History

Recent History

In 2003, Harrogate won a Britain in Bloom award in the 'Large Town' category. Since then, the accolades have continued to roll in. It won the European Entente Florale competition in 2004 and was listed as the UK's third best place to live, by a show on Channel 4, in 2005. It came fourth in the same competition the following year.

In 2007, the Great Yorkshire Show will be held in Crimple Valley, Harrogate for the 56th time. Running since 1838, the show is a three-day showcase of all the country has to offer including show jumping, marching bands, a cattle parade, beautiful Shire Horses, sheep shearing and the Great Yorkshire Cheese & Dairy Show.

Modern Day History

Harrogate leapt into the 20th century as a popular destination for English aristocracy and European nobility.

Betty's in Parliament Street is a famous classic tearoom dating from 1919, founded by a Swiss immigrant confectioner who got on a wrong train, ended up in Yorkshire and decided to stay.

The North of England Horticultural Society has been organising horticultural shows in Harrogate since 1923. The Spring Flower Show and the Autumn Flower Show are held each year at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate. For many, they mark the beginning and the end of England's annual horticultural circuit.

During WWII, Harrogate offered up its hotels as government offices for politicians who had evacuated from London.

The city has since become a centre for conferences and exhibitions. In 1982, Harrogate hosted the Eurovision Song Contest.

Pre 20th Century History

A long time ago, Harrogate was made up of two villages: High Harrogate and Low Harrogate.

During the 12th century, it was given borough status. At this time, it was a centre for agriculture and wool.

In 1571, William Slingsby discovered that water from Harrogate's Tewitt Well contained high levels of iron and sulphur - it was to become the town's first mineral spring. Following the publication of Edmund Deane's Spadacrene Anglica (The English Spa) in 1626, Harrogate's fame as a spa town grew.

Harrogate Stray is an area of open parkland running through the centre of the town. Built around Tewitt Well in 1778, its construction was an act of parliament. The act states that The Stray must stay fixed at 200 acres - so when a section needs to be removed, perhaps due to surrounding development, it must be replaced somewhere else. Today, the well is marked by a dome.

Harrogate's Old Swan Hotel is an ivy-coated 18th-century country hotel set in 81 ha (200 acres) of gardens - right in the middle of town. It was here that Agatha Christie holed up in 1926 to escape her marriage; the interiors have been spruced up and are now as handsome as they were when Agatha put her head down for a nap.

The Royal Pump Room in Crown Place was built in 1842 over the most famous of the sulphur springs. It is now a museum.