Website and telephone payments Friday 26 April
Our website and telephone payment systems are unavailable between 6pm and 10pm on Friday 26 April. You will not be able to pay for any council services on our website or over the phone during this time.
Find out about the Spa Gardens, its facilities and Friends group.
Spa Gardens is a beautiful park right in the heart of Ripon. It has been recognised for its high-quality maintenance and facilities and has been awarded Green Flag status.
In the centre of the park is a splendid Victorian bandstand, where band concerts take place on Sunday afternoons throughout the summer. For birdwatchers, carefully sited nesting boxes have encouraged many varieties to make a home in the gardens. There is also a cafe serving home cooked food and cakes, and you can enjoy a round of crazy golf or try playing bowls.
Tree sculpture
The newest addition to Spa Gardens is a series of tree sculptures depicting characters from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Carroll spent time as a choirboy at Ripon Cathedral and is said to have been inspired to create the characters by the cathedral's animal carvings.
Chainsaw Mick was commissioned to create the carvings, using the trunks of a cypress tree. As well as a very lifelike Alice, these garden sculptures include the Caterpillar, Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit.
Restoration
In 2011, the Friends of Spa Gardens worked with us to secure funding for the restoration of the war memorial and the Marquess of Ripon statue.
The war memorial, at the entrance to Spa Gardens, has been named the best war memorial in the town class several times in the Yorkshire in Bloom awards.
Facilities include:
- Sun Parlour café
- Victorian bandstand
- band concerts - Sunday afternoons from May to August
- statue of the Marquess of Ripon
- war memorial
- colourful seasonal bedding displays
- toilets with disabled access
- nine-hole crazy golf
- 18-hole putting green
- flat bowling green
- three tennis courts in Spa Park
- tree trail and quiz
- Green Man trail - more than 30 Green Man plaques are hidden among trees and flowerbeds in the gardens. See how many you can find and record them on the trail sheet
- refurbished play area in Spa Park
Games information
Find out more about games in Spa Gardens.
Visitor information
The Spa Gardens are next to the swimming baths in Park Street, Ripon. HG4 2AX, and are open all year round. There is limited on-street parking in Church Lane alongside Spa Park, opposite the entrance to Spa Gardens. The main entrance is easily accessible and there are disabled toilets in the gardens. The entrance from Skellbank is very steep with many steps.
Friends of Spa Gardens
The Friends of Spa Gardens is made up of local people who have an interest in the park or open space and want to be involved in how it is managed. The group generally meet at the Sun Parlour cafe in the gardens every six weeks. If you are interested in joining, contact us.