![]() Most of the stained glass and oak paneling came from the old Dragon Hotel on the opposite side of Skipton Road, and just over the bridge. The grounds accommodated a private gas works, science laboratory and observatory. It is amusing to note that the patch of grass outside the gate was intended to allow the farmers on their way to Knaresborough market to graze their sheep. For example the land that accommodated the gatehouse at the entrance to the estate, where the present bungalow is situated cost a mere £160. By purchasing small or tiny portions of land in the immediate locality, the estate eventually increased to some forty acres. Samson Fox built the extensions to Grove House, being the present east and west wings, together with the Royal Stables with ornate clock which can been seen from the small rose garden at the side of the house. Eventually he became Mayor of Harrogate for three successive years, a feat never equalled since. He provided Harrogate with its first Fire Service, public street lighting and built Grove Road School, almost opposite our front gates. ![]() In 1870 he donated sufficient monies to build the present Royal College of Music in London. Fox, a direct ancestor of Edward Fox, the actor, and his brother was a great Victorian industrialist and benefactor to the nation and the local community. Sam-son Fox, a Civil Engineer from Leeds bought the property and is responsible for much of the splendid building we have today. Much later it was unoccupied for a number of years and it is alleged to have been haunted, although this was proven to be a trick of light, when a Captain Heneby purchased the building. Wildsmith obtained ownership and used the premises as a School for boys. In 1822 (the year the Order is reputed to have been founded), the Reverend T.T. She used it as a Ladies Finishing School, and perhaps was a forerunner to what is now the Harrogate College. Barbara Hoole, a well-known Yorkshire authoress of the time, later purchased it. There is some evidence to show that for a while it served as a staging post for passengers and mail from London to York.Īround 1805 it was acquired and used as a boarding school by a Mrs. Grove House was built as a small hostelry or guest house and was originally called “The World’s End.” The premises were originally built at the time when Harrogate was developing as a spa town because of the health giving properties of the water found in a large number of springs and wells. From the inside, at ground floor level, it is bounded by the four stone arches. The building currently known as Grove House dates from three identifiable periods, the earliest of which is 1752/4 and can be seen in the “square block” at the centre of the building as viewed from the outside.
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