Display focuses on Ripon’s Spa Quarter regenerationAn 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.
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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?”
Ripon’s Spa Hotel on verge of being soldOwnership of Ripon’s famous Spa Hotel looks set to change hands.
Colliers International, which has been marketing the 40-bed property since spring, reports it is currently ‘under offer’.
While confirmation of the sale to an unknown buyer is awaited, it remains unclear whether the building will remain as a hotel or be redeveloped for another use.
The Stray Ferret approached Colliers for clarification, but had not received a response by the time of publication.
The 16,125 sq ft Edwardian hotel was on the market for £1.5 million.
The hotel and its surrounding grounds.
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The Spa Hotel has been closed since March last year, when the first covid lockdown came into effect.
In July 2020, the long-term owners of the hotel, announced permanent closure after failing to attract an asking price of £1.75 million.
At the reduced price of £1.5 million, it was marketed by Colliers for continued use as a hotel.
The agents’ executive summary of the property said:
“This is an outstanding opportunity to acquire a renowned Yorkshire hotel in a desirable trading location.”
The summary added that the hotel, with its range of public rooms, has enjoyed ‘strong regular repeat custom based on its standing in the Ripon area’.
It has hosted business conferences, banquets, annual lunches and dinners and wedding receptions.
At the height of its popularity, the hotel was achieving net annual turnover of up to £1 million.
Its closure, made it the first major victim of covid in the Ripon tourism sector.
The Old Deanery Hotel, which offered 11 bedrooms, a meeting room and facilities for wedding receptions, subsequently announced its permanent closure.
The collective loss of more than 50 bed spaces raised concerns about the city’s ability to accommodate visitors and tourists staying overnight or for longer periods.
With Ripon’s reliance on tourism, city councillors and tourism bosses have been hopeful that the Spa would reopen as a hotel and not be developed for other purposes.
A Stray Ferret reader, who asked not to be named, said:
“It is so important to Ripon that we know as soon as possible if the hotel is sold.
“Importantly, we need to know if it will continue as a hotel, or if the site is being earmarked for development”.
Hotel closures deliver blow to Ripon tourismThe Old Deanery Hotel’s closure early next year, combined with the closing of Ripon’s Spa Hotel, is a double blow to the city’s tourism sector.
As the city slowly emerges from lockdown, concerns have been raised about its future tourism prospects with a reduced choice for overnight visitors.
Tourism in Yorkshire and Humber is worth more than the whole tourism expenditure in Ireland or Denmark, while the number of people in the region employed in the sector is approximately 250,000.
Visitors are drawn to Ripon’s ancient church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, known as the Cathedral of the Dales, and the city’s heritage includes the world-famous nightly Hornblower ceremony.
As operators of visitor attractions look to the future, there are concerns about the loss of the bed spaces that they provided.
Ripon’s Prison and Police Museum
Helen Thornton, director of Ripon Museum Trust, which runs The Workshouse Museum, The Prison & Police Museum and Old Courthouse Museum, told the Stray Ferret:
“Covid-19 has impacted all tourism sectors and it is perhaps too early to say what the long-term picture will be. The closure of two hotels in Ripon is very sad and the decision must have been really hard but understandable given the circumstances we have all faced.
“I think it has long been acknowledged that a tourism city like Ripon could do with more hotel beds to develop the cultural and heritage tourism offer further. Undoubtedly Ripon as a whole would benefit from more hotel beds.”
The trust re-opened its heritage attractions in mid-July and secured the Visit England’s ‘Good to Go’ kitemark for all the Covid-19 safety measures put in place to keep visitors, staff and volunteers safe.
Helen added:
“We are cautiously pleased with our performance in August. We didn’t know what to expect in terms of numbers but so far so good! We certainly did have tourists visiting who were ‘staycationers’, staying in the area in a variety of accommodation types.”
The trust has benefited from Heritage Lottery funding and works with organisations including Welcome to Yorkshire, Visit Harrogate and we other attractions in Ripon and the surrounding area, to promote the city-wide offer.
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Richard Compton, the owner of Newby Hall on the outskirts of Ripon, is also saddened by the loss of two hotels, but remains optimistic.
He said:
“There are many new ways nowadays through which people stay in a particular place to enjoy the tourism offer – AirBnB for example – and I hope that the hotels will re-emerge in some form or other as places that welcome visitors to stay so that they can service Ripon’s tourism offer.”
The Stray Ferret asked Ripon’s MP Julian Smith if he had any support to offer to operators of tourist and visitor attractions in his constituency, but no response was received by the time of publication.