They may be gone, but these Leeds landmarks live on through the impact they had on the city while they were here…
Leeds is full of incredible architecture, both old and new, but not all of them have stood the test of time. These landmarks have all been lost to the history books, but that doesn’t mean they’ve been forgotten. There’s gig venues and swimming pools, stately homes and woollen mills, but that only scratches the surface of the architectural gems that once defined the city’s skyline.
Cookridge Street Baths
Credit: Leodis, Leeds Libraries
Cuthbert Brodrick’s finest architectural designs are plain for all to see – from the Town Hall to the Corn Exchange, they all but demand your attention, but one has been lost. The Oriental and General Baths on Cookridge Street opened back in 1867 at a cost of £13,000 – they were home to a swimming pool and Turkish baths, so Brodrick decided to blend Asian and European architecture into his designs. The baths were open until 1965, before being demolished a few years later and replaced by Millennium Square in December 2000.
The Moot Hall
Credit: Leodis, Leeds Libraries
Let’s go right back in time, all the way to the 17th century. That’s when The Moot Hall opened right slap bang in the middle of Briggate. For many years it served as a town hall, before being rebuilt and becoming a meeting point for the town council and local justices – it even hosted Charles I when he was the King of England. However, the city’s needs outgrew its relatively small stature, so it was demolished in 1826, then replaced by a Courthouse on Park Row and, eventually, Leeds Town Hall in 1858.
The Original Leeds Stock Exchange
Credit: Leodis, Leeds Libraries
Long before London took over as the country’s central office in 1973, Leeds had its very own Stock Exchange. In fact, it was the first stock exchange to exist in a provincial town when it opened in the mid-18th century at the corner of Albion Place and Albion Street. Back then, they traded stocks in various companies, but today they trade in fruit and veg – it’s now a Sainsbury’s! You can see a nod to its past life still, though. There’s a lamp on the back of the building down a ginnel with ‘Leeds Stock Exchange’ written on it.
The First Corn Exchange
Credit: Leodis, Leeds Libraries
That’s right, there were other corn exchanges in Leeds, before Cuthbert Brodrick’s iconic masterpiece was built. The first took over the space left behind by the Moot Hall in the heart of Briggate, giving central Leeds a much needed outlet to sell corn. It was built in 1828 by Samuel Chapman with space for four shops, an inn, a hotel and a warehouse. It quickly became clear that it was too small to keep up with demand, so it was demolished in 1869, a few years after the one we know and love today had opened its doors.
Seacroft Hall
Credit: Leodis, Leeds Libraries
Seacroft Hall was an extravagant stately home built by the influential Shiletto family in 1605. In its heyday, it had large grounds and an ornamental lake. The hall was taken over by the Wilson family in the 19th century but it had fallen derelict by the 1940s. Leeds City Council bought it a decade later, filled in the lake and replaced the hall with East Leeds Academy. There are still remnants of the old building – the dip in the school’s grounds show you where the lake was, while the Georgian fireplace can be seen in Leeds City Museum.
Schofield’s
Credit: Leodis, Leeds Libraries
Schofield’s gives us not one but two lost landmarks, because it had two classic buildings on the same Headrow site from its opening in 1901 until 1987. The first was a set of gothic-style Victorian buildings with an arcade running through the middle. From 1957 to 1962, the old complex was knocked down and replaced by a typically 60s, no-nonsense modernist building that became synonymous with the city, much like the company’s name. After being knocked down and sold numerous times from the 1980s into 2000s, it’s now The Core.
Bean Ing Mills
Credit: Leodis, Leeds Libraries
Did you know Leeds was home to the world’s first factory for manufacturing wool? That honour, and it’s a big one considering the scope of the Industrial Revolution in the UK, goes to Bean Ing Mills. It was built on Wellington Street in 1792, on the site where the Yorkshire Post Building once stood, by local industrialist Benjamin Gott. Not only was it the first of its kind, it was also one of the biggest, employing thousands of people, and it continued to produce wool right up until demand dropped during the mid-1960s.
Yorkshire Evening Post Building
When Bean Ing Mills were demolished, the Yorkshire Evening Post building quickly became a landmark in its own right. Opened in 1970 on the corner of Wellington Street by the then Prince Charles, it was another Marmite building. But it became something of a gateway to the city centre, thanks to the unusual design of the brutalist complex and its striking clock tower, which is the only remnant left behind today. After 44 years, the building closed in 2014 and the site is now home to The Headline apartment development.
Leeds Central Station
Credit: Leodis, Leeds Libraries
For over 100 years, Leeds Central Station was one of the main train stations in Leeds. It was further down Wellington Street than Leeds New Station (now City), but the two were connected by bridges and viaducts. Central opened in 1854 and serviced the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and the Great Northern Railway. But with the reopening of Leeds City Station in 1938, the two stations were consolidated and the last train rolled out to Harrogate in 1967. The Lifting Tower at Wellington Place is now one of the few reminders of its existence.
Knostrop Old Hall
Credit: Atkinson Grimshaw
Knostrop might ring a bell for those of a certain age. It was one of the most impressive houses in Leeds and stood where Cross Green Industrial Estate stands today. The Jacobean mansion was built in the early 17th century and was home to the Stables family before passing through the hands of a series of rich and powerful people until it was sold for just £50 in 1959. But that one transaction sealed its fate. It wasn’t long before the whole site was cleared to make way for the new industrial estate that we see here today.
Leeds International Pool
Credit: Leodis, Leeds Libraries
The ‘love it or hate it’ architecture of the 1960s was displayed no better than by Leeds International Pool. It was an iconic building, but for its Marmite design rather than its purpose. It was often embroiled in controversy – it was shut regularly for repairs, and the architect, John Poulson, was convicted of fraud not long after it opened in 1967. It was still well used by locals and the unique design did become a landmark, but as services moved to newer venues, it closed in 2007, before being demolished two years later.
Queens Hall
Credit: Leodis, Leeds Libraries
Way back when, a chart-topping band or artists couldn’t have gone on a tour around the UK with a stop at the much-loved Queens Hall on Swinegate. Leaky ceiling and dishevelled look notwithstanding, the curved venue was the place to be as the likes of The Beatles, AC/DC, Joy Division, The Who, The Clash, The Rolling Stones and The Jam all rocked up to headline over the years. It closed in 1989 after a performance by goth rockers Ghost Dance and was soon demolished. It’s now home to offices and a North Brewing Co bar.
Horsforth Hall
Credit: Leodis, Leeds Libraries
Before it got swallowed up as a buzzing Leeds suburb, Horsforth was a small village out in the sticks. It started to grow when the famous Stanhope family bought a fifth of the local land from Henry VIII to build a home that was designed to be a lasting monument of their importance. Horsforth Hall was finished in 1707 and it stayed in the Stanhopes’ possession until the 1930s when it was donated to the people of Horsforth. After two decades of neglect, the house was knocked down, but the grounds remain as Horsforth Hall Park.
The Brunswick Building
Credit: Leodis, Leeds Libraries
1970s architecture might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but The Brunswick Building is a towering example. It was one of the main buildings of what’s now the Leeds Beckett University campus, and even featured in TV shows thanks to its futuristic design. The big blocks of concrete and black glass panelling shielded a jungle of never-ending staircases and cavernous rooms, but it was a victim of progress. The Brunswick was demolished to make space for first direct arena, which opened in 2013.
The Empire Palace Theatre
Credit: Leodis, Leeds Libraries
Not just a place for entertainment, the Empire Palace Theatre was once one of the most important buildings in Leeds. When it opened in 1898, it had all the mod-cons of the time, from electric lights to fireproof curtains and a sliding roof. It soon became the city’s variety theatre, hosting music and comedy greats like Frankie Howerd, Shirley Bassey and Eddie Cochran. By the time the swinging sixties came around, it was too small for the big touring names, so it was demolished in 1962 to become the Empire Arcade, where you’ll now find Harvey Nichols.
The Bookends
Credit: Leodis, Leeds Libraries
A newer lost landmark, The Bookends only recently lost their plural. These two parallel red-brick structures along Eastgate were synonymous with Leeds but the regeneration of the city centre meant one of them had to go to make way for the arrival of Victoria Gate and John Lewis. It was home to shops, flats and eateries, not to mention the iconic Hoagy’s pub, but by 2014, the pull of the future overcame the lure of the past, and it became necessary to knock down one of The Bookends to make space for a new era for Leeds.
Red Hall
Credit: Leodis, Leeds Libraries
The first red brick building in Leeds was known as Red Hall. Built on King Charles Street in 1628 for wool merchant Thomas Metcalfe, it reached as far back as Albion Place. In fact, King Charles even stayed at Red Hall when he was a prisoner during the English Civil War. In the 19th century, the extensive gardens were built on for the Tivoli and Theatre Royal. Solicitors eventually moved into the house until it became part of the Schofields department store. Today, the site is part of The Core shopping centre.
Second White Cloth Hall
Credit: Leodis, Leeds Libraries
While two of Leeds’ old cloth halls still exist, the first on Kirkgate and the third on Crown Street, another two have been lost to the past. The second was built in 1756 as a market place for undyed cloth where Leeds Bridge House stands today. It was handily placed, closer to the thriving factories and mills of Holbeck than the first, and it was bigger too – but not big enough. The Industrial Revolution moved apace, so within 30 years, it already needed an upgrade. The building is gone, but its cupola can now be found above Third White Cloth Hall (above).
Fourth White Cloth Hall
Credit: Leodis, Leeds Libraries
Fast forward 100 years, and it was the turn of the Fourth White Cloth Hall to go. It was built in 1868 by the North Eastern Railway Company after they knocked down part of the Third to make room for the viaduct that still cuts through the city by The Calls. Like the Second, it was a centre for undyed cloth, but again, it didn’t exist for long – by this point, the cloth trade in Yorkshire had dropped off, so it was never fully used. It lasted just under 30 years and was replaced by the The Met hotel which still exists with the Fourth’s cupola as its crown.
Mixed Cloth Hall
Leeds was not just home to white cloth halls, oh no. For years, coloured cloth was sold by traders at stalls along Briggate, that was until 1758, when a dedicated Mixed Cloth Hall opened at the bottom of Park Row. It was a feat in itself – this was the largest building in Georgian Leeds and a triumph of the era. However, when factory cloth production picked up, its use declined, to the point that it was finally demolished in 1890, making way for the creation of City Square. The Old Post Office Building sits on much of hall’s former footprint.
Cover image copyright Leeds Library Information Services, Leodis.
