Boston Spa

Boston Spa
Boston Spa
Population	4,006 (2001)
OS grid reference	SE431455
Civil parish	Boston Spa;
Metropolitan borough	City of Leeds;
Metropolitan county	West Yorkshire;
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WETHERBY
Postcode district	LS23
Dialling code	01937
Police	West Yorkshire
Fire	West Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
UK Parliament	Elmet and Rothwell;
	List of places UK England Yorkshire

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.

History

High Street, Boston Spa showing the Crown Hotel to the right

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^[1] 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.

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 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 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

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. The Crown pub is due to close down in 2012 and be converted into flats.

Education

Close by but actually in the parish of Clifford 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^[2] 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 Georgian villas and town houses on High Street.

Events

The village has an annual Gala, usually held in June and since 2009 it has hosted an annual Beer Festival (usually in February) in the Village Hall to raise money for St Mary's CE Primary School and the Village Hall.