Within easy reach of LS17, the landscapes of Wetherby and Boston Spa offer the perfect day out destination. Eclectic retail, buzzing bars and restaurants, and plenty of history.
Wetherby’s history goes right back to the Bronze Age when the Romans settled just south of the town, but it was really in the medieval period that Wetherby rose to prominence when Archbishop de Grey built the town’s bridge in 1233-35, where a memorial to the 71 men of Wetherby who died in WWI stands today. The memorial takes the form of a winged Victory holding aloft a laurel wreath, standing on a stone plinth and designed by the sculptor Louis Frederick Roslyn.
During the civil war between supporters of King Stephen and Queen Maud in the mid-12th century, the Percy family built a castle overlooking the bridge, but when Henry II took the throne, the castle was demolished. The remains lie in the grounds of a private house.
The 18th and 19th century saw the town prosper, its half way point between London and Edinburgh a perfect stop for coach travellers, leading to many inns with stables opening, and the current number of pubs today.
The parish church was built in 1839 and evolved with a moving memorial to 2nd Lieutenant James Hargreaves of the Royal Field Artillery, who died in action at Passchendaele in 1917.
In 1888 The Shambles colonnade was converted into an open market specialising in poultry and dairy products. The town’s market still opens twice a week welcoming visitors from far and wide.
At The Garden of Rest stands The Huguenot Archway, which originally formed an arch over a passageway between two buildings in Westgate. The archway bears an inscription in French which translates as ‘Love your neighbour as yourself, said the Evangelist’.
In the 18th century it was becoming increasingly popular to take a cold plunge to help with a variety of medical complaints from headaches to impotence. Cold plunge bath houses became fashionable in many of the great country house estates, in the Jubilee Gardens sits the Georgian Bath House where the pool is 1.5 metres deep fed by water from a spring on the hillside above. The upper chamber was known as the Warming Room, and it was popular for socialising, playing cards, and gambling.
The iconic cinema originally opened as the Raby in 1915 with 500 seats still remains despite closing and becoming a bingo hall along the way, it still screens regular showings today. Just down the road is the beautiful Boston Spa, when a mineral spring was discovered in 1744, the village became a home for the gentry. The waters were tested and deemed by experts to have therapeutic qualities, and the influx of well-heeled visitors looking to bathe in the revitalising springs. Spa baths were built beside the Wharfe in 1834, the building was part of the Gascoigne family’s Parlington estate, and the village became a retreat for many with ill health.
When another spring was found near the site of Wharfedale Hall, plans were announced for more baths, a hotel, assembly rooms and formal gardens. But the lack of a rail link and a trend towards sea bathing meant the plans never materialised, but the village developed in to a popular location for commuters and property buyers. In 2019, it featured in the Sunday Times Best Places to Live guide in 2019!