Hotel near Chesterfield renews bid to grow award-winning spa offering

Ringwood Hall Hotel at Brimington wants to create a new spa with two outdoor thermal pools within a disused area of its walled garden.

The application to Chesterfield Borough Council states: “Market research has shown an increase in the ongoing trend for outdoor spa facilities, predominantly water experiences and outdoor bathing.

"The proposal for an expansion on the current award winning Garden Secret Spa at Ringwood Hall aims to provide a high spec luxurious experience like that of the existing spa but with the addition of breathtaking vistas over the private garden.”

The applicant plans to replace an existing greenhouse with a further glass structure to allow views through to enhance the openness of the site, reuse stone steps from the original entrance within the water garden area, repair the surrounding wall using reclaimed materials and use natural stone paving and shrubs/creeper bushes to soften the large walled areas within the water garden.

"Other than the Folly within the listed brick wall surrounding the site, there are no architectural features of importance which will be lost by the proposed development,” the application states.

A Heritage Assessment statement released in August 2022 comments: “The walled garden is detached both visually and physically from the setting and environs of the hall. It is redundant for its original integrated function and could therefore represent an opportunity for development without impact on the host asset. Reuse would represent an enhancement, but investment is only likely to be made if the proposed project is viable, either stand alone or as an adjunct to the main site.”

A planning application for a new spa was refused in early 2022, with borough councillors stating that more information about the scheme – including a Heritage Assessment, a Coal Mining Risk Assessment and a Preliminary Bat Roost Assessment – was needed.

The Grade II listed hotel opened its Garden Secret Spa in 2018 and was awarded its ‘5 Bubble’ rating from the Good Spa Guide eight months after opening. Under the same awarding body, the Garden Secret Spa achieved runner-up in the best newcomer category and in 2019 was runner-up in best boutique spa.