Heritage and Conservation
Briggate 800th Anniversary
This year the city is celebrating the 800th anniversary of its origin as a town. In 1207 the Lord of the Manor of Leeds, Maurice Paynel created a manorial borough within the agricultural manor. The borough consisted of an enormous market street, today known as Briggate, with 30 burgage plots on either side which were to be occupied by craftsmen and tradesmen.
Throughout the Annual Report you will read about the major role the Trust has played in these celebrations. In particular our walk leaders have guided dozens of people through the maze of Briggate yards. The yards are a key aspect of Briggate’s heritage. Over the last century the number of accessible yards has dwindled from over 50 to fewer than a dozen. Good active yards remain such as the Turks Head Yard, Pack Horse, Angel Inn, Ship Inn and Swan Street on the west side and Hirst’s Yard, and Queen’s Court on the east side. But others are now closed and neglected. Most notably we should make a big effort to get reopened the Bay Horse Yard (which was intended to be a courtyard cafe for Borders Bookshop) and the wonderful Lambert’s Yard, which features the last surviving late 16th century timber-framed house in city centre.
Promoting Leeds Heritage and Tourism
During the year I was asked to head a Leeds Cultural Partnership task group to explore the opportunities for partnership working in promoting the city’s heritage. My discussions with senior representatives of a number of interested parties suggest that the task group should work on a few clearly defined, time-limited projects.
There is general agreement that the initial focus should be on the city centre with the top priorities being: the provisions of heritage interpretation in the streets; the production of a small visitor guide for heritage attractions; a targeted campaign to boost visitor numbers to specific attractions such as St John’s Church and Leeds Parish Church; and providing more regular access to normally inaccessible star attractions such as Leeds Town Hall and the Civic Hall. The idea of re-establishing a corps of city guides and some sort of heritage/ambassadorial training for taxi drivers has stimulated considerable thought. Though the task group has not yet been formed, already the Council and the Trust are working closely on producing heritage boards for Briggate and an updated walkabout guide for Briggate.
City Centre Characterisation Study
The City Centre Conservation Area has been long overdue for review and appraisal. This deficiency has put the historic environment at great risk in our rapidly changing city. This year under the aegis of the Renaissance Leeds project, with considerable funding from English Heritage, the Council’s strategic design partner Jacobs has undertaken a remarkably detailed study of the historic character of the city centre. This has broken the city centre down into a number of character areas, and then amalgamated many of them into 12 potential conservation areas.
The Trust has worked with the Renaissance Team, the Council’s Conservation Team and English Heritage in steering the project and advising on the judgements made. The most beneficial outcome will be the ready accessibility of highly detailed information and an appraisal of the historic character of any area in which new development or change is proposed.
Buildings at Risk and Conservation Successes
Today the biggest threat to our built heritage is that it becomes engulfed by unsympathetic development.
This year we have kept a watching brief on development plans for Kirkgate and the First White Cloth Hall amidst fears that the character of the historic south side and the hall will be compromised by over intensive development. We were similarly concerned about redevelopment proposals for the church-owned property behind Leeds Parish Church; we await revised proposals with some temerity.
On the plus side, wonderful work if being done in the further renovation of the Round Foundry site in Holbeck, while sensitive plans are afoot to bring Alf Cook’s Printing Works on Hunslet Road back to life. In the City Centre Rim, another scheme is on the stocks for Mount St. Mary’s Church – this involves substantial demolition of the now derelict building but its highly imaginative approach may yet produce a beacon of hope in Richmond Hill.
In the suburbs Elmete Hall, built by the steam locomotive magnate James Kitson, has been wonderful renovated. But perhaps the greatest joy of all has been the work of new leaseholders Chennell & Armstrong who have loving restored the city’s most famous historic Briggate pub, Whitelocks, to its former glory.
Kevin Grady
Director