In June, Ripon businesses voted in favour of creating a BID, which aims to increase footfall in the city.
Ripon BID will have an annual budget of £160,000 over the next five years to spend on projects that encourage visitors. A BID manager is being recruited.
In the meantime, Mr Compton points to a number of positive developments already taking place, including the refurbishment of the Spa Hotel, the reopening of The Old Deanery Hotel under new operators and the imminent opening of the Claro Lounge, on a high street where voids are steadily finding new occupiers.
He said next year’s 1,350th anniversary of St Wilfrid’s founding of the city’s cathedral could provide a springboard to future growth.
Mr Compton, the owner of Newby Hall, whose own family roots in the area go back centuries, sees heritage, history and tradition as cornerstones to build on.
Ripon Cathedral celebrates its 1,350th anniversary next year.
He told the Stray Ferret:
“If our magnificent cathedral was in the Cotswolds, it would attract wide international recognition.
“Next year’s landmark anniversary gives us the opportunity to put Ripon on the national and international map.”
Improve the appearance of the city
Mr Compton said the cathedral, combined with the city’s museums, the ancient Market Square, Fountains Abbey and Newby Hall, provided a package of heritage and visitor attractions that would benefit the wider local economy.
He said:
“The aim is to promote and make Ripon more attractive as a retail and tourism destination and the BID can help in a number of ways.
“These range from improving the appearance of the city and making better use of Market Square as a public space, to enhancing car parking and lobbying for better wayfinding and signage.
“The signs are looking good and I’m feeling confident about the future.”
Rich history of Ripon church opened to visitors
One of the Harrogate district’s finest churches is to open to visitors and local residents this week after undergoing a £500,000 restoration.
St Wilfrid’s, on Coltsgate Hill in Ripon, will open from 10.30am to 4pm on Friday for the first in a series of four Heritage Open Days,.
The national programme sees historic places invite people to visit free of charge. The church, which opened in April 1863, is one of this year’s main attractions as it is considered to be one of England’s finest Catholic places of worship.
The grade II* listed building was designed in French Gothic style by the prolific York architect Joseph Hansom, inventor of the Hansom cab.
Features include stained and coloured glass, an imposing altar screen or reredos designed by Edward Pugin depicting scenes from the life of St Wilfrid and other fine statuary, carvings and artwork.
Windows in the tower were replaced as part of the refurbishment.
These include ornate medallions of saints above the nave arches by Salviati of Venice, and the side altar of Our Lady of Fountains, brought from the private chapel of the Marquess of Riponat Studley Royal after his death.
The marquess converted to Catholicism in 1874 – six years before becoming viceroy and governor general of India.
Born at 10 Downing Street, when his father Viscount Goderich was briefly Prime Minister, he was a towering parliamentary figure in Victorian Britain and a major donor to St Wilfrid’s and to Ripon, where he was elected as the city’s mayor in 1897.
An addition to the 158-year history of St Wilfrid’s is a dramatic holograph-style set of stations of the cross, commissioned by a benefactor to the restoration appeal.
Many local people and organisations donated to the fundraising programme headed by parishioner Barrie Price.
This, combined with a Heritage Fund lottery grant, provided the money needed for the restoration and will fund further improvements, among them better access to the church.
In addition to Friday’s open day, three more open days will be held on Saturday and Sunday and on Thursday next week.
Entry is via the front door steps or ramp on Coltsgate Hill and parking spaces are available in the church car park, accessed via Trinity Lane.
The Ripon chapel that survived medieval plague and modern pandemic
In Medieval times Magdalens Road was one of the principal routes into Ripon – a place that had grown in importance and religious significance from 672 AD when Wilfrid established the church where the city’s cathedral now stands.
That iconic building will be the focus of much attention next year. Services and celebrations are to be held to mark the 1350th anniversary since Ripon’s Patron Saint created the foundation upon which the city was built.
It is one of three Grade I listed buildings in Ripon, enjoying the same English Heritage (now Historic England) categorisation with the obelisk on Market Square.
That 82-foot structure, was built in 1702 and paid for by John Aislabie of Studley Royal water garden fame and, 18 years later, South Sea Bubble infamy.
In their prominent locations, Ripon’s cathedral and obelisk are two of the city’s best-known and loved Grade 1 listed buildings – but where is the third?
The answer takes us back down Magdalens Road and a small chapel that sits modestly in its well-kept grounds.
Founded by Thurstan of Caen, who was Archbishop of York from 1114 to 1140, the chapel is the only complete fragment of any of Ripon’s medieval hospitals to survive from the time of its foundation.
It had sisters and a priest, whose duties were to feed and shelter lepers, maintain blind priests born in Ripon, and give alms to the poor.
Anne Priestley, who rings the bell to beckon the Sunday congregation to the chapel
For Anne Priestley and Joyce Pearson, it is a building that they have marvelled over for years.
They live in the Almshouses of the Hospital of St Mary Magdalene, across the road and are two of the three keyholders for anybody wanting to visit and find out more about this hidden and historically-important gem.
Ms Priestley, said:
“This was the site of Ripon’s leper hospital – one of many created in England during the medieval period when leprosy was sweeping the land.”
In an echo, that comes all the way back to today, she said:
“The disease was far-reaching and a strain of it was thought to have been brought back to this country from men infected during the crusades.”
She added:
“Over nearly 1,000 years, this chapel has survived leprosy, the Black Death, plague, Spanish flu and now the covid pandemic.”
Keyholder Joyce Pearson, with her dog Eddie, says visitors are always welcome
Eucharist services, led by a roster of retired clergy, are held each Sunday at 10am and the chapel’s bell is rung for five minutes beforehand to beckon a congregation of up to 20.
Among that congregation is Ms Pearson, who said:
“We welcome visitors and most of them are amazed when they hear about the chapel’s history. It is very much one of Ripon’s hidden gems.”
Apart from the Sunday morning services, the chapel remains locked, but people who would like to look around it, can call on the keyholders who live at 44, 50 and 52 Magdalens Road.
Display focuses on Ripon’s Spa Quarter regeneration
An exhibition organised by Ripon Civic Society (RCS) emphasises the importance of the Spa Quarter to the city’s heritage and future regeneration.
The outdoor display panels at Spa Baths, the adjacent gardens, Spa Park and close to the Spa Hotel, will remain in place for the rest of the summer.
Richard Taylor, vice-chair of RCS, told the Stray Ferret that the panels are:
“Designed to spark interest in this important area of Ripon at a time of change in store for the Spa Baths and Spa Hotel.”
The baths , a Grade II listed building, were put up for sale by Harrogate Borough Council in February and are being marketed by property agents Sanderson Weatherall.
In June, after being closed for 16 months since the first covid lockdown, the 40-bedroom Spa Hotel was sold by the Hutchinson family to The Inn Collection Group, which has plans to refurbish and reopen.
At the time of its royal opening in 1905, the ornate spa building, was launched as a health resort.
However, its attempt to rival Harrogate’s famous spa facilities, did not materialise and it was converted to a public swimming pool in 1936.
With Ripon’s new £10million plus pool and refurbished leisure centre, scheduled by HBC to open within three months, the future use of the Edwardian Spa building remains in doubt.
At the time that Sanderson Weatherall’s sale boards went up, RCS pointed out that the Ripon Neighbourhood Plan identified the baths as ‘an important and accessible location for Ripon’s NHS facilities.’
The Stray Ferret understands that the NHS has no interest in the site. Ripon City Council has subsequently applied to HBC to have the spa building designated as an asset of community value.
The final panel in the display, raises the question ‘what does the future hold?’
The sixth panel in the society’s Spa Quarter sequence, says:
“As the baths site is nationally recognised as a listed building, the expectation is that it will remain.
“But what use or uses would be best for it?”
Post office to return to Masham in £1.5m heritage scheme
A new grocery store and post office is set to open in Masham next year as part of an ambitious £1.5 million heritage project.
As well as a grocery store and Post Office counter, the building will include an Edwardian-style tearoom, heritage and learning centre celebrating Masham and four affordable flats.
The project, which has received planning permission from Harrogate Borough Council, has been in the pipeline since autumn 2019 .
The building has been at the heart of the town for over 200 years and this renovation aims to return it to its former glory.
The £1.5m cost of buying and renovating the property is being funded by numerous grants.
The new grocery store will use traditional methods, such as selling items by weight and using limited packaging. The Edwardian-style tea room will reflect the one that existed before the outbreak of the First World War.
The heritage and learning centre will host workshops and activities as operate as a training space for local businesses.
Four affordable flats will also be developed on the first and second floors. They will be managed by a housing association and allocated to those in need of housing in Mashamshire.
Alan Hodges, chair of the Peacock and Verity Community Spaces board, said:
“Peacock and Verity Community Spaces is delighted that the vision and hard work of our directors, staff, and partners has been recognised by Harrogate’s planners.
“Our architect, surveyors, heritage and business advisors, and housing association partners have been working on this project for several years, and we are now much closer to bringing the whole building back to life.
Councillor Mike Chambers, cabinet member for housing and safer communities at Harrogate Borough Council, said:
“It is the first community-led scheme in the district to have reached this stage.
“We look forward to continuing to work with all partners as the building is restored to its former glory – a fitting testimony to Masham’s rich heritage.”
Historic link between Canada and Harrogate celebrated
You might not heard of him before, but today is Sir Robert Barrie Day. Sir Robert was a Royal Navy officer who fought against the USA in the 19th century and is buried in the Harrogate district.
The day marks the 180th anniversary of his death as well as the eight year anniversary of Harrogate and Barrie in Canada becoming twin towns.
Sir Robert saw service in the War of 1812 which was a conflict fought between the United States and Great Britain over British violations of U.S. maritime rights.
He then took up a post in Ontario, Canada to inspect a key trading route called the Nine Mile Portage. He settled there, calling it “one of the most beautiful places on earth”. In 1833 the area was renamed in his honour.
As of the 2016 census, Barrie’s population was 141,434.
Twinned
Barrie was twinned with Harrogate in 2013 at the suggestion of local aristocrat Sir Thomas Ingilby.
Sir Robert married Sir Thomas’s ancestor, Julia Wharton Ingilby, in1816.
In mid-1834, Barrie returned to England and King William IV made him a knight commander of the Royal Guelphic Order. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1837 and knight commander of the Order of the Bath in 1840.
Barrie retired in Swarthdale, Lancashire and was buried at All Saints Church in Ripley in 1841.
Barrie deputy mayor, Barry Ward, who was a guest for Harrogate’s UCI cycling event in 2019 said:
“Sir Robert Barrie had quite an interesting life, both as a military commander and administrator in what later became Canada.”
Harrogate is also twinned with two with Bagnères de Luchon in France and Montecatini Terme in Italy. Read more about Harrogate’s twin towns here.
Interested in history? Did you know that the Stray Ferret has teamed up with Malcolm to produce audio walking tours of Harrogate? The walks are sponsored by the Harrogate Business Improvement District (BID) and take you back to the Golden Age of the Harrogate Spa and a walk through the Commercial Heart of Harrogate.
Why not take a walk back in time and learn about Harrogate’s glorious past.. They’re easy to do and a great day out. For more information click here.
Harrogate library turns back time on town landmarks
Volunteers from Harrogate library have been turning back the clock on the town’s historic landmarks.
The team have worked with a local photographer to compare what Harrrogate looked like in the early 1900s to today.
Most of the work is currently on display at the library and will be until the end of July but the volunteers have also shared others on social media.
Our featured image shows the boating pool in Valley Gardens, which was taken by a Mark E. Mitchell in 1930.
It shows a few small sail boats in the water, which has clearly captured the imagination of visitors to Valley Gardens.
Today’s image, which was taken by Jonathan Turner, captures a much quieter boating lake in October 2020. The project has also captured life in the coronavirus lockdown.
The below image shows the former J.Chippindale & Co shop taken by Asquith & Son in the early 1900s.
Today’s image shows how the building is now occupied by the Cardamom Black restaurant, with cars replacing the scores of bicycles on display.
The building has stood the test of time.
The Then and Now project was funded by a £5,000 grant from Libraries Connected Yorkshire and Humber.
Using photo editing software freely available on the library PCs, volunteers were able to produce side-by-side and composite images.
Cllr Greg White, the executive member for libraries, said:
“We’re really pleased with how the project has developed at Skipton, Scarborough and Harrogate.
“I understand that feedback from the groups was extremely positive.
“They all enjoyed learning about the history of their town and connecting with its past, and gained new skills using the free photo-editing software.”
Did you know that the Stray Ferret has teamed up with Harrogate Historian Malcolm Neesam to produce audio walking tours of Harrogate? The walks are sponsored by the Harrogate Business Improvement District (BID) and take you back to the Golden Age of the Harrogate Spa and a walk through the Commercial Heart of Harrogate.
Why not take a walk back in time and learn about Harrogate’s glorious past.. They’re easy to do and a great day out. For more information click here.
For sale sign on Ripon’s Spa Baths
The ‘for sale’ sign has been put in place outside Ripon’s Spa Baths.
The move comes despite calls from councillors and Ripon Civic Society for detailed consultation to decide the future of the Grade II listed building.
Sanderson Weatherall, the property agents appointed by Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) is marketing the property under the heading ‘residential’.
But under a separate heading of ‘development proposals’ says:
“The property could potentially be suitable for a variety of alternative uses subject to planning.”
It then adds that HBC’s planning department has provided the following statement:
“Subject to planning permission and listed building consent, the re-development could include low density residential use, community uses and other uses appropriate to town centre locations having regard to the amenity considerations and constraints of the locality.”
Last month, Ripon City Councillors at a virtual full council meeting, voted unanimously resist the sale of Spa Baths for private development, after parish and district councillors Stuart Martin and Mike Chambers, told fellow members that the building was already up for sale.
Ripon councillors reject terms of new Town Hall lease
Ripon councillors have rejected new lease terms being offered for the city’s historic town hall.
The hall and other heritage assets were transferred into the ownership of Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) in 1974.
However, there has been no lease in place on the building for many years.
Elected members want to secure the council’s long-term tenure ahead of devolution- the biggest shake-up in local government for more than 45 years.
In addition, they are seeking to negotiate a long-term lease for Market Square South, which they say is an under-utilised public space.
Councillors say Market Square South will remain an under-utilised city asset if restrictive lease terms are applied to its use.
HBC is proposing that, as part of the service charge element of a two-year lease, Ripon City Council accepts part responsibility for the maintenance of the building.
City council leader Andrew Williams told a virtual full-council meeting
“Accepting such terms would land us with an open-ended liability.
“The Council is not in a position to accept financial responsibility for maintenance that could include large-scale works, such as repair or even replacement of the town hall roof.
“No commercial business tenant would accept such a liability and we will not accept it because of the potential financial ramifications for council precept payers.”
The meeting was also told that the current draft lease includes a clause which says HBC only has to give two week’s notice, if it wishes to stage an event on Market Square South.
This space is approximately half of the total area of Market Square and Cllr Williams, said:
“If Harrogate Borough Council has this preferential use, the city will be unable to do long-term planning for events on this half of the square.”
“The lease of Ripon Town Hall is still being discussed between the tenant (Ripon City Council) and the landlord (Harrogate Borough Council). Therefore we have nothing to add.”
Councillors voted unanimously to set up a working group to handle negotiations with HBC officers.
Ripon councillors unite to fight sale of city’s Spa Baths
Councillors of all political parties in Ripon last night voted to fight Harrogate Borough Council’s decision to sell the city’s Spa Baths
News that the city’s grade II Listed Spa Baths, are already on the market, brought an angry reaction from elected members.
At a full council meeting, Councillor Stuart Martin, the conservative Mayor of the Harrogate district, and Councillor Mike Chambers, cabinet member for homes and safer communities, confirmed that the building is up for sale.
Both men, along with fellow Conservatives and the controlling independent group on Ripon City Council, voted unanimously to support an urgent motion proposed by Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams.
Delayed opening – Ripon’s new swimming pool and refurbished leisure centre is costing in excess of £10.2 million
The motion aims to protect the Spa – in Harrogate Borough Council’s ownership since 1974 – from being sold to a private developer for residential or other redevelopment.
Councillor Williams told the meeting:
“I am utterly shocked and surprised to discover only this evening that this community asset, which is part of Ripon’s heritage, has been put on the market, with absolutely no prior consultation with ourselves.”
Councillor Pauline McHardy added:
“The spa was built for the people of Ripon and visitors and belongs to this city.
“I had previously suggested that it be used by the NHS as an expansion of the adjacent hospital and services that it offers, so people do not need to travel to Harrogate for treatment.
“We must fight to stop it being sold to a private developer.”
The original complex, located next to the Spa Gardens, has the distinction of being the last spa to open in England.
In October 1905, it also became the only spa granted a royal opening, when Princess Henry of Battenberg carried out the ceremony.
A reconfiguration of the building in 1936, saw the complex converted into the city’s first public swimming pool.
Ornate stained glass windows and other architectural features remain to this day.
At the full council meeting, Councillor Stephen Craggs pointed out:
“The building has fallen into disrepair and is in need of some serious maintenance.
“To lose it to yet another residential development would be a disaster – it must be kept as a community facility.”
Cllr Williams agreed, saying:
“At a time when our city is growing there is even greater need for us to have buildings that can be used by the public.”
Possible future uses could be a museum or a library. The Spa Baths has remained closed since the first Covid lockdown last March, while a new swimming pool is under construction at Camp Hill.
