Boston Spa is a Village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the

City of Leeds The City of Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Garforth, Guiseley, Horsforth, Morley, Otley, Pudsey, Rothwell, W ...

metropolitan borough in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England. Situated south of

Wetherby Wetherby () is a market town and civil parish in the City of Leeds district, West Yorkshire, England, close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire, and lies approximately from Leeds City Centre, from York and from Harrogat ...

, Boston Spa is on the south bank of the

River Wharfe The River Wharfe ( ) is a river in Yorkshire, England originating within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. For much of its middle course it is the county boundary between West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. Its valley is known as Wharfedale. ...

which separates it from Thorp Arch. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 4,006 rising to 4,079 in the 2011 census. It sits in the

ward of

Leeds City Council Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of l ...

and Elmet and Rothwell

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

Etymology

The origin of Boston Spa's name is not entirely clear; the name is not attested prior to appearing on printed maps in 1771, when it was labelled ''Thorp Spaw''. At this stage, then, the name ''Thorp Spaw'' presumably meant 'the spa associated with Thorp Arch' (the nearest pre-existing settlement). The ''Boston'' element of the name is first attested in 1799 as ''Bostongate'' and then in 1822 simply as ''Boston''. It is thought probable that ''Boston'' was the surname of a local family, whose name itself derives from

Boston, Lincolnshire Boston is a market town and inland port in the borough of the same name in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Boston is north of London, north-east of Peterborough, east of Nottingham, south-east of Lincoln, south-southeast of Hul ...

, and that their name was given to the settlement that grew up around the spa.

History

The Boston Spa hoard, a

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

coin hoard dating to the mid second-century AD and comprising a

grey ware Grey ware is pottery with a body that fires to grey. This type of pottery can be found in different archaeological sites around the world. History Prehistory In Italy, grey ware was excavated in Antigori and Broglio di Trebisacce. The practice of ...

vessel and 172 silver ''

denarii The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very ...

'', was found in the town in 1848. In 1744, John Shires established a

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. He ...

when he discovered sulphur springs in the

magnesian limestone The Magnesian Limestone is a suite of carbonate rocks in north-east England dating from the Permian period. The outcrop stretches from Nottingham northwards through Yorkshire and into County Durham where it is exposed along the coast between Ha ...

. It was known as Thorp Spa but declined when

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa w ...

became very popular as a spa town. In 1753, a

turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...

was built on the Tadcaster to

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the population was 13,668 at the 20 ...

road, which passes through Boston Spa. In the same year, Joseph Taite built a house to accommodate visitors that became the Royal Hotel, which is still standing, but converted into flats and shops. By 1819, Boston Spa had a population of more than 600, and several inns and other houses offering accommodation had been built . Spa baths were built to allow visitors to take the waters. On the north bank of the river is the village of Thorp Arch, which predates Boston Spa by several centuries. Bostonspa

The Boston Spa and Thorp Arch Conservation Area, designated in 1969, extended across both Boston Spa and Thorp Arch parishes. It was revised in 2009, restricting the boundaries to Boston Spa parish and reshaped to exclude areas of late-20th-century estate housing to the south of the High Street. The current conservation area boundary focuses on the historic settlement. It was extended to the west, to encompass West End, an area of dwellings constructed during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

to house workers from Thorp Arch munitions factory. The war had a major effect on Boston Spa's population, society and surroundings, and the buildings stand as a testament to that history.

Governance

When Boston Spa was founded in 1744 it was in the

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

of Clifford in the old parish of Bramham, in the upper division of the

wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Southern Schleswig, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek, ...

Barkston Ash Barkston Ash is a small village and civil parish close to Selby in North Yorkshire, England. It was formerly known as Barkston in the West Riding of Yorkshire. History The village dates back to at least 1090, when it was spelled Barcestone. No ...

, in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. From 1866 to 1896 it was part of the civil parish of Clifford with Boston, and became a separate civil parish in 1896. The parish was in Wetherby Rural District in the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974, when it was transferred to the City of Leeds in the new county of West Yorkshire.

Amenities

Boston Spa has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

, a small library and a filling station. There are three

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

s, (the Admiral Hawke and the Fox and Hounds both owned by Samuel Smiths Old Brewery)and the newly refurbished Crown Hotel on the high street owned by an independent Group of investors, a small

Costcutter Costcutter Supermarkets Group is a business based in the United Kingdom and Ireland primarily operating as a symbol group supplier to various independently owned convenience shops and off-licences. It has operations in the United Kingdom, the ...

supermarket in the former Royal Hotel and several independent retailers in the village centre (a butcher, hardware shop and several takeaway restaurants). The Crown Hotel closed in 2012 and was subject to a public enquiry as to its future use. Arguments presented in 2014 by

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

that the premises "had little or no use as a hotel facility" were accepted at appeal. The Boston Spa (within Thorp Arch Trading Estate) branch of the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

(the Document Supply Service) is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-east of the village and outside the civil parish. This branch contains almost the complete British Library newspaper collection. There are two churches St Mary's Anglican Church and

Boston Spa Methodist Church Boston Spa Methodist Church is an active Methodist Church of Great Britain church in Boston Spa, West Yorkshire, England. The church is Grade II listed, having been designated so on 30 April 1982. History The church dates from 1846 and was ...

Education

There are three

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s in the village: Primrose Lane Primary School, St Edward's Catholic Primary School and St Mary's CE Primary School. Close by, in the parish of Clifford, is

Boston Spa Academy Boston Spa Academy (formerly Boston Spa Comprehensive School) is a coeducational secondary school for pupils aged 11–19 years old on Clifford Moor Road in Boston Spa, West Yorkshire, England. It is larger than other secondary schools in ...

, the local secondary school taking pupils from areas which also feed comprehensives in

Garforth Garforth () is a town in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It sits in the Garforth and Swillington ward of Leeds City Council and the Elmet and Rothwell parliamentary constituency. As of 2011, the popula ...

and Pendas Fields. The school has success in

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

and

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

teaching Teaching is the practice implemented by a ''teacher'' aimed at transmitting skills (knowledge, know-how, and interpersonal skills) to a learner, a student, or any other audience in the context of an educational institution. Teaching is closely ...

, and caters for pupils undertaking

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

, A levels,

GNVQ A General National Vocational Qualification, or GNVQ, was a certificate of vocational education in the United Kingdom. The last GNVQs were awarded in 2007. The qualifications related to occupational areas in general, rather than any specific ...

s and those with

special needs In clinical diagnostic and functional development, special needs (or additional needs) refers to individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. Guidelines for clinical diagnosis are given in b ...

according to its Ofsted reports. Other educational establishments with postal addresses of Boston Spa although sited in the nearby parish of Clifford include the children's hospice Martin House and St John's Catholic School for the Deaf which has a UK-wide catchment.

Housing

Boston Hall, Boston Spa (21st August 2017) 002

Boston Spa has a mix of private and

council houses A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 a ...

. Most of the council housing is situated around Clifford Moor Road and Wickham Avenue. The east side of Boston Spa comprises mainly larger houses. There are many Georgian villas and town houses on High Street.

Events

The village annual gala is held in June. Since 2009 a beer festival takes place in the village hall. The village hall has hosted a nationally renowned weekly jazz night since January 2005 and an annual arts festival usually in October.

Recreation

The route of The White Rose Way, a long-distance walk from

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

to Scarborough, North Yorkshire passes through the village. As does the Ebor Way which passes over the river at Thorp Arch village before continuing towards Tadcaster.

Gallery

File:Boston Spa - High Street.jpg, Georgian houses on High Street File:Boston Spa - Leys Lane.jpg, Leys Lane File:Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Boston Spa (March 2010) 006.jpg, St. Mary the Virgin church File:High Street, Boston Spa (March 2010) 004.jpg, High Street