The area remained in a primitive state until 1778 when Bogs Field became part of Harrogate's famous Stray - a large piece of open common land in the centre of the town. Gradually the area was improved and furnished with a solid footpath in 1847 and the most important wells with stone well-heads. The first pump room for the Magnesia Well was built in 1858 (currently undergoing a full refurbishment) and the verges of the footpath planted out to a design by the Council's Surveyor, incorporating features proposed by a number of other designers in 1886/7. The new Magnesia Pump Room, (now the cafe) was built in 1895. Alderman Binns forcibly incorporated a large area of council land into the gardens by knocking down the dividing wall himself one night in 1911. Subsequently the Sun Pavilion and Colonnades were built on this 'extension' in 1933. Bogs Field had been much improved by the addition of circular flower beds and walks in the 1920s. After WWII a wide variety of botanical specimens were planted and in 1957 the Christchurch Botanical Gardens in New Zealand generously donated a host of specimens which were planted in the New Zealand Garden, constructed for the purpose. These were redesigned in 2010 and now include wood carvings. The botanical collection of climbing plants has been replanted in the Colonnades, restoring part of the original concept of the attractive and sheltered walkways in the Gardens. The Valley Gardens was the home of the Harrogate Spring Flower Show for almost seventy years.