Spa Gardens (Ripon)
The Spa Gardens constitute an attractive public park in the small Yorkshire cathedral city of Ripon.
A Pump Room was built in 1904, to take advantage of the popularity of spa treatment. The water was piped to Ripon from several miles away at Grantley.
This was followed by the opening of the Spa Gardens, with a banstand and a bowling green, where the well heeled Edwardian visitors could promenade after taking the waters.
The nearby Ripon Spa Hotel was opened by the town's M.P. Christopher Furness in 1906.
Ripon, however, found it impossible to compete with its highly successful neighbour Harrogate. The Spa Gardens continued to be a much loved local amenity, and the Pump Room was converted into a swimming pool, still known as the Ripon Spa Baths, in the 1930s.