spa town in North Yorkshire, England. The town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa waters, RHS Harlow Carr gardens, and Betty's Tea Rooms. From the town one can explore the nearby Yorkshire Dales national park. Harrogate originated in the 17th...
became very popular as a spa town.
In 1753, a turnpike
Turnpike trust
Turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal highways in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries...
was built on the Tadcaster
Tadcaster
Tadcaster is a market town and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. Lying on the Great North Road approximately east of Leeds and west of York. It is the last town on the River Wharfe before it joins the River Ouse about downstream...
to Otley
Otley
-Transport:The main roads through the town are the A660 to the south east, which connects Otley to Bramhope, Adel and Leeds city centre, and the A65 to the west, which goes to Ilkley and Skipton. The A6038 heads to Guiseley, Shipley and Bradford, connecting with the A65...
road, which runs through Boston Spa. In the same year, Joseph Taite built a house for the accommodation of visitors in Boston Spa that became the Royal Hotel, which is still standing, but converted into flats and shops. By 1819, Boston Spa had a population of over 600, and several inns and other houses offering accommodation. Spa baths were built to allow visitors to take the waters. On the east bank of the river lies the village of Thorp Arch
Thorp Arch (village)
Thorp Arch is a small village and civil parish near Wetherby, West Yorkshire, England. The village comes under the City of Leeds metropolitan borough. The village is set on the River Wharfe, has a primary school and public house. The village is in the LS23 Wetherby postcode area and has a Wetherby...
, which predates Boston Spa by several centuries.
Thorp Arch hosted a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Royal Ordnance Factory
Royal Ordnance Factory
Royal Ordnance Factories was the collective name of the UK government's munitions factories in and after World War II. Until privatisation in 1987 they were the responsibility of the Ministry of Supply and later the Ministry of Defence....
, ROF Thorp Arch, an ammunition Filling Factory
Filling Factories
A Filling Factory was a munitions factory which specialised in filling various munitions, such as bombs, shells, cartridges, pyrotechnics, screening smokes, etc...
. ROF Thorp Arch closed in 1957. Part of the site is the home of the Northern Reading Room, Northern Listening Service and Document Supply Collection of the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
. The remainder of the site is occupied by Thorp Arch Trading Estate
Thorp Arch Trading Estate
Thorp Arch Trading Estate occupies major part of a former Royal Ordnance Factory , ROF Thorpe Arch, in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England close to Wetherby. The trading estate is now divided into industrial and retail space. There is still much evidence of its former use around the site...
and two prisons, now combined as Wealstun Prison
Wealstun (HM Prison)
HM Prison Wealstun is a Category C men's prison, located near the village of Thorp Arch in West Yorkshire, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.-History:...
.
The Boston Spa and Thorp Arch Conservation Area
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
was designated in 1969 and extended across both Boston Spa and Thorp Arch
Thorp Arch (village)
Thorp Arch is a small village and civil parish near Wetherby, West Yorkshire, England. The village comes under the City of Leeds metropolitan borough. The village is set on the River Wharfe, has a primary school and public house. The village is in the LS23 Wetherby postcode area and has a Wetherby...
parishes. It was revised in 2009, restricting the boundaries to Boston Spa parish and reshaped to exclude Areas of late-20th-century estate housing to the south of the High Street as they are of insufficient historic significance to merit inclusion and had not been built at the time of designation in 1969. The current conservation area boundary focuses more closely on the historic settlement. The conservation area was also extended to the west to encompass West End, an area of dwellings constructed during World War II to house workers from the nearby Thorp Arch munitions factory. The War had a major effect on Boston Spa's population, society and surroundings, and these buildings stand as a testament to that history.
Architectural characteristics
Boston Spa is characterised by the predominance of Classically-inspired Georgian architectural forms. The majority of houses along the High Street display Classical proportions, with regular fenestration patterns and symmetrical facades. The use of architectural details is restrained, but details such as dentilled cornices and plat bands can be seen throughout the settlement. Buildings are predominantly two storey in height but this increases to three storeys in the core of the settlement. Dormers are not a characteristic of the buildings in the village.Materials
The use of magnesian limestoneMagnesian limestone
Magnesian limestone can refer to:* For the rock made of magnesium carbonate ie Magnesian limestone see dolomite or dolostone* For the traditional name of a specific suite of Permian age rocks in north-east England see Magnesian Limestone...
as the dominant building material is one of the key characteristics of Boston Spa. The stone most widely used in Boston Spa is fine-grained and lends itself well to high-quality ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
facing. Ashlar is,however, reserved for the highest status buildings and the majority of properties in the conservation area are faced with coursed stone, which adds an element of texture to the stonework not present in ashlar. Colour is also a significant feature, and the uniform palette of pale cream is a key characteristic of the village. While almost all of the 18th and 19th century houses are roofed in slate, pantiles are commonly used on subordinate buildings such as outhouses. Limestone slate or thatch are not seen in Boston Spa.
There was very little expansion of the village after 1850 until major growth in the late 1970s. This has resulted in considerable uniformity among the historic building stock and stark contrast with the post-war developments, which made little concession to the character or layout of the earlier buildings.
Local details
While many architectural details in Boston Spa stem from national styles of architecture, some locally distinctive details are present. Door and window lintels are formed of skewback (flat) arches and not single stones or timbers. Basket arches are a notable feature over carriage entrances. Small houses frequently have chimney flues and tops constructed from brick, in contrast with the stone construction of the rest of the building. This is probably as a result of sulphur damage to the original stone flues.Amenities
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, a small library, a filling station and branches of Natwest and the Leeds Building Society
Leeds Building Society
Leeds Building Society was established as the Leeds and Holbeck Building Society in 1875 and is now the 5th largest in the UK and serves approximately 650,000 customers. The society was renamed to Leeds Building Society in September 2005. It has 70 branches across the UK, with 29 located in...
. There are three pubs (the Crown Hotel, the Admiral Hawke and the Fox and Hounds), a small Costcutter
Costcutter
Costcutter is based in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Poland under which there are supermarkets and local and urban convenience stores. The banner also has its own brand of goods and products which are sold alongside Nisa Today own-brand products and branded products.As of December 2006,...
supermarket situated in the former Royal Hotel (the former Costcutter being now a bar), and several independent retailers within the village centre (a butcher, hardware shop and several takeaways), with a small off-licence on Wickham Avenue serving the surrounding council estate.
Education
Close by but actually in the parish of CliffordClifford, West Yorkshire
Clifford is a small village in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The village is 3 miles south of Wetherby. Many of the older buildings are built of magnesian limestone.-History:...
is Boston Spa School
Boston Spa School
Boston Spa School and specialist Sports College is a mixed-gender school aged 11–19 years old on Clifford Moor Road in Boston Spa, West Yorkshire, England. It is larger than other secondary schools in the area, with 1,880 students on roll, including 350 in the sixth form...
, the local secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
with a quite diffuse catchment area, typically taking pupils from areas which also feed comprehensives in Wetherby
Wetherby
Wetherby is a market town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Wharfe, and has been for centuries a crossing place and staging post on the Great North Road, being mid-way between London and Edinburgh...
, Garforth
Garforth
Garforth is a town within the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, in West Yorkshire, England. The 2001 Census lists 23,892 residents in the Garforth and Swillington ward - 80.57% of which are homeowners, 20% more than the average for Leeds. Garforth itself has 15,394 of those people...
and Pendas Fields
Pendas Fields
Pendas Fields is a private, suburban housing estate in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is considered part of Cross Gates, as is Manston. Swarcliffe is close, and Cock Beck runs nearby....
. The school is noted for its successes in sports and science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
teaching, and caters for pupils undertaking GCSEs
General Certificate of Secondary Education
The General Certificate of Secondary Education is an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is equivalent to a Level 2 and Level 1 in Key Skills...
, A levels, GNVQs and those with special needs
Special needs
In the USA, special needs is a term used in clinical diagnostic and functional development to describe individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. For instance, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International...
.
Other establishments with postal addresses of Boston Spa although sited in the nearby parish of Clifford include the children's hospice Martin House
Martin House Hospice
Martin House is a children's hospice in Wetherby, West Yorkshire, England. It provides care and support to families in which there is a child or children with a short life expectancy....
and St John's Catholic School for the Deaf
St John's Catholic School for the Deaf
St John's Catholic School for the Deaf is a school in Boston Spa, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, founded in 1869.The school provides a day or residential education for hearing impaired children and young people. In the primary stage it uses the Maternal Reflective Method of language teaching,...
which has a UK-wide catchment.
There are no colleges in Boston Spa, however Leeds City College
Leeds City College
Leeds City College is the largest Further education establishment in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with around 57,000 students, 2,300 staff and an annual turnover of £78 million. It officially opened on 1 April 2009...
has a centre in Wetherby There are several further and higher education institutions in Leeds.
Housing
Boston Spa comprises a mix of private houses and council houses. Most of the area's council housing is situated around Clifford Moor Road and Wickham Avenue. The east side of Boston Spa comprises mainly larger houses. There are many GeorgianGeorgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
villas and town houses on High Street.