| The Old Swan Hotel | |
|---|---|
 Old Swan Hotel | |
 Main entrance to the Old Swan Hotel | |
 | |
| Hotel chain | Classic Lodges |
| General information | |
| Opening | 1777 |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 136 |
| Parking | Yes |
| Website | |
| The Old Swan Hotel | |
The Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, is part of the Classic Lodges group.
Hospitality has been available on the site since at least 1777, originally it was the 'Swan Inn" in Low Harrogate separate from the settlement of High Harrogate.
In the late nineteenth century, it was extensively redeveloped by the "Harrogate Hydropathic Company" as a fashionable spa hotel and included Turkish baths. Its name was "The Harrogate Hydro" or as the locals called it "The Hydro". [1] It had its own farm on Penny Pot Lane to provide for the kitchens.
It was the first building in Harrogate to have electric light. [2] A vertical steam engine drove a DC generator and also the hotel laundry. The steam engine was re-activated to drive the laundry by Jack Gill of John Redfearn's garage at the hotel in the 1950s until electric motors took over. The fuel was coke from Harrogate Gas Works.
In 1939 the hotel was requisitioned at 48 hours' notice by the Ministry of Aircraft Production and cables were laid to a new telephone exchange in the Library Restaurant. [2] Power cables were laid directly from the hotel to the corporation power station beside Jenny Plain passing in a straight line through every private property on the way. It was attacked by an enemy aircraft in 1943 but only the house at the end of Swan Road by Ripon Road was destroyed.
By the mid-1950s Harrogate had an image problem. The "Bath Chair" image of Victorian spa towns was now unfashionable and the Hydro was renamed "The Old Swan Hotel" "famous since 1700".
It was listed in 1975 as a Grade II listed building. [3]
In the early 1980s, the hotel was a focal point of the Harrogate International Festival Of Sound—an annual festival of premium hi-fi equipment. [4]
A refurbishment of the Old Swan and its 136 rooms was finalised in 2006. [5]
In December 1926 the author Agatha Christie suddenly disappeared from her home. She was missing for a total of eleven days, during which the police conducted a major manhunt, and there was speculation that she had committed suicide. The disappearance even drew other crime writers Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dorothy L. Sayers into the search, Doyle's interest in the occult prompting him to take one of Christie's gloves to a medium. After about ten days (having checked into the Swan Hydropathic Hotel under the assumed name Mrs. Teresa Neele) she was recognised by one of the banjo players at the hotel. [6] [7]
A 1979 film about the event entitled Agatha was filmed at the hotel. [8]
Harrogate is a spa town in the district and county of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in 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.
Agatha is a 1979 British drama thriller film directed by Michael Apted and starring Vanessa Redgrave, Dustin Hoffman and Timothy Dalton. It was written by Kathleen Tynan. The film focuses on renowned crime writer Agatha Christie's famous 11-day disappearance in 1926. The film was released 9 February 1979, receiving generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the production values and performances.
The Hydro Majestic Hotel is located in Medlow Bath, New South Wales, Australia. The hotel is located on a clifftop overlooking the Megalong Valley on the western side of the Great Western Highway.
Bilton is a suburb of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, situated to the north-east of the town centre.
Woodhall Spa is a former spa town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, on the southern edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds, 6 miles (10 km) south-west of Horncastle, 23 miles (37 km) west of Skegness, 15 miles (24 km) east-south-east of Lincoln and 17 miles (27 km) north-west of Boston. It is noted for its mineral springs, historic cinema and its Second World War association with the RAF 617 Squadron, commonly referred to as 'The Dambusters'.
Matlock Cable Tramway was a cable tramway that served the town of Matlock, Derbyshire, UK between 28 March 1893 and 30 September 1927.
Starbeck is a village and suburb of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. The population of Starbeck Ward taken at the 2011 census was 6,226. It has many facilities, including Starbeck railway station, which serves the Harrogate Line.
Smedley Hydro is a former Victorian hydropathic spa and hotel in Birkdale, Southport, Merseyside, England. The building has been used as a college, hydropathic spa, and hotel and is currently the home of the General Register Office for England and Wales.
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Crieff Hydro is a hotel in Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland. The purpose-built hotel opened in 1868 as the Crieff Hydropathic Establishment, and is locally known as the Hydro. It was founded in 1868 by Dr Thomas Henry Meikle, who had received treatment at a centre in Gräfenberg, Austria, where Vincenz Priessnitz had built such an establishment. Preissnitz based his pharmacopeia on water, exercise, fresh mountain air, water treatments in the brooks and simple country food.
Tewit Well, also known in its early days as "Tuit" or "Tuewhit", is a spa water well, the first chalybeate source discovered in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England.
Colonel Archibald Christie was a British businessman and military officer. He was the first husband of mystery writer Dame Agatha Christie; they married in 1914 and divorced in 1928. They separated in 1927 after a major rift due to his infidelity and obtained a divorce the following year. During that period Agatha wrote some of her most renowned detective novels. Shortly after the divorce, Christie married Nancy Neele, and the couple lived quietly for the rest of their lives. Christie became a successful businessman and was invited to be on the board of directors of several major companies.
The County Hall is a municipal building in Matlock, Derbyshire, England. The building, which was originally a hydropathic establishment but is now the headquarters of Derbyshire County Council, is a Grade II listed building.
Isaac Thomas Shutt was an architect, a farmer, and the proprietor of the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate, then in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, from 1849 to 1879. In 1842, at the age of 24 years, he designed the Royal Pump Room, Harrogate, now a Grade II* listed building. In partnership with Alfred Hill Thompson he co-designed the Church of All Saints, Harlow Hill.
Wells House is a large former hydropathic establishment and hotel in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England, now used as private apartments. It was built in 1854–56 to a design by the architect Cuthbert Brodrick and is a Grade II listed building. It is located above the town on Wells Road at the edge of Ilkley Moor, giving it an unobstructed view across Wharfedale from its north front. It was originally set in grounds by the landscaper Joshua Major though these gardens have mostly been built on since.
The Ripon Spa Baths are a grade II listed building in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. It was built between 1904–05 as a spa but failed to compete with the larger facilities at nearby Harrogate. In 1936 a new pool was constructed to the rear and the facility converted to a swimming baths. The building is noted for its ornate terracotta-clad frontage and received listed building protection in 1980. Harrogate Borough Council proposed selling the building for housing development in 2008 on the grounds that it required significant structural repair. The sale was cancelled but in 2021 the council made a new proposal to sell the structure.
The Glenburn Hotel is a hotel located on Glenburn Road in Rothesay, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is a Category B listed building built in the first half of the 19th century. It opened for business in 1843. It was rebuilt, in ashlar stone, in 1892, on a grander scale, after a fire. It was originally Glenburn Hydropathic, Scotland's first spa. A brick chimney to the east of the property served the laundry and the steam heating.
H. E. and A. Bown was an architectural practice in Harrogate, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its two partners were Henry Edwin Bown who started the business and died at the age of 36, and his brother Arthur Bown, who carried on the business until he retired in 1911.
Royal Baths, Harrogate is a Grade II listed building in Harrogate, England, which housed a hydrotherapy centre established by the Corporation of Harrogate in 1897 as part of its vision to make Harrogate the Nation's Spa Town. The Royal Baths continued in full operation through to 1969, winding down fairly rapidly after losing a National Health Service contract in that year. In contemporary times its Victorian Turkish baths continue to be operated, the rest of the building being used as a restaurant and tourism information centre.
Ben Rhydding Hydro, opened as the Wharfedale Hydropathic Establishment and Ben Rhydding Hotel and later rebranded as the Ben Rhydding Golf Hotel was a hotel in Ben Rhydding near Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England, opened in 1844 and demolished in 1955.
