There have been numerous schemes devised over the years to improve Harrogate. Some come to fruition, such as the 19th-century plan to develop a wedge of land called the Crookisnab between the villages of High and Low Harrogate, which resulted in our town centre. Others are not so successful, like the 1970 traffic management plan that included a flyover passing close to the Majestic Hotel.
But one that keeps cropping up time and again is the dream of creating a grand water feature somewhere in the town centre.
In 1946, the town council spent £100 on erecting a fountain to emphasise the importance of water to Harrogate, but it was soon turned off to save power and eventually scrapped.
A few years later, the council re-introduced a water feature as part of its reconstruction of Station Square, but that was eventually filled in.
Photo taken circa 1950 of Station Square, showing the water feature that was later filled in. Photo: Vik Lokie/Walker-Neesam Archive.
Then in 1992, when the area outside the Victoria Quarter remodelled, developer Speyhawk incorporated pools and fountains, but these too were later removed.
Just over a decade ago, developer Lateral unveiled a scheme to pedestrianise Parliament Street and reroute through-traffic via a hairpin bend round the Pump Room. That scheme – which failed to find much support – also included water features at various places around town.
Most recently, the original Harrogate Station Gateway plans envisaged water jets shooting vertically out of a plaza on Station Parade, but that part of the plan was also dropped.
The fountains that were part of the original Victoria Shopping Centre design in 1992 were removed a few years later. Photo: Walker-Neesam Archive.
But why the recurring interest in something so apparently inessential? A nice-to-have, rather than a need-to-have?
Well, it all comes down to identity. Look around most towns and cities and the reason for their location is usually fairly obvious. Some are on a defensible hill or a navigable inlet, and go to the heart of almost any large settlement and you’ll see a river running through it.
But spa towns are different. Towns like Harrogate have no castle, harbour or river, and their origin or purpose is not immediately obvious. A water feature, it has been argued, could remedy that, acting as a focus for Harrogate’s identity and embodying its Latin motto – arx celebris fontibus – a citadel famous for its springs.
The late Malcolm Neesam, Harrogate’s historian par excellence, clearly gave the matter a lot of thought. When asked by the Stray Ferret in 2021 how he would improve Harrogate, he included prominent fountains on his wish-list.
He said:
“The time is well overdue to provide Harrogate with some magnificent water features to celebrate its Spa past.”
He described his vision:
“Given unlimited funding, I would add something so spectacular as to make visitors arriving at the town’s centre gasp with wonderment.”
Of the gardens on Prospect Place, in front of the Yorkshire Hotel and Hotel du Vin, he said:
“I would introduce at least four multi-bowled cascade fountains to advertise Harrogate as the original Spadacrene Anglica – the English spa fountain – which would be illuminated at night, and of such a design as to ensure the minimum side-effects from wind. Along the low row of boundary stones, which separate the gardens from the footpath, I would add a long ornamental railing, which would be attractive to the eye and useful in emphasising that pedestrians should remain on the path.”
The intention would be to announce to people coming into the town from the south: “This is a spa town. Water is why it exists”.
At the last attempt, the general idea gained a fair amount of public support. In the second round of public consultation on Harrogate Station Gateway Public in 2021, comments mentioning the water feature element of the proposals were largely positive. A typical comment read:
“There should be a public fountain like in European cities. Water features are great for well-being.”
Another said:
“These are fantastic and interactive. They have been very successful in places like Kings Cross, Manchester and Bradford. Please include this in the final scheme.”
The fountains in City Park, Bradford. Photo: Creative Commons/Phil Champion.
But some were less enthusiastic, for example:
“Water features especially usually attract litter and anti-social behaviour (see Bradford and its lake, for example). Too many of schemes like this just produce what looks like clutter in reality, as opposed to pretty impressions.”
Another gave it a firm “no”, adding:
“It would be very difficult to prevent children getting wet and Harrogate is a windy town, so spray would blow all over.”
Andrew Brown, interim chair of Harrogate Civic Society, is inclined to agree. Speaking to the Stray Ferret in a personal capacity, he said:
“I was not a fan of that proposal. I quite like the idea of waterjets in public places, but Station Square was not the right location. It’s a relatively small space and fairly shadowed, even in the summer.”
But he does like the broader idea. He said:
“It would be very appropriate for Harrogate to have one or more water features, but it would very much depend on what form it would take. It could take many forms in different locations, and its form might also be influenced by its location.”
Sites other than Station Square and Prospect Gardens could feasibly include the area around the Cenotaph, Montpellier Gardens, Crescent Gardens (in front of the old council offices) and the heart of the shopping district, where Cambridge Street opens up into Market Place.
For Matthew Chapman, manager of Harrogate BID (business improvement district), the idea could provide a welcome – and Continental – boost to Harrogate’s social and cultural life. He said:
“We’d be fully in support of such a proposal that celebrates the heritage and traditions of Harrogate.
“If we look at some of the highest-performing European cities, they all have an excellent public realm offer. Cities like Rome, Krakow and Paris all have main squares where people can congregate, and where different partners – policing, the council, street cleansing – all work together towards a shared vision. Harrogate needs that too.”
Cllr Sam Gibbs, who represents the Valley Gardens & Central Harrogate Division on North Yorkshire Council, is more measured in his enthusiasm for the notion, but ultimately open to suggestions. He said:
“It’s not a terrible idea, but it would really depend on where it was, how much it would cost, and who would be responsible for it.
“I supported the original plans for the Station Gateway, and a key part of that was improvements like these to the public realm.
“I’m all for things that smarten up the town centre. If we can attract more footfall and encourage people to stay here, that can only be a good thing.”
He added:
“If it’s part of a wider conversation about how we encourage people into the town, as far as I’m concerned, nothing’s off the table.”
Read more:
- Harrogate Station Gateway plans now not set to be released until summer
- Harrogate set for colourful fountains and WiFi-charging benches
- Malcolm Neesam: How I’d unlock the potential of Crescent Gardens
