The Story Of The English Towns Leeds

The contract was won by Cuthbert Brodrick , an young architect from Hull who was unknown outside his home town. He had travelled extensively in Europe in and acquired a love for its classical architecture. He was only twenty-nine when he won the competition for the town hall. The Town Hall Committee initially had reservations after selecting Brodrick; asking Charles Barry for an affirmation in Brodrick's abilities in the construction of such a large building, mostly relating to him being so young, Barry responded that he was "fully satisfied that the Council might trust [Brodrick] with the most perfect safety.

Brodrick agreed to this clause, and a sub-committee was formed to "superintend the progress of the works". Sizeable crowds were present at the ceremony and subsequent speeches, which were followed by a long procession consisting of brass bands , Brodrick, military officers, members of the Council, and others. Celebrations continued with a civic banquet, festivities on Woodhouse Moor , and fireworks. Over the next couple of years, the design was revised many times during the construction of the building; such as the inclusion of an organ and the extension of the vestibule.

The most controversial modification was the inclusion of a tower. Opponents of the tower used the argument that "a tower would cost money and would only be good to look at, not to use". Proponents were thinking of the Continental associations of a grand and impressive town hall.

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There were hopes that visitors would come to Leeds to see the Town Hall, and that a tower, at a few additional thousand pounds, would provide the building with beauty beyond mere utilitarianism. The following February, a compromise was reached when the Council voted to allow "a form of roof construction which might eventually permit the erection of a tower 'if at any time it should be thought desirable to do so. On 25 July , the building contract was awarded to Samuel Atack, a Leeds builder and bricklayer. Work began in July, using millstone grit from 17 different quarries.

Rawdon Hill stone was favoured for those parts of the building on which there would be carving; Derbyshire gritstone formed many of the columns.

Various other problems beset the project: Atack's main problems as the builder were changes in design and difficulties with the architect; the Crimean War , because army recruitment caused a shortage of workmen and a rise in wages; and deadline pressures arising from Queen Victoria 's agreement to open the building. These ultimately led to his bankruptcy in March ; various other local contractors were appointed to complete the Town Hall. The original estimated costs were vastly exceeded and the corporation had to find extra funding at a time when there was great poverty among the Leeds' working classes.

Arrangements for the Town Hall's opening were made well in advance. On 6 September , the Queen arrived at Leeds Central railway station , met by crowds estimated to number , to , She stayed the night at the home of the Mayor, Peter Fairbairn , Woodsley House, with tight military security. On 7 September, the building was completed, save for the tower bell, and was officially opened by Queen Victoria and Albert.

She proceeded from the Mayor's home down Woodhouse Lane to the city centre and along to the top of East Parade where a triumphal arch had been constructed. After entering the building, she knighted the Mayor, and then the hall was declared open on her behalf by the Prime Minister, the Earl of Derby. Later, the Queen was escorted to Wellington station to travel north to Balmoral.

The day was combined with an exhibition of local manufactures, held in the Cloth Hall , and a music festival, which opened with Mendelson 's Elijah and closed with Handel 's Messiah.

During the war the town hall housed an ARP post in the crypt and from a British Restaurant , which proved popular after the war, being refurbished in before closing in On 14 and 15 March , Leeds was bombed by the Luftwaffe. Houses were destroyed in Bramley , Burley , Armley and Beeston and bombs dropped on the city centre , hitting the east side of the town hall causing significant damage to its roof and walls on Calverley Street. In , Leeds Crown Court opened on Westgate, ending the town hall's role as a courthouse.

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The town hall's cells also closed ending an arrangement where a public concert may happen simultaneously in a building while prisoners are being held. During its time as a Leeds Assizes and later Leeds Crown Court it held various notable cases including the conviction and life-sentencing of Stefan Kiszko for the murder of Leslie Molseed in later quashed and the conviction of Zsiga Pankotia for the murder of Jack Eli Myers in who became the last man to be hanged at Armley Gaol.

For much of the 20th century, the Town Hall was left blackened by soot and smoke from the industrial city surrounding it. In spring the building was given its first official clean up - on previous occasions it had been hosed down by the fire brigade - which revealed much of the detailed stonework. Leeds Civic Hall was commissioned by Leeds Corporation in a Keynesian project intended to provide work for the local unemployed. Since then the Town Hall has been used for civic events such as concerts rather than council meetings.

The town hall hosts concerts and formal civic functions, including a register office.

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Many were much smaller. At that time trade and commerce were increasing in England and many new towns were founded. First the Lord of the Manor created a new street of houses west of the existing village and he divided the land into plots for building.

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Then craftsmen built houses and paid rent to the Lord for the land. The new street was called Brigg Gata gata is an old word for street and brigg is an old word for bridge so it was the bridge street. Soon the town of Leeds was flourishing. In Medieval Leeds there were butchers, bakers, carpenters and blacksmiths.

Leeds City Of England Tour 2018

However the main industry in Leeds was making wool. In Leeds wool was woven then fulled. That means it was pounded in a mixture of water and clay to clean and thicken it. Wooden hammers worked by watermills pounded the wool. Afterwards it was dyed. In Medieval Leeds there was a weekly market. There were also 2 annual fairs in Leeds.

LEEDS IN THE 18th CENTURY

In the Middle Ages fairs were like markets but they were held only once a year. People would come from all over Yorkshire to buy and sell at a Leeds fair. However many of the people in Leeds made a living from farming. The little town probably had a population of around 1, people. It would seem tiny to us but settlements were very small in those days. A typical village had only or inhabitants. Having said that, in the Middle Ages, Leeds was a small and relatively unimportant town.

Leeds grew much larger in the 16th century. That was mainly due to the rapid growth or a woolen cloth industry in the town. The amount of cloth made in Leeds boomed and the population soared. By the late 16th century the population of Leeds had reached 3, and by the middle of the 17th century was probably about 6, From being a small and rather insignificant town Leeds grew to be one of the largest towns in Yorkshire. Meanwhile in a grammar school was founded in Leeds and in Leeds was incorporated. In other words it was given a corporation and mayor. In a writer described Leeds: I have changed the words slightly to make it easier to read Leeds is an ancient market town.

It stands pleasantly in a fruitful and enclosed vale upon the north side of the River Eyer over or beyond a stone bridge from where it has a large and broad street paved with stone leading directly north and continually ascending. The houses on both sides are very thick and closely compacted together, being old, rough and low built and generally all of timber although they have many stone quarries in the town.

History of Leeds

Only a few of the richer inhabitants have houses that are larger and more capacious. During the 17th century as Leeds grew more prosperous many of the merchants rebuilt their houses in stone. St Johns Church was built in Then in came civil war between king and parliament. Most of the townspeople supported the king and a royalist army occupied Leeds.



But in January parliamentary soldiers captured it. They held Leeds until the summer of when, after losing a battle in Yorkshire, they were forced to abandon the town. The parliamentary army returned to Leeds in April They held Leeds for the rest of the civil war. In the 17th century Leeds was a wealthy town. The wool trade boomed. However like all towns in those days it suffered from outbreaks of the plague. There was a severe outbreak in However in Leeds gained a piped water supply for those who could afford to be connected. At the end of the 17th century the travel writer Celia Fiennes described Leeds as a large and wealthy town.

She wrote that Leeds had many broad, well-paved and clean streets. The houses were built of stone and were often of substantial size. In the early 18th century the writer Daniel Defoe said: It stands on the north bank of the River Aire, or rather on both sides of the river for there is a large suburb or part of the town on the south side of the river'.

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