This article forms part of our Heritage Open Day 2020 programme, specifically our Leeds City Centre Hidden Nature, Hidden History heritage trail. Click to see all the points on the trail and to read the accompanying articles… This Georgian style square was built between 1788-1810, beginning as land owned by the Wilson family, whose plan to…
Tag: Heritage Open Days
HOD 2020: Hidden Nature, Hidden History Heritage Trail
This year for Heritage Open Day (Sept 11-20) we are doing things a little bit differently: instead of opening up our building, we are opening up our city centre for you to explore and enjoy while finding out more about this year’s theme of Hidden Nature. Leeds is a city of green spaces with large…
The Rotation Office
The Rotation Office (late 1700s – early 1800s) New Market Street This was a brick building in a narrow yard, named for the magistrates who attended here, in ‘rotation’, to hear cases that came within the jurisdiction of the borough – but which did not justify the need for a jury. They were able to…
The 1926 General Strike
The General Strike (5-6 May 1926) The Corn Exchange On the 5th and 6th of May disturbances occurred in the town centre due to the continued operation of some trams and buses on a reduced service. On the first day, a tram was forced to stop as its windows were smashed by lumps of coal….
The 1844 Military Riot
The Military Riot (9-11 June 1844) Green Man Pub, Kirkgate & Green Parrot Pub, Harper Street In June 1844 reports of soldiers from the 70th Infantry attacking members of the public led to an outbreak of violence at the Green Man pub. Police arriving to arrest the soldiers were booed by an anti-police crowd and…
The Leeds Club
The Leeds Club (est. 1852) Albion Place Founded in 1849, moved into premises on Albion Place in 1852. Said to have been the equal of “any clubhouse out of London,” the Club ensured exclusivity with a very high annual subscription fee: approximately £6 a year, while the Leeds Radical Universal Suffrage Association, a working-class Chartist…
John De Morgan
John De Morgan (1877-1880) Calverley Street and Great George Street The Leeds School Board building was designed by George Corson and opened in 1881 (Corson was also responsible for the neighbouring Municipal Building). As well as a significant site of local power in its own right, the School Board was also briefly home to a…
Alice Mann (1791-1865)
Alice Mann (1791-1865) Central Street and Duncan Street This Leeds-born radical and publisher operated primarily from a bookshop based in the now-demolished Central Market on Duncan Street (near to Central Street). Alice married James Mann, a prominent West Riding political activist and bookseller, in 1807. After his death she took on his business to support…
The Secret Library | Leeds Libraries Heritage Blog 