Draft:Old Magnesia Well Pump Room
 | Review waiting, please be patient.
This may take 3 months or more, since drafts are reviewed in no specific order. There are 2,750 pending submissions waiting for review.
Where to get help
How to improve a draft
You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Editor resources
Reviewer tools
|
The Old Magnesia Well Pump Room is a Gothic-style[1] grade II listed building[2] situated in Valley Gardens, Harrogate, England.
History
[edit]The pump room is situated upon the now empty Bogs Field, a geological area containing 36 different mineral water springs (the closest arrangement of such a diverse variety of springs in the world). The magnesia well was first identified by Dr Short in his 1652 book "The Yorkshire Spaw" ("Spaw" being the era-appropriate spelling of "Spa"). Dr Short recommended the water as a strong diuretic, as supported by Dr Sheridan Muspratt's 1867 chemical analysis, showing that the water was slightly sulphurous. [3]
In 1841, wellheads were built to extract water from Bogs Field. The magnesia well pump and enclosing pump room were designed by John Stead in 1858 to serve water to visitors of the Harrogate Spa to pump magnesia water, one of the most popular drinking waters[4].
The opening of the Valley Pleasure Grounds in 1887 caused an increase in visitors, necessitating a larger pump, which was built in 1895. The old pump room was abandoned and fell into disrepair.[4]
Restoration
[edit]In 2011, Friends of Valley Gardens began a restoration project led by Jane Blayney[2]. By 2015, the group had successfully restored the building and nearby peat garden, rockery, and Japanese garden, transforming the area into an education and information centre.
Since, the pump room and surrounding gardens have received the Yorkshire in Bloom 2016 platinum award and the Harrogate in Bloom Shield 2016.[1]
The newer 1895 pump room now houses a café.