Knaresborough

Knaresborough is an old and historic market town and spa town neighbouring Harrogate Spa, on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park in North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the River Nidd, the town is a popular tourist destination owing to its convenient location and picturesque townscape in the rolling Nidd Valley. Some of the principal areas of public interest space in the town are the Knaresborough Castle and grounds, which host the Courthouse Museum; Mother Shipton's petrifying well; The House in the Rock; and several cave dwellings. One of the dwellings is a chapel, dating from the Middle Ages. Knaresborough is also the site of Ye Oldest Chymist Shoppe in England, which opened in 1720.

Knaresborough Castle

Regarded by King John as an important northern fortress, the original Knaresborough castle was built by a Norman baron in circa 1100 on a cliff overlooking the River Nidd. Henry I is documented to have used the castle for various purposes and the assassin of Thomas Becket took refuge here in the 1170s. The castle was rebuilt in the early 14th century by Edward I and extended by Edward II to include the great keep. The Courthouse museum includes some of the Tudor furniture from the original court.

Mother Shipton's Cave.

Famous in her time, Ursula Southeil was a English prophetess and soothsayer who lived circa 1488–1561. She is mentioned in the diary of Samuel Pepys as having predicted the Great Fire of 1666. Wife of the carpenter Toby Shipton, she was reported to be extremely ugly and her likeness became the effigy of fortune tellers and witches in folklore, early pantomime, and marketing propaganda the world over until the present day. Mother Shipton's Cave in Knaresborough is said to be her birthplace and the dropping well within it has been visited as a tourist attraction sine the 1630s, due to its apparently mystical process of turning objects to stone over the course of several months. This is actually due to the evaporation of the mineral rich waters of the area leaving deposits that build up over time, but is no doubt still a rather interesting phenomenon to witness for its more enlightened visitors today. The cave, the Petrifying Well and the adjoining parkland is operated as a major visitor attraction and offers a fantastic day out for visitors of all ages.

Events

Annual "Knaresborough Bed Race". Each summer, locals and visitors to the area (including several celebrities), form a team of six runners who pull a single passenger on a bed, firstly in a parade through the town and then in a race that climaxes when the teams must cross the River Nidd.

Knaresborough also hosts a Fun Run fund raiser every May — a with 2.5 mile course around the town and a 10K route, which includes the surrounding the villages.

FEVA (Festival of Entertainment and Visual Arts), has also been running since 2001 and takes place each summer in various locations around the town centre.

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