Boston Spa

Boston Spa is a village and civil parish in the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Situated south of Wetherby, Boston Spa is on the south bank of the River Wharfe across from Thorp Arch. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 4,006 rising to 4,079 in the 2011 census. It sits in the Wetherby ward of Leeds City Council and Elmet and Rothwell parliamentary constituency. Etymology The origin of Boston Spa's name is not entirely clear; the name is not attested prior to appearing on printed maps in 1771, when it was labelled Thorp Spaw. At this stage, then, the name Thorp Spaw presumably meant 'the spa associated with Thorp Arch' (the nearest pre-existing settlement). The Boston element of the name is first attested in 1799 as Bostongate and then in 1822 simply as Boston. It is thought probable that Boston was the surname of a local family, whose name itself derives from Boston, Lincolnshire, and that their name was given to the settlement that grew up around the spa. History