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| Leeds Town Hall |
When
visiting Kirkstall Abbey and Beaumont Park, to see the Rough Rock, I spent
some time wandering around the centres of Leeds and Huddersfield - to visit the museums and
art galleries and to look at some of the stone built architecture.
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| Leeds City Museum and the Corn Exchange |
Like Sheffield, Leeds expanded rapidly during the industrial revolution and is largely brick built; however, there are several fine public buildings constructed in local Carboniferous sandstone – from the Millstone Grit and the Elland Flags - including the Town Hall, Leeds City Museum and the Corn Exchange. Sandstone details also adorn many of the Victorian buildings but it is Portland limestone, from the south coast of England, that is used in very many of the later developments.
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| The Romans - a temporary exhibition at Leeds City Museum |
Huddersfield possesses a very different character and the majority of the old buildings – civic, ecclesiastical, commercial, industrial and residential – are built from the local sandstone, predominantly the Rough Rock. Whilst most of the industrial buildings – and some 20th century civic buildings - are very functional and austere, there are very many Neoclassical buildings - including Huddersfield Railway Station - with fine examples of elaborate stone carving.
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| Stone built architecture in Huddersfield |
The old industrial cities of northern England aren’t obvious tourist attractions and, like me, you would probably only visit these places when on business but, combined with a visit to one or two of the many sites in the region - which have been identified as having geological interest – they can make a very interesting day out for the Geotourist.
