Gary Parkinson tests the waters of a genteel Georgian spa town turned conference magnet and upmarket dormer town

Imagine Bath in Yorkshire: drinking in the Georgian splendour while wallowing in the warmth of the northern welcome. Imagine no more, for that’s Harrogate in a nutshell – or rather a water-well.

Like Bath, Harrogate is a spa town: its motto arx celebris fontibus means “citadel celebrated for its springs”. The medicinal properties of its waters – rich in iron, sulphur and salt – were discovered in the 16th century, and over the next two centuries it grew rich as a retreat for the well-heeled with ill health. 

Up sprang delightfully-designed Georgian architecture in typically pleasing proportion, creating an idyllic escape for those lucky enough to afford it – especially while many of Yorkshire’s other major centres developed in a rather more industrial fashion during the Victorian era.

Nowadays, the sanatorium business has largely flown elsewhere but Harrogate remains in as rude health as ever. The modern visitor is more likely to be drawn in by the town’s thriving business of hosting conferences and exhibitions, which keeps incomers filling those old hotels; meanwhile, the locals use Harrogate as a plush dormitory town for the commute to Leeds-Bradford and York, before enjoying the doorstep countryside at the weekend. 

The combination makes Harrogate prosperous, with some of England’s highest property prices, although exceptions exist for those prepared to do their homework. No wonder it features regularly in “happiest places to live” lists – whether or not you take the waters.

Starting out Genteel Harrogate is not exactly a twentysomething hotspot - many of the one- and two-beds are retirement flats – but there’s an interesting studio in a church conversion for £125,000 (Gothic stained glass included).

Great for families... The Saints, between The Stray and St Aidan’s school, has plenty of traditional three-bed semis around £350,000. Three miles south, Pannal combines a village atmosphere and great views with its own train station serving Leeds and York; again, a three-bed is about £350,000.

Just won the lottery? £1.85m buys you a time machine: a four-floor, four-bed Georgian townhouse overlooking The Stray and Christ Church in High Harrogate, with original features, lawned gardens, garages and a separate renovated coach-house for nanny or granny.

HEAD FOR RURAL BLISS IN…

Ripley

Partly remodelled on a French village by an eccentric inhabitant of the nearby 15th-century castle, Ripley is charming enough to regularly bother the national Best Villages lists. The 200 souls form a strong community on the edge of Nidderdale but only four miles from Harrogate.  

Burton Leonard

Nine miles north of Harrogate is your archetypal English village, with a central green, pub, church, cricket pitch and a name like a 1940s film star. It also has a primary school and is within the catchment of many Harrogate secondaries plus Ripon Grammar School.

Birstwith

Just within the Nidderdale AONB (the river Nidd flows through it) six miles north-west of Harrogate is a charming village popular with walkers, often congregating on the Station Hotel (although trains stopped in the 1960s). The Grade II*-listed, Victorian-era Swarcliffe Hall now houses an independent prep school.

THE COST OF LIVING

Average rent: One-beds cost around £600 pcm – including a three-storey mews on the Otley Road. Three-bed houses start around £800 but might be £1500 in a sought-after area.

Average house price: The one-bed average of £144,000 is dragged up by top-end flats hitting £300,000, but there’s a one-bed in the Royal Stables for £100,000. Four-beds average £498,000, again with a premium for sought-after areas – some can threaten the £2m mark, especially in areas like the Duchy.

Average rental yield: The relatively high cost of entry keeps the average rental yield in the HG1 postcode down to around 4 percent, although for the right one-bed this might hit 5 percent.

Average house price rise: £369,641 - up an impressive 6.32 percent on last February’s £343,647.

Average salary: £33,696 – above the UK average of £30,629 and comparable with Cambridge, the Cotswolds and the City of Edinburgh. The 88.8 percent employment rate is way above the UK average of 76.3 percent.

Average price of a pint: £3.50

Council tax: £1,252 to £3,901.

HARROGATE AT A GLANCE

Connections: Harrogate is 30 minutes’ drive from Leeds, 45 from Bradford and York, 90 from Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield. Train times are theoretically similar, with direct London services taking just under three hours.

Amenities: 5/5 Eclectically elegant boutique shops, eg arts/antiques outlets in the cobbled-street Montpellier Quarter; monthly farmers’ market; shows at the late-Victorian Harrogate Theatre, Grade II*-listed Royal Hall, 60-seat Studio Theatre and 2000-seat Convention Centre; cosy pubs and restaurants aplenty from Brazilian to Japanese.

Festivals and events: Salon North (like TED-talks, year-round), beer festival (March), spring flower show (April), tractors (June), music (July), crime writing (July), visual arts & entertainment (August), autumn flower show (September), comedy (October), literature (October).

Open space: 4/5 The Valley Gardens, The Stray, Crescent Gardens, RHS Harlow Carr gardens, Softpot Garden, Jubilee Gardens, Victoria Gardens, Killinghall Moor country park; 10 minutes from Nidderdale AONB; National Parks: 20 minutes from Yorkshire Dales, 45 from North York Moors, 90 from Lake District.

Landmarks: Harrogate is more about the generally pleasant architecture, but no trip is complete without visiting Bettys Tea Rooms, which makes up in taste what it lacks in apostrophes.

Schools: 4/5 Nine primaries are Ofsted outstanding, as are Harrogate Grammar, St Aidan’s C of E, St John Fisher Catholic and two special secondaries. 

Crime 5/5 North Yorkshire averages 52.3 recorded crimes per thousand people, well below the 89.3 average for England and Wales. In Harrogate Town, public order crimes were the country’s second-lowest.

Famous faces: Downton Abbey actor Jim Carter, The Full Monty actor Hugo Speer and 2016 Olympic champion diver Jack Laugher were all born here.

Originally published in the Metro newspaper, 11 Feb 2020