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    16

    Dec 2022

    Last Updated: 15/12/2022
    Environment
    Environment

    Plans submitted to demolish Harrogate's 'little temple'

    by John Plummer

    | 16 Dec, 2022
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    The tempietto

    Plans have been submitted to demolish the 'little temple' in Harrogate town centre to make way for the £11.2 million Station Gateway scheme.

    North Yorkshire County Council has applied to remove the tempietto even though it is still assessing responses to the latest gateway consultation and has yet to make a final decision on whether the scheme will proceed.

    The application says the removal of the tempietto and restoration of the site is expected to be carried out in April 2023. But a council spokesman told the Stray Ferret this date was "indicative", adding it would only be removed as part of the gateway works.

    A decision on whether to proceed with the gateway is not expected until late next year.

    Classical design


    The tempietto, which is inside Harrogate Conservation Area, was built between 1988 and 1992 as part of the redevelopment of the area to create the Victoria Shopping Centre.

    Made of Jedburgh sandstone, its classical design was based on the work of 16th-century architect Andrea Palladio’s basilica at Vicenza in Italy.

    The government-funded gateway scheme would see major changes to the public realm opposite the train station to make the gateway to Harrogate more attractive to visitors and more accessible to cyclists and pedestrians.



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    It would also see part of Station Parade reduced to single lane traffic to accommodate cycle routes and James Street partly pedestrianised. Business groups and residents have voiced concerns about the impact on trade and traffic.

    A planning document submitted as part of the council's application says "the demolition of the tempietto would have a negligible impact on the significance of Harrogate Conservation Area". It adds:

    "Although of low historic significance, the tempietto offers some aesthetic contribution to the historic character and is sensitive to Harrogate Conservation Area in its use of materials."


    The planning document, which describes the little temple's condition as 'reasonably good' also refers to a 2016 character appraisal of the area, which said:

    “Unfortunately, apart from the paving of the area enclosed by the quadrant of Victoria Gardens, the opportunity to create an attractive, formal space was not taken and the area presents a very ‘bitty’ appearance with paths, low fences and hedges, and a thoroughly unscholarly tempietto.”


    Station Square

    'Bitty' — how Victoria Gardens is described.



    Emma Gibbens, principal conservation officer for place-shaping and economic growth said in a consultation comment on behalf of Harrogate Borough Council:

    "If the removal of the structure was not part of a new public realm scheme, its loss would be regrettable in terms of loss of visual interest, but could not said to impact detrimentally on the historic environment.
    "However, the removal is part of a scheme that will provide a new high quality public realm to this part of the conservation area and there is no objection to its removal in this situation."