Giovanni Maria Benzoni (28 August 1809 – 28 April 1873) was an Italian neoclassical sculptor . He was trained in Rome, where he later set up his own workshop.
75-684: The Mercer Art Gallery , formerly the Mercer Gallery and locally known as The Mercer , is an art gallery in Harrogate , North Yorkshire, England. It was established in Lower Harrogate's Old Town Hall building in 1991. Owned by North Yorkshire Council , it has a collection of over 2,000 items, comprised mainly of 19th- to 21st-century artworks, including pieces by local artists. It hosts a rolling series of exhibitions of its own and borrowed artworks, keeping most of its own collection in storage for much of
150-566: A Royal Air Force supply depot and logistics centre on St George's Road in the south-west of the town, but this closed down in 1994. During the Second World War , RAF Harrogate was used as a training establishment for medical staff and recruit training for the Women's Auxiliary Air Force . There are many fine examples of architecture about the town. The only Grade I listed building in Harrogate
225-446: A "handsome Italian Renaissance stone frontage", a symmetrical arrangement of five bays with round-arched windows and a projecting entrance bay in the centre. The entrance is a Corinthian portico , with a tympanum above, carrying the borough arms , and the doorway has a fanlight within its arch. This western façade on Swan Road was added, along with a general rebuild, between 1874 and 1876 by architect Arthur Hiscoe. The entrance
300-1657: A free, non-commercial exhibition held by Tennants auctioneers in Leyburn . The present collection includes works by: John Adams-Acton , Herbert Washington Addison, Nathaniel Hughes John Baird, Benjamin Barker , Thomas Barker , William Roxby Beverly , R.W. Brown, Vlaho Bukovac , Augustus Wall Callcott , Joseph Clark , Edward John Cobbett , Thomas Sidney Cooper , Reinier Craeyvanger , Augustus Leopold Egg , Bernard Walter Evans , Emily Eyres, William Powell Frith , P. Garrett, Louis Ginnett , John Atkinson Grimshaw , John Frederick Herring , Thomas Holroyd , Edward Atkinson Hornel , Willis Richard Edwin Hudson, Robert Kirkland Jamieson, Wilfred Jenkins, Hermann Kern , John Buxton Knight , Edward Ladell, John Lavery , H. Lewis,. James Thomas Linnell, Arthur Lowe , Lowes Dalbiac Luard , Ernest Stephen Lumsden , Bernard Meninsky , Henry Moore , Paul Nash , Patrick Nasmyth , John Nesbitt, Albert Julius Olsson , Henry Perlee Parker , Emily Murray Paterson , John Pearson , William Bruce Ellis Ranken , John Nicholas Rhodes, Pieter Rijs, Robert Ernest Roe, Felix Schlesinger, Wilhelm Heinrich Schlesinger , Marck Senior, William Shackleton, Walter Sickert , Joseph Silcock, Frank Spenlove-Spenlove , George Blackie Sticks Joseph Thors , Charles Towne , Franz Richard Unterberger, Hendrik Verschuring , Edward Wadsworth , George Frederic Watts , William John Seward Webber , William Tatton Winter, Christopher Wood , and Philips Wouwerman . The building
375-429: A large rural area, was 157,869. The town motto is Arx celebris fontibus , which means "a citadel famous for its springs". The name Harrogate is first attested in the 1330s as Harwegate , Harougat and Harrowgate . The origin of the name is uncertain. It may derive from Old Norse hǫrgr 'a heap of stones, cairn' + gata 'street', in which case the name presumably meant 'road to the cairn'. Another possibility
450-406: A number of springs were discovered. The Valley Gardens (locals use the definite article) has an ice-cream parlour, children's play area with outdoor paddling pool, a skate park, frisbee golf, crazy golf and mini golf. The Sun Pavilion at the northern edge of the park can be privately hired for weddings. Tennis courts and a bowling green are in the west of the park. The Friends Of Valley Gardens group
525-676: A number of works in The Mercer's collection, including a set of Paintings of Literary Women by Sarah Pickstone. The gallery loans out some artworks to local establishments, such as the Royal Hall , the Royal Baths , and The Harrogate Club . In 2011 The Mercer lent two Atkinson Grimshaw paintings to the Guildhall Art Gallery in London. In 2022 the gallery lent some items for The Art of Colour ,
600-458: A public common, The Stray , which has remained public open space. The Enclosure Award facilitated development around the Stray. During the 19th century, the area between High Harrogate and Low Harrogate, which until then had remained separate communities a mile apart, was developed, and what is now the central area of Harrogate was built on high ground overlooking Low Harrogate. An area to the north of
675-461: Is St Wilfrid, Duchy Road , which was designed by the architect Temple Lushington Moore and is often considered to be his masterpiece. In Station Parade stands the Jubilee Memorial , commemorating Queen Victoria 's 1887 golden jubilee. An imposing cenotaph is an important landmark in the centre of the town. Bettys are tea rooms established in 1919 owned by Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate –
750-404: Is "flanked by attached columns and a handsome entablature enriched with symbols of the locality". It has a slated, hipped roof and a parapet with balustrades . Two high pavilions , "with steep ashlar fishtail slate roofs of French type with ornamental cast iron crestings", were designed by Hiscoe. The pavilions have "Corinthian pilasters carrying continuous entablature". Incorporated with
825-560: Is a concentration of chain restaurants on John Street and Albert Street. The conference and exhibition industry is the focus of the town's business, with Harrogate International Centre the third largest fully integrated conference and exhibition centre in the UK, and one of the largest in Europe. Harrogate draws numerous visitors because of its conference facilities. In 2016 such events alone attracted 300,000 visitors to Harrogate. The convention centre
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#1732890843206900-541: Is a simply stunning collection of nearly 60 paintings by 12 different British Abstract artists - several on a heroic scale". In September 2022, The Mercer launched Open Exhibition , a biennial show, featuring for the first time all-Yorkshire artists besides the previously prioritised Harrogate artists. The exhibition featured ceramics, sculpture, paintings and drawings, including works by the musician Candie Payne . The exhibition closed in January 2023. Between April and July 2023
975-713: Is a small open area in central Harrogate surrounded by some of the town's main tourist attractions including the Royal Pump Room, Royal Baths, Royal Hall and the Harrogate Council Offices ; Hall M of the Harrogate International Centre fronts onto Crescent Gardens. The Royal Hall theatre, a Grade II listed building designed by Frank Matcham . As the only surviving Kursaal in Britain, the Royal Hall
1050-449: Is also home to Bombed Out records, an independent record label, who has signed groups such as Fig 4.0 . On 5 July 2014, Harrogate served as the finish line of the first stage of the Tour de France . The event attracted record crowds to the town centre and was televised to a global audience. British cyclist Mark Cavendish was forced to drop out of the race, when he crashed a few metres from
1125-537: Is an important national heritage building. Restoration work was completed in 2007, and the hall was reopened on 22 January 2008, by the Prince of Wales . The Royal Pump Room , just off the gardens, houses Europe's strongest sulphur well, it is now a museum showcasing the town's spa history. The Valley Gardens , in Low Harrogate, is the town's main park and covers much of the area originally known as 'Bogs Field', where
1200-413: Is classified as warm and temperate. There is significant rainfall throughout the year in Harrogate. Even the driest month still has a lot of rainfall. The Köppen-Geiger climate classification is Cfb. The average annual temperature in Harrogate is 8.9 °C (48 °F). In a year, the average rainfall is 29 inches (742 mm). Harrogate has a strong and varied economy. The town's main shopping district
1275-545: Is focused on Cambridge Street, Oxford Street, Beulah Street and James Street where most of the high street shops can be found. There is a wide range of boutique and designer shopping on Parliament Street and in the Montpellier Quarter, as well as independent shopping around Commercial Street. Eating out is popular in Harrogate, and the town is well served by restaurants. Parliament Street and Cheltenham Parade are lined with many independent and chain restaurants, while there
1350-668: Is prosperous and has some of the highest property prices in England, with many properties in the town and surrounding villages valued at £ 1 million or more, it is generally considered the most expensive place to live in the North of England. Fulwith Mill Lane in Harrogate is the most expensive street in Yorkshire. Harrogate is situated on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, with the Vale of York to
1425-610: Is recognised as the North of England's leading arts festival; it incorporates a number of festivals within the portfolio including the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival & Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award , Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival, Harrogate Music Festival and a number of year-round events. The town hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 1982 in
1500-401: Is that the name means "the way to Harlow". The form Harlowgate is known from 1518, and apparently in the court rolls of Edward II . In medieval times Harrogate was a place on the boundary of the township of Bilton with Harrogate in the ancient parish of Knaresborough , and the parish of Pannal , also known as Beckwith with Rossett. The part within the township of Bilton developed into
1575-599: Is to be the home of Yorkshire Women cricket team . Until 1995, the town hosted one Yorkshire county game per year at St George's Road cricket ground. Since 2022, the ground has been sponsored by Kirbys Solicitors. In 2008, a fire destroyed the historic old pavilion at the ground, but it has since been re-built with a modern pavilion, bar, function room and changing rooms. Harrogate Cricket Club has 4 Saturday teams: Bilton Cricket Club, off Bilton Lane, provides opportunities for players of all ages to play in local league cricket; they beat Harrogate Cricket Club at St George's Road in
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#17328908432061650-551: The A1(M) by the A661 , while the A658 from Bradford forms a bypass around the south of the town. Harrogate had a population of 73,576 at the 2011 UK census ; the built-up area comprising Harrogate and nearby Knaresborough had a population of 89,060, while the figure for the much wider Borough of Harrogate , comprising Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon, as well as a number of smaller settlements and
1725-624: The Black Sheep Trophy of 2006. Giovanni Maria Benzoni Benzoni designed some of his sculptures with a production line in mind using other sculptors to produce the works in order to satisfy a growing demand for people on the Grand Tour who wanted cultural mementos to take back home. Benzoni produced sculpture for the funeral monument to the Roman Catholic Italian Cardinal Angelo Mai . Benzoni also created
1800-651: The Crown Hotel was open by the mid-18th century, and possibly earlier. In accordance with the Forest of Knaresborough Inclosure Act 1770 ( 10 Geo. 3 . c. 94 ), promoted by the Duchy of Lancaster, the Royal Forest of Knaresborough was enclosed. The enclosure award of 1778 clarified ownership of land in the Harrogate area. Under the award, 200 acres (81 ha) of land, which included the springs known at that time, were reserved as
1875-575: The English Football League , which came via victory in the 2019–20 National League Play-offs. They have a historical rivalry with Harrogate Railway Athletic F.C. , of the Northern Counties East Football League , located at Station View. Harrogate RUFC is a North Premier team and formerly based at The County Ground, on Claro Road, but relocated to Rudding Lane on the south side of the town. Harrogate Cricket Club
1950-615: The First World War . During the Second World War , Harrogate's large hotels accommodated government offices evacuated from London, paving the way for the town to become a commercial, conference, and exhibition centre. Former employers in the town were the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB), the Milk Marketing Board and ICI who occupied offices and laboratories at Hornbeam Park where Crimplene
2025-589: The Harrogate International Centre . Harrogate won the 2003 and 2016 Britain in Bloom in the category of 'Large Town' and the European Entente Florale in 2004, reprising its win in the first Entente Florale in 1977. Harrogate was a gold medal winner of Europe in Bloom in 2004. In 2005, a Channel 4 TV show listed Harrogate as the UK's third best place to live; in 2006, it came fourth in
2100-576: The Holroyd bequest gave Harrogate Corporation the works of Thomas Holroyd , plus Holroyd's art collection including sculptures by W. J. S. Webber . Some of Webber's busts remain in the collection, along with a few of Holroyd's paintings, but Holroyd's heavily-carved, wooden photographic props and Webber's heroic marble sculpture Warrior with Wounded Youth are missing, the latter last seen in Harrogate Library before 1930. The Warrior sculpture
2175-470: The Municipal Borough of Harrogate was created, taking High Harrogate from the civil parish of Bilton with Harrogate and Low Harrogate from the civil parish of Pannal. The borough absorbed neighbouring areas in subsequent years, including the whole of the civil parishes of Bilton and Starbeck, and a large part of the civil parish of Pannal, including the village of Pannal, in 1938. The municipal borough
2250-599: The West Riding of Yorkshire , the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa waters and RHS Harlow Carr gardens . 13 miles (21 km) away from the town centre is the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the Nidderdale AONB . Harrogate grew out of two smaller settlements, High Harrogate and Low Harrogate, in the 17th century. For three consecutive years (2013–2015), polls voted
2325-762: The Assembly Rooms, the Old Town Hall, the Old Town Hall Theatre (1882–1990), and the Mercer Gallery (from 1991). At one point it was the housing benefits office. The Harrogate Amateur Minstrels set up a theatre in the Old Town Hall in 1882. Oscar Wilde and Lily Langtree appeared there. The theatre continued until 1900, when the Grand Opera House superseded it in High Harrogate. Between 1900 and 1991,
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2400-680: The English Spa Fountain was published in 1626. In the 17th and 18th centuries further chalybeate springs were discovered in High Harrogate, and both chalybeate and sulphur springs were found in Low Harrogate. The two communities attracted many visitors. A number of inns were opened for visitors in High Harrogate in the 17th century (the Queen's Head , the Granby , the Dragon and the World's End ). In Low Harrogate,
2475-601: The Great Yorkshire Showground and Pavilions of Harrogate, which are major conference destinations. The Great Yorkshire Showground is the hub of the regional agricultural industry, hosted by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society. The Great Yorkshire Show , Countryside Live and the twice yearly Harrogate Flower Shows take place there annually. The many business visitors to Harrogate sustain a number of large hotels, some originally built for visitors to
2550-578: The Harrogate Fine Art Collection, whose gallery was opened by Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood in 1930 above the present public library in Victoria Avenue, Harrogate , North Yorkshire. In 1984 the Harrogate Fine Art Collection was stored in the basement of the Royal Baths , but the cellar flooded, destroying some works. In 1989 the Old Town Hall in Harrogate, which had been used as the council's rates office, became available, but it
2625-592: The Spa. Harrogate is the home of Yorkshire Tea , exported by Taylors of Harrogate , as well as internationally exported Harrogate Spring Water . The town also exports Farrah's Toffee , Harrogate Blue cheese. The following companies are either headquartered or have significant bases in Harrogate. Two military installations are located to the west of Harrogate, the Army Foundation College and RAF Menwith Hill , an electronic monitoring station. There used to be
2700-467: The Valley Gardens and Royal Pump Room museum. In 1870, engineering inventor Samson Fox perfected the process of creating water gas , in the basement laboratory of Grove House . After constructing a trial plant at his home on Skipton Road, making it the first house in Yorkshire to have gas lighting and heating; he built a plant of suitable size to supply the whole town. When Parliament Street became
2775-580: The Victorian period, there was a racecourse for horses there. RHS Harlow Carr gardens , on the western edge of Harrogate, are award-winning themed gardens and are the Royal Horticultural Society 's main presence and representative in the North of England. The town has several smaller parks and gardens, including The Softpot Garden at Grove House, the Jubilee Gardens and Victoria Gardens on
2850-539: The archive of local historian Malcolm Neesam , who died in 2022 and bequeathed his collection to The Mercer. Between May and September 2024, the gallery featured artist David Remfry ' s pencil and watercolour portraits of people and dogs in its We Think the World of You exhibition. At the same time it was showing the drawings and silhouettes of a newly rediscovered early-20th-century female artist, in its Eva Leigh Walker exhibition. In 2024 The Mercer advertised that it
2925-473: The area in 1797. Paintings of Yorkshire by contemporary artists Anna Lilleengen, Katherine Holmes , Debbie Loane, Emerson Mayes and Ed Kluz were hung alongside those by Turner. Also hung beside the Turners were works by John Atkinson Grimshaw . In 2020 and 2021, the gallery organised online exhibitions calling for submissions for React2: Art Created Through Covid-19 and React2, Our Planet, Our Home . The first
3000-427: The back of the building, and forming a south-east wing attached to the back of the main hall, is an old, three-storey house. It dates from the early 19th-century, and is constructed of squared, coursed gritstone rubble, with three sash windows and a door. Hiscoe's interior refurbishment included an internal hall with coffered ceiling, and two new rooms either side of the front door. English Heritage now describes
3075-464: The building was subject to various uses by Harrogate Council, for example the spa's Mechano-Therapeutic Department, and later the office of the borough treasurer. From 1991, the building has been inhabited by the Mercer Art Gallery. In 2011, during the gallery's 20th anniversary, the building underwent refurbishment and redecoration. It now has two main spaces for exhibitions: the main gallery in
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3150-501: The centennial anniversary of the enfranchisement of women as voters. It featured female artists and their works from the gallery's collection, including Touchstone by Eileen Cooper (1983), works by Sonia Lawson and Sarah Pickstone, Artist as a Model (1982) by Rose Garrard , and photography by Julia Margaret Cameron . The exhibition closed in June 2018. Between February and June 2019 the gallery held its Linescapes exhibition, featuring
3225-553: The community of High Harrogate, and the part within Pannal developed into the community of Low Harrogate. Both communities were within the Royal Forest of Knaresborough . In 1372 King Edward III granted the Royal Forest to his son John, Duke of Lancaster (also known as John of Gaunt), and the Duchy of Lancaster became the principal landowner in Harrogate. Harrogate's development is owed to
3300-521: The developing town was reserved to the Duchy of Lancaster, and was developed for residential building. To provide entertainment for the increasing numbers of visitors the Georgian Theatre was built in 1788. Bath Hospital (later the Royal Bath Hospital) was built in 1826. The Royal Pump Room was built in 1842. The site of Tewit Well is marked by a dome on the Stray. Other wells can be found in
3375-548: The discovery of its chalybeate - and sulphur -rich spring water from the 16th century. The first mineral spring was discovered in 1571 by William Slingsby, who found that water from the Tewit Well in High Harrogate possessed similar properties to that from springs in the Belgian town of Spa , which gave its name to spa towns . The medicinal properties of the waters were publicised by Edmund Deane ; his book, Spadacrene Anglica, or
3450-640: The east and the upland Yorkshire Dales to the west and north-west. It has a dry and mild climate, typical of places in the rain shadow of the Pennines . It is on the A59 from Skipton to York. At an altitude of between 100 and 200 metres (330 and 660 ft), Harrogate is higher than many English settlements. It has an average minimum temperature in January of slightly below 1 °C (34 °F) and an average maximum in July and August of 21 °C (70 °F). Harrogate's climate
3525-663: The eastern side of central Harrogate. On 11 January 1900, Harrogate Grand Opera House, now Harrogate Theatre, opened with a charity gala in aid of British soldiers fighting the Boer War in South Africa; this was followed, on 13 January 1900, by J Tully's pantomime Dick Whittington . In 1966, the Harrogate Festival of Arts & Science was established, now known as the Harrogate International Festivals , and
3600-573: The excellent arts venue that it is today". The gallery has ramped access at a side door, a hearing induction loop , and a toilet with space for wheelchairs. It offers "an extensive education programme for children and adults". When the Mercer Art Gallery first opened, it was using at least some of its space for permanent exhibition. For example, in May 1991, some paintings by the Knaresborough artist Joseph Baker Fountain were on permanent exhibition. Today,
3675-449: The finish line and suffered a dislocated shoulder. The town has since been the focal point for finishing stages of the Tour de Yorkshire in 2017. Each event of the 2019 UCI Road World Championships finished in the town, although the entire historic county of Yorkshire was the official host. Harrogate Town AFC play at Wetherby Road Stadium . The club competes in League Two , the fourth tier of English football, following promotion to
3750-431: The gallery cost £360,000 in total. In order to continue to support the gallery financially alongside Harrogate Borough Council, The Friends of the Mercer Gallery was formed in 1992. For nearly thirty years the Friends group was led by Judith Thomas. After she stepped down in 2020, May Catt of Harrogate Borough Council said, "Without the Friends with Judith at the helm, the Mercer would not have been able to establish itself as
3825-451: The gallery presented Artist Rooms , a touring exhibition featuring the Yorkshire-born artist Martin Creed , who filled the main gallery of the Mercer with over a thousand balls of different sizes. Between 2023 and 2024, Kate Bentley had a solo exhibition of paintings at The Mercer. Between March and August 2024, The Mercer curated a display showing Harrogate's Historian. A first look at the Walker Neesam Archive . This revealed examples from
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#17328908432063900-405: The gallery's collection of fine art is too large for the whole to be displayed permanently, so most of it is shown in a rolling series of themed exhibitions, alongside exhibitions of works temporarily loaned from other sources. The Contemporary Art Society says, "A diverse exhibition programme that weaves together historic and contemporary art in exciting and thought provoking ways runs throughout
3975-423: The ground floor was refurbished. The Mercer Gallery (now the Mercer Art Gallery and known locally as The Mercer) was established in the Old Town Hall building in Swan Road, Lower Harrogate, and opened by George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood on 30 April 1991. The gallery was named after the watercolourist Sidney Agnew Mercer after his sons Terence and Gavin Mercer donated £50,000 towards it. The establishment of
4050-421: The hall as a "5-bay assembly room with coved cornice and arched windows"; the coffered ceiling is now gone. [REDACTED] Media related to Mercer Art Gallery at Wikimedia Commons Harrogate Harrogate ( / ˈ h ær ə ɡ ə t , - ɡ eɪ t , - ɡ ɪ t / HARR -ə-gət, -gayt, -ghit ) is a spa town in the district and county of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in
4125-442: The old hall, and the north gallery, which is actually in the north-west wing. Because the land slopes downwards from the west front of the building to the eastern back end of the hall, there is storage space under the hall and under the adjoining old house. In 1991 the hall's basement space was offered by Harrogate Council for use as a restaurant, but that tenancy no longer exists. This is a Grade II listed building . The building has
4200-422: The previous general election. The town is governed by North Yorkshire Council . Its predecessor, Harrogate Borough Council , was replaced on 1 April 2023. It has had a Conservative majority since the 2010 election . The Borough of Harrogate is twinned with: The town has good commuter services for people who work in the City of Leeds , City of Bradford , York and North Yorkshire in general. Harrogate
4275-493: The printmaker Ian Mitchell's digitally-created prints of the Yorkshire landscape, which had been pared back to "minimalist lines and shapes". From June 2019 the gallery opened its William Powell Frith: The People's Painter exhibition, in honour of the bicentenary of his birth. In February 2020 the gallery opened its exhibition, Turner: Northern Exposure . On display were some of J. M. W. Turner ' s paintings of Yorkshire, and two of his sketchbooks, all relating to his tour of
4350-427: The same company that markets Yorkshire Tea . Bettys has a second tea room at the RHS Harlow Carr Gardens. The Mercer Art Gallery is home to Harrogate district's art collection which consists of some 2,000 works of art, mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries. The collection includes works by William Powell Frith , Atkinson Grimshaw , Sir Edward Burne-Jones , Dame Laura Knight and Alan Davie . Crescent Gardens
4425-450: The same league, where the programme claimed that it placed lower due to "a slight dip in exam results", although presenter Phil Spencer noted that it was his personal favourite. Harrogate has two orchestras: Harrogate Symphony Orchestra and Harrogate Philharmonic Orchestra. The town is also home to an underground music scene that has produced heavy metal and punk rock groups including Workshed , Acid Reign and Blood Youth . It
4500-406: The time, or loaned out to exhibitions at other galleries, and to local establishments. In 2022, local historian Malcolm Neesam bequeathed the Walker Neesam Archive to the gallery. The Mercer also continues to acquire and exhibit items of contemporary and local art. One of its recent acquisitions is a set of drawings by Eva Leigh , which it exhibited in 2024. This gallery was originally known as
4575-552: The top prize being £200. In 2014, the Mercer showed its Facing the Future exhibition, which featured 18th- to early 20th-century sculpture and paintings from its own collection. It included many of its works by William John Seward Webber , and examples of works by Florence Fitzgerald, daughter of John Anster Fitzgerald , Pietro Castoldi, Giovanni Maria Benzoni , Anthony Welsh, Thomas Holroyd , Bernard Walter Evans , Adrien Carpentiers and Frances Darlington . In January 2018, The Mercer launched its Picturing Women exhibition, at
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#17328908432064650-424: The town as "the happiest place to live" in Britain. Harrogate spa water contains iron , sulphur and common salt . The town became known as 'The English Spa' in the Georgian era , after its waters were discovered in the 16th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries its ' chalybeate ' waters (containing iron) were a popular health treatment, and the influx of wealthy but sickly visitors contributed significantly to
4725-403: The wealth of the town. Harrogate railway station and Harrogate bus station in the town centre provide transport connections. Leeds Bradford Airport is 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Harrogate. The main roads through the town are the A61 , connecting Harrogate to Leeds and Ripon , and the A59 , connecting the town to York and Skipton . Harrogate is also connected to Wetherby and
4800-541: The white marble image of Saint Anne and the child Blessed Virgin Mary which was granted a decree of pontifical coronation on 9 September 1877 after his death by Pope Pius IX , now enshrined within the Apt Cathedral of Saint Anne. Sculptures by Benzoni of the Veiled Rebecca can be found in the Salar Jung Museum ( Hyderabad, India ), High Museum of Art ( Atlanta, Georgia ) and the Berkshire Museum ( Pittsfield, Massachusetts ). Examples of his Flight from Pompeii can be found in Todmorden Town Hall , Yorkshire and
4875-485: The world's first route to be lit by water-gas, newspapers commented: "Samson Fox has captured the sunlight for Harrogate." After donating the town's first fire engine, and building the town's theatre, he was elected mayor for three successive years (1890–92), a record never equalled since. In 1893 Harrogate doctor George Oliver was the first to observe the effect of adrenaline on the circulation. Like many spa town all over Europe, Harrogate's popularity declined after
4950-456: The year". In 2009 the gallery initiated the Open People's Prize of £100 to be presented at the Harrogate Open Exhibitions. In September 2010 the gallery held one of the Open Exhibitions. It displayed 187 works by local artists. From October 2012 until January 2013 the gallery again held the Harrogate Open Exhibition, featuring 206 works including ceramics, jewellery, sculpture, prints and paintings. The prize fund had by this year risen to £1,000,
5025-535: Was a response to the COVID-19 pandemic , which had made real-life exhibitions difficult. The second went live in October 2021, and was about climate change. Between May and September 2022, The Mercer showed Celebration: British Abstract Painting , which featured numerous artists, including Gary Wragg , Douglas Abercrombie, Francis Davison , Patrick Heron , Albert Irvin , Mali Morris , Gillian Ayres , John Edwards, John Hoyland , Patrick Jones, John McLean and Fred Pollock. Reviewer Graham Chalmers said: " Celebration
5100-400: Was abolished in 1974, when Harrogate was transferred from the West Riding to North Yorkshire and became part of the wider Borough of Harrogate. Harrogate then became an unparished area , with no local government of its own. The MP for the Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency is Tom Gordon , a Liberal Democrat . He was elected in 2024, ousting the Conservative who had won the seat at
5175-402: Was developed in 2020 to be used as a Nightingale Hospital . However, whilst it has been used in an NHS capacity, it has not treated any Coronavirus patients (as of late January 2021) because the conventional hospitals had not run out of capacity. It brings in over £150 million to the local economy every year and attracts in excess of 350,000 business visitors annually. The town is home to
5250-453: Was formed in 2009 to support the park. It works in partnership with Harrogate Borough Council to guide the park's development. The Stray is an area of open parkland in the centre of the town. It was created in 1778 to link most of Harrogate's springs in one protected area by an act of Parliament which fixed its area as 200 acres (81 ha ), and even now when part is removed, e.g. due to road widening, it must be replaced elsewhere. During
5325-414: Was in poor condition with a hole in the ceiling of the main hall. The previously grand hall had "false walls and ceilings concealing the once exquisite plaster decoration". A silver service banquet was given in the dilapidated hall, to launch the fund for the new gallery. A public appeal was made; it raised £110,000. Ultimately the basement was converted into a storage area for the gallery's collection, and
5400-469: Was invented in the 1950s and named after the nearby Crimple Valley and beck. In 2007, two metal detectorists found the Harrogate hoard , a 10th-century Viking treasure hoard , near Harrogate. The hoard contains almost 700 coins and other items from as far away as Afghanistan . The hoard was described by the British Museum as the most important find of its type in Britain for 150 years. In 1884
5475-718: Was last recorded with Sloan's auctioneers in 1998, and then for sale again in Miami. However the 1,000 items inherited by The Mercer still include the Kent Collection of Antiquities, which Harrogate Council received as a donation in 1968. The full name of The Mercer's holdings is the "Harrogate District Fine Art Collection", although it is named "Harrogate District Art Collections" over the door. The gallery now owns around two thousand works. They are mainly British 19th- to 21st-century art, and in recent years more photography and later works have been added. The Contemporary Art Society has funded
5550-534: Was originally designed as the Promenade Rooms. According to historian Malcolm Neesam , "it was paid for by a group of doctors who realised that if patients extended their visits at Harrogate to enjoy the entertainments provided, the medical profession would surely benefit". Since its days as the Promenade Rooms, the building has been known variously as the Victoria Reading Rooms and library (from 1839).
5625-565: Was to show the New Light Prize exhibition 2023–2024, between October 2024 and January 2025. This is a touring biennial prize exhibition, established in 2010 to celebrate and promote the visual arts in the North of England . By the time the Mercer Art Gallery opened in Swan Road in 1991, its collection already numbered at least 1,000 works, and had been accumulated over some time. For example, in 1904
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