Boston Spa

History

The Boston Spa hoard, a Romano-British 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 springs in the magnesian limestone. It was originally known as Thorp Spaw. In 1753, the Tadcaster to Otley 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 became popular as a spa town. The Boston Spa and Thorp Arch Conservation Area, 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 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.

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 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.

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  9,402
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  7,599
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,532
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  7,209
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,812
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,434
• Black-headed Gull

  Chroicocephalus ridibundus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  5,453
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5,285

Most recent

• M 3.4 — 2025-12-03
  0 km ESE of Carnforth, United Kingdom
• M 2.8 — 2020-01-23
  1 km NW of Stockton-on-Tees, United Kingdom
• M 4.1 — 2018-06-09
  7 km NNE of Withernsea, United Kingdom
• M 2.6 — 2014-10-28
  2 km NNE of Hucknall, United Kingdom
• M 3.6 — 2011-01-03
  5 km S of Masham, United Kingdom
• M 3 — 2009-04-11
  5 km ENE of Goxhill, United Kingdom