The Leylands was an area of Leeds, north of the city centre and west of Mabgate. John Cossins' 1726 Plan of Leedes shows two fields marked Ley Lands north of Lady Lane and west of the Sheepscar Beck (also later known as Lady Beck) which correspond to the area.[1]
Ley Lands 1726Street SignLady Beck going south from Skinner Lane, with the former Leylands on the right
An 1881 street map shows the area built up and called The Leylands, and in 1887 the area had a population of 6209.[2] A plan of 1815 shows construction in progress with street names commemorating the victories of Nelson, namely Trafalgar Street and Nile Street.[3]
The Leylands occupied an area between Vicar Lane and North Street (to the west) and Eastgate and Regent Street (to the east) with Lady Lane and Skinner Lane being the south and north boundaries.[4] The main thoroughfare was Bridge Street, named from the Lady Bridge which crossed the Lady Beck. The beck was the eastern boundary.[4][5] The Leylands was an area of densely packed poor quality housing for workers most built before 1847. They worked in the nearby foundries and mills which sprang up in the 19th century. The area described in 1889 as "a dank district in that uninviting city".[5] There were some attempts at improvement at this time with the construction of a Leeds Board school in 1875.
St Luke's Church (now demolished) was built in 1841 on the corner of Skinner Lane and North Street.[6]
Jewish communityedit
Low rents attracted immigrants, notably Irish, but by the mid-1890s the area was predominantly Jewish: in 1892 of the 1300 houses in the area, 900 were occupied by Jews.[5] A synagogue was built, and the school became entirely Jewish, with three other Jewish schools within the Leylands.[7][8] In 1901 this area of less than 50 acres had a population of more than 6000 Jews.[7]
The predominant trade for the Jewish population was tailoring and the sweatshops of the Leylands became notorious.[9][8] (The 1901 Census identifies 'Tailoring' as the occupation of 2293 Jews, with 'Tailoress' for 851, many times the next largest 430 for the 'Boot/shoe trade'.)[8] Just north of Skinner Lane there still is the "Tailors' Machinists & Pressers' Trade Union" building which was a Jewish Trade union, the building was also used for Jewish social events.[8] It was to this area and these workers that Montague Burton came to build a clothing factory on Concord Street with decent conditions to establish a business which later resulted in a larger factory in Harehills.[10]
As the Jewish community prospered, they (and their businesses and places of worship) moved north to Chapeltown and the area was largely cleared in the slum removal programme of 1936/7.[7]
Current statusedit
A remaining 19th-century building is the Smithfield Hotel on North Street, built about 1860 to serve the cattle market on the opposite side of the road, it then became the façade of the offices of Thomas Green & Son's ironworks which stretched east behind it, producing items from lawnmowers to steamrollers.[1] The garment industry is represented by the 1914 Lyons Works on Templar Lane, which had one of the earliest production lines: it has recently been used as the background for an artwork for Leeds College of Art (now Leeds Arts University).[11] Templar House at the junction of Lady Lane and Templar Lane, a Grade II listed building, was built in 1840 as a Wesleyan Methodist Association chapel and converted into offices in 1933, latterly used by British Road Services, whose signage is still visible, but the building is now closed and boarded up.[12]
Today, much of the southern portion of the area is used as public car parking for the city centre, but there are some offices, apartments and light industry. The area still contains the Leeds College of Building and Salvation Army worship and community halls.
Galleryedit
Leylands School Building 1875
Tailors' Machinists & Pressers' Trade Union building
Smithfield Hotel/Ironworks
The Lyons Works and a civic car park
Leeds College of Building, North Street
Templar House, former Methodist Chapel, Lady Lane
Referencesedit
^ abBrian Godward (2004) The Changing Face of Leeds (Sutton Publishing,Stroud) ISBN0-7509-3413-1
^Leodis, a photographic archive of Leeds, Lady Lane, Templar House, accessed 21 November 2018
January 01, 1970
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The Leylands was an area of Leeds north of the city centre and west of Mabgate John Cossins 1726 Plan of Leedes shows two fields marked Ley Lands north of Lady Lane and west of the Sheepscar Beck also later known as Lady Beck which correspond to the area 1 Ley Lands 1726 Street Sign Lady Beck going south from Skinner Lane with the former Leylands on the right Contents 1 Development 2 Jewish community 3 Current status 4 Gallery 5 ReferencesDevelopment editAn 1881 street map shows the area built up and called The Leylands and in 1887 the area had a population of 6209 2 A plan of 1815 shows construction in progress with street names commemorating the victories of Nelson namely Trafalgar Street and Nile Street 3 The Leylands occupied an area between Vicar Lane and North Street to the west and Eastgate and Regent Street to the east with Lady Lane and Skinner Lane being the south and north boundaries 4 The main thoroughfare was Bridge Street named from the Lady Bridge which crossed the Lady Beck The beck was the eastern boundary 4 5 The Leylands was an area of densely packed poor quality housing for workers most built before 1847 They worked in the nearby foundries and mills which sprang up in the 19th century The area described in 1889 as a dank district in that uninviting city 5 There were some attempts at improvement at this time with the construction of a Leeds Board school in 1875 St Luke s Church now demolished was built in 1841 on the corner of Skinner Lane and North Street 6 Jewish community editLow rents attracted immigrants notably Irish but by the mid 1890s the area was predominantly Jewish in 1892 of the 1300 houses in the area 900 were occupied by Jews 5 A synagogue was built and the school became entirely Jewish with three other Jewish schools within the Leylands 7 8 In 1901 this area of less than 50 acres had a population of more than 6000 Jews 7 The predominant trade for the Jewish population was tailoring and the sweatshops of the Leylands became notorious 9 8 The 1901 Census identifies Tailoring as the occupation of 2293 Jews with Tailoress for 851 many times the next largest 430 for the Boot shoe trade 8 Just north of Skinner Lane there still is the Tailors Machinists amp Pressers Trade Union building which was a Jewish Trade union the building was also used for Jewish social events 8 It was to this area and these workers that Montague Burton came to build a clothing factory on Concord Street with decent conditions to establish a business which later resulted in a larger factory in Harehills 10 As the Jewish community prospered they and their businesses and places of worship moved north to Chapeltown and the area was largely cleared in the slum removal programme of 1936 7 7 Current status editA remaining 19th century building is the Smithfield Hotel on North Street built about 1860 to serve the cattle market on the opposite side of the road it then became the facade of the offices of Thomas Green amp Son s ironworks which stretched east behind it producing items from lawnmowers to steamrollers 1 The garment industry is represented by the 1914 Lyons Works on Templar Lane which had one of the earliest production lines it has recently been used as the background for an artwork for Leeds College of Art now Leeds Arts University 11 Templar House at the junction of Lady Lane and Templar Lane a Grade II listed building was built in 1840 as a Wesleyan Methodist Association chapel and converted into offices in 1933 latterly used by British Road Services whose signage is still visible but the building is now closed and boarded up 12 Today much of the southern portion of the area is used as public car parking for the city centre but there are some offices apartments and light industry The area still contains the Leeds College of Building and Salvation Army worship and community halls Gallery edit nbsp Leylands School Building 1875 nbsp Tailors Machinists amp Pressers Trade Union building nbsp Smithfield Hotel Ironworks nbsp The Lyons Works and a civic car park nbsp Leeds College of Building North Street nbsp Templar House former Methodist Chapel Lady LaneReferences edit a b Brian Godward 2004 The Changing Face of Leeds Sutton Publishing Stroud ISBN 0 7509 3413 1 Vision of Britain Leylands West Riding Derek Fraser 1980 A Modern History of Leeds Manchester University Press ISBN 0 7190 0747 X a b Laura Vaughan amp Alan Penn 2006 Urban Studies Vol 43 No 3 653 671 Jewish Immigrant Settlement Patterns in Manchester and Leeds 1881 a b c John Connell 1981 Urban Anthropology Vol 10 No 1 pp 1 26 Leodis North Street St Luke s Church a b c National Anglo Jewish Heritage Trail Leeds a b c d Diane Saunders amp Philippa Lester 2014 From the Leylands to Leeds 17 Steven Burt amp Kevin Grady 2002 The Illustrated History of Leeds 2nd edn Breedon Books Derby ISBN 185983 316 0 Moving Here Sir Montague Burton an introduction Explanatory sign on the building Leodis a photographic archive of Leeds Lady Lane Templar House accessed 21 November 2018 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Leylands Leeds amp oldid 1218076363, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
