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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the Leeds Metropolitan District in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England. Situated south of

Wetherby Wetherby ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire and lies approximately from Leeds city centre, from ...

, 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. ...

across 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. Leeds has had a council since 1626, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 it has been a metropolitan borough council. It provides the ...

and the Wetherby and Easingwold

parliamentary constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

Etymology

Boston Spa's name is not attested before appearing on printed maps in 1771, when it was labelled ''Thorp Spaw'', presumably 'the spa associated with Thorp Arch' (the nearest settlement). The Boston element is attested in 1799 as ''Bostongate'' and in 1822 as Boston, probably the surname of a local family, whose name 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. It lies to the south-east of Lincoln, east of Nottingham and north-east of Peterborough. The town had a population of 45,339 at ...

, and 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 vessel and 172 silver '' denarii'', was found in the town in 1848. In 1744, John Shires established a spa resort when he discovered

sulphur Sulfur (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundance of the chemical ...

springs in the magnesian limestone. It was originally known as ''Thorp Spaw''. In 1753, the

Tadcaster Tadcaster is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, north-east of Leeds and south-west of York. Its historical importance from Roman times onward was largely as the lowest road crossing-point o ...

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 2011 c ...

road that passes through Boston Spa was turnpiked. In the same year, Joseph Taite built a house to accommodate visitors, it 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. The spa declined when

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

became popular as a spa town. The Boston Spa and Thorp Arch

Conservation Area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

, designated in 1969, extended across Boston Spa and Thorp Arch parishes. It was revised and divided 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 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

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, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of ...

Barkston Ash Barkston Ash is a small village and civil parish close to Selby in North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of C ...

, in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

. 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.

Geography

Boston Spa is in the north-east of the City of Leeds district about three miles south-east of Wetherby and immediately north of Clifford on the Collingham to Tadcaster road, the A659. The village is at a bridging point on the south side of the River Wharfe, linked to Thorp Arch on the north bank by Thorp Arch Bridge. The village, surrounded by rolling, arable farmland, developed along High Street with Bridge Road at the centre. The

A1(M) motorway A1(M) is the designation given to a series of four separate controlled-access highway, motorway sections in the UK. Each section is an upgrade to a section of the A1 road (Great Britain), A1, a major north–south road which connects Greater ...

that passes to the west is accessed at Junction 45. The village is on the narrow Permian Magnesian Limestone ridge that runs north-south from North Yorkshire to Nottinghamshire.

Amenities

Boston Spa has a post office, a small library and a filling station. There are three public houses, (the Admiral Hawke and the Fox and Hounds both owned by

Samuel Smith Old Brewery Samuel Smith Old Brewery, commonly known as Samuel Smith's or Sam Smith's, is an independent brewery and pub operator based in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England, established in 1758. It claims to be Yorkshire's oldest brewery. It is known fo ...

) and the Crown Hotel on the high street owned by an independent group of investors, a small

Costcutter Costcutter is a convenience shop symbol group operating as two separate entities with different ownerships in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It previously had stores in Poland. The shops are independently owned and join the gro ...

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 inquiry as to its future use. Arguments presented in 2014 by

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

that the premises "had little or no use as a hotel facility" were accepted at appeal. The Boston Spa branch of the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

, the Document Supply Service, is north-east of the village in the Thorp Arch Trading Estate. The branch contains the British Library newspaper collection. There are two churches St Mary's Parish Church and Boston Spa Methodist Church.

Education

The village primary schools are: Primrose Lane Primary School, St Edward's Catholic Primary School and St Mary's CE Primary School. Close by in Clifford, is Boston Spa Academy, the local secondary school taking pupils from areas which also feed comprehensives in

, Garforth and Pendas Fields. The school has success in sports and science teaching, and caters for pupils undertaking

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

A levels The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational a ...

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 according to its Ofsted reports. Other educational establishments in Clifford include the children's hospice Martin House and St John's Catholic School for the Deaf which has a UK-wide catchment.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by

BBC Yorkshire BBC Yorkshire is one of the English regions of the BBC. It was formed from the division of the former BBC North region into BBC Yorkshire and BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, based in Kingston upon Hull. Serving West, North and South Yorkshir ...

and

ITV Yorkshire ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

. Television signals are received from the Emley Moor TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Leeds, Heart Yorkshire, Capital Yorkshire, Greatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire, Hits Radio West Yorkshire and Tempo FM, a community based station which broadcast from

. Local newspaper is served by the '' Wetherby News''.

Housing

Boston Spa has a mix of private and council houses. 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.

Sport and recreation

Boston Spa Hockey Club is a

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

club that competes in the North Hockey League and the Yorkshire & North East Hockey League. The route of The White Rose Way, a long-distance walk from

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Scarborough, North Yorkshire Scarborough () is a seaside town and civil parish in North Yorkshire District, the district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. With a population of 61,749, Scarborough is the largest town on the Yorkshire Coast and the No ...

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