In 1937 the Corporation proceeded with a scheme to improve facilities and expand the Royal Baths and on 10 July 1939, the new extensions were opened by the Lord Mayor of London, who brought his state landau to Harrogate for the official procession through town. For a moment it seemed as if the great days of the Edwardian era had returned, and as the official party inspected the new buildings, they encountered a stae of the art treatment block, built astride the famous Montpellier series of mineral wells, a Roman ‘Fountain’ Court complete with encircling colonnade, and a splendid ‘Lounge Hall’, fitted out in the best ‘ocean liner’ style, with birds eye maple panelling, elaborately coffered ceiling, and a sprung dance floor. The extensions had required the loss of most of the old Winter Gardens, whose entrance was retained to provide the new development with a direct connection with Parliament Street, but the spa had undoubtedly received a major addition.
Sadly, in the spring of 1939, the council decided to demolish the 1835 Spa Rooms, due to increasing maintenance costs and by June 1939 demolition was complete and Harrogate lost what was arguably it’s finest Georgian building.
Harrogate’s Royal Baths Extension of 1937 – 39 was the United Kingdom’s biggest programme of spa enhancement between the two world wars. On 3 September 1939 Great Britain declared war on Nazi Germany, thus preventing Harrogate Corporation’s new asset from being put to the test.
Image: Start of Western Wing construction, Royal Baths, 1936-1939