Harrogate, Knaresborough and Nidderdale
Above: A Victorian illustration of Harrogate
Harrogate's name derives from Har-low-Gata meaning Grey-Hill-Road. The name Harlow is still remembered at Harrogate in the Harlow Carr gardens. The fame of Harrogate as a spa town can be attributed to William Slingsby who discovered spring waters (similar to those he had drunk abroad ) in a well at Harrogate called the Tewitt well. Today a dome marks the site of the well on the large open space in the centre of Harrogate called the Stray. The Stray at Harrogate covers 200 acres and was created by an act of Parliament in 1770. Before Slingsby's time, Harrogate was merely a village near the historic town of Knaresborough. Today Harrogate is bigger than its neighbour across the River Nidd to the east.
Harrogate the spa town, famous for its sulphur and iron rich waters. increased in popularity during the eighteenth century when a physician called Timothy Bight claimed the spa water at Harrogate had healing properties. It was claimed that the waters of Harrogate could cure almost anything including nervous tension, gout, rheumatism and lumbago.
The Tewit Well at Harrogate is found on the Stray with a number of other wells, notably the seventeenth century St John's Well . This particular well was named after a church, later replaced by Christ's Church in Church Square. It was the discovery of Dr Michael Stanhope and featured in his publicatiuon 'Cures without Care' Other wells at Harrogate include a Magnesia Well which was discovered in 1895. It is located in Harrogate's valley gardens along with many other mineral wells. Perhaps the most famous of Harrogate's wells was a suplhur well known as the Stinking Spaw which is now located within The Royal Pump Room, now a museum.
Knaresborough was perhaps, originally a Knar - a stump situated on a burgh or fortified site. Knaresborough is situated in a deep gorge formed by the River Nidd, about a mile to the east of Harrogate. The gorge is overlooked by the ruins of Knaresboorugh castle which was built in Norman times by a baron called Serlo de Burg. It was later rebuilt in the fourteenth century and the ruins date from that period. Many famous people are associated with Knaresborough Castle including King Richard II who was imprisoned here in 1399 prior to his imprisonment and murder at Pontefract castle in 1400. Over two centuries before, the murderers of Thomas a Becket used Knaresborough Castle as a hiding place for three years. The castle's life came to an end during the Civil War when, as a Royalist stronghold it was destroyed by Parliamentarian troops in 1646.
Knaresborough itself is a market town centred on a market place where a market has been held on a Wednesday since at least 1310, although a market is recorded as early as 1206. Today the market place is most famous for England's oldest chemist shop (Pharmacy) which started trading in 1720. Some claim the chemist's trade was started here in the thirteenth century.
Mother Shipton, the famous 'witch' of Yorkshire was born in a cave in Knaresborough in 1488 during a violent storm. Her name was Ursula Southeil and her mother, Agatha, died giving birth to Ursula. The birth was said to be accompanied by eerie screams. Throughout her childhood Ursula was associated with myserious events, such as furniture moving up and down stairs of its own accord. Ursula married Tony Shipton near York in 1512 and she became well known as a fortune teller. Her crooked facial features frightened many and she was thought to be a witch. Mother Shipton is associated with many famous predictions and is said to have foretold the Great fire of London and the defeat of the Spanish Armada as well as the invention of telegraphs and trains, although these last two predictions are now thought to have been fabricated in the nineteenth century.
Even if you don't believe in witches or Mother Shipton's prophecies, you cannot deny the magic power of the petrifying well near Mother Shipton's cave which can turn things to stone. Objects, notably Teddy bears and dolls are hung up inside the cave and the waters from the petrifying well gradually turn the objects to stone with their limestone sediment .
Apart from Mother Shipton and the murderers of Thomas a Becket , a number of other famous folk are associated with Knaresboorugh. Guy Fawkes once lived here, Edward III visited here, Oliver Cromwell slept in a Royal fishing lodge here and Richard II was imprisoned here. Other Knaresborough notables include William Slingsby (died 1634), the founder of Harrogate's spa who is comemorated in Knaresborough's church and Blind Jack Metcalfe (1717-1810) a violinist, road surveyor, forest guide and smuggler.
St Robert's chapel, carved into a rock face alongside the River Nidd in 1408 commemorates Robert Flower (1116-1218) a hermit who lived at in a cave here. He reputedly had a gift for healing. In a later century a shoemaker was murdered by a schoolmaster in St Robert's Cave, adding yet more to the superstition that surrounds this area. A strange larger than life carving on the cave , of a knight drawing a sword is said to be a representation of Robert. The body of the figure has a medieval appearance but his mosutached Edwardian appearance looks like it may have been added in the nineteenth century. Next door to the cave is a famous Knaresborough folly known as the House in the Rock.
Notable places around Harrogate include Wetherby to the south which is principally known as the location of a major junction of the A1 or Great North Road. To the north of Wetherby the road temporarily becomes the A1(M) motorway but only as far as Dishforth near Ripon. In the Dark Ages Wetherby was the farm or village where Wethers (castrated rams) were kept. Wetherby is officially part of Leeds.
Boston Spa to the south of Wetherby on the road to Tadcaster takes its name from the mineral spring founded here in 1744 by John Shires. The town is noted for its Georgian houses.
The River Wharfe lies to to the south of Wetherby, flowing east towards Tadcaster and beyond to join the Ouse near Selby.
Folifoot between Wetherby and Harrogate is where the sport of fighting wild horses (foals) took place in Viking times. Horse fighting was noted as a passtime carried out by the Vikings. The name could be translated as 'foal fight'. Spofforth near Folifoot is the site of Spofforth Castle, now a ruin but famous as the birthplace of Harry Hotspur Percy (See Warkworth and Alnwick) who was immortalised by Shakespeare. The castle was built in 1308 by Henry Percy.
The B6165 leass into Nidderdale from Knaresborough, passing close to Ripley Castle on the Harrogate-Ripon road. It has been the home of the Ingilby family since the 1320s. Nearby Ripley village was an estate village laid out by William Amcotts Ingilby in the 1820s.
Nidd, the river of Knaresborough gives its name to Nidderdale to the west and is a Celtic river name thought to mean 'brilliant'. Several unusual place names can be found in this area including Kettlesing, Kettlesing Bottom, Birstwith, Blubberhouses, Burnt Yates and Bedlam. Some of these place names are explained in the Place Names section.
The extraordinary Brimham Rocks can also be found in the area. The 20 feet high rocks have been naturally formed by many weathering processes. Other natural features in the Nidderdale area include How Stean Gorge, a deep ravine sometimes known as Yorkshire's Little Switzerland and the Stump Cross Caverns west of Pateley Bridge between Nidderdale and Wharfedale where the fossilized bones of large animals like bison have been found that lived here 200,000 years ago.
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