Neville St. to Crown Point Road in Leeds

 

A blue plaque at The Tetley

My brief visit to Old Edlington on 17th October 2024, mainly to look at the dark red sandstone used in St. Peter’s church, proved to be my last day out for very nearly four weeks, with my next trip being another British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge in Leeds on 13th November – when I would celebrate my 64th birthday by having a meal at Khao Gaeng Thai in Kirkgate Market. 

 

My British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge

When planning my route using Google Map and Street View, I soon realised that the old industrial areas around Hunslet, Leeds Dock and on the east bank of the River Aire - to the south-east of the city centre - have been radically changed by the building of the ring road and slum clearance in the second half of the C20 and recently with massive apartment blocks. 

 

The area around Hunslet on the 1893 OS map

As with my previous trips to Leeds in August and October, I was also very aware that I would not see many buildings that would be of great interest to readers of this Language of Stone Blog, in its strictest sense, but nonetheless I hope that my description of this day out on the buses and trains appeals to everyone who has an interest in historic architecture. 

 

The area around Hunslet on Google Map

 

Leaving Leeds railway station by the exit that leads to Granary Wharf, I crossed Unity Bridge and on Neville Street, I immediately stopped outside the offices of the Direct Line Group, where there are large slabs of volcanic green slate from the Borrowdale Volcanic Group in Cumbria and purple Welsh slate, which contain thin beds of green volcanic ash. 

 

Slabs of volcanic green slate and purple Welsh slate

 

Continuing to Victoria Bridge (1837-39), I got my first sight of the very coarse grained and pebbly Rough Rock, which may be from the Bramley Fall quarry that was set near to the south bank of the River Aire just upstream from Kirkstall Abbey, which is built with this stone. 

 

Rough Rock used at Victoria Bridge

 

From the bridge, I had a view of the Grade II* listed former Leeds and Liverpool Canal Company warehouse (c.1776), where the main block was designed by the company engineer Robert Owen with Rough Rock again being used for this building and for the retaining walls of the locks. 

 

The former Leeds and Liverpool Canal Company warehouse

 

Taking the path on the south bank of the river, I headed east until I came to Victoria Mills (1836 and 1847) on the opposite bank which, along with the buildings mentioned above, was not part of my Photo Challenge. The 1893 Ordnance Survey (OS) map describes it as Victoria Ware Mills (dry saltery) and the Historic England (HE) description refers to dye and linseed oil. 

 

Victoria Mills

 

A little further down the path next to the car park for ASDA House, a section of a wall with a arched doorway has very surprisingly been retained during the redevelopment of the south bank of the river. Looking at the side by side view of the 1893 OS map, this would seem to relate to the Sunday School that was sited next door to the Methodist church. 

 

A section of wall with a doorway

 

Walking along Salem Place, the former Salem Unity Reformed Church (1794) is another example of the use of Rough Rock and, together with the attached Sunday school, has survived the wholesale redevelopment of an area that had been dominated by the Tetley Brewery since 1822, when Joshua Tetley acquired the brewery that William Sykes had operated since 1792. 

 

The former Salem Unity Reformed Church

 

The brewery was demolished in 2012, with only the Art Deco office building (1931) left standing, which was converted into The Tetley contemporary art gallery in 2013, but this has since closed and the building, which is still named The Tetley, is owned by Kirkstall Brewery. 

The former offices of the Tetley Brewery

Although not a listed building, it retains many of its original Art Deco features that were designed by the architects Kirk and Tomlinson, including the ornate wrought iron lift shaft, but on this occasion I just took photos of the exterior and the foundation stones at the main entrance. 

 

A foundation stone 

 

The Tetley is at the centre of yet another very large modern development in Leeds, Aire Park, which is a 10 hectare site that has a large green space at its centre, but will be dominated by vast blocks of soulless apartments and offices, some of which will include retail units. 

 

A view of Aire Park

 

Taking a couple of photographs of the equally uninspiring landscaping, which includes large rough blocks of sandstone and gabions, I continued to Crown Point Road, where the Grade II listed boundary walls and gates to Chadwick Lodge were part of my Photo Challenge.

 

The boundary wall and gates at Chadwick Lodge

 

I didn’t inspect the stone but, looking at my photos, the plane bedding and yellowish colour of the sandstone suggests that it is from the Elland Flags, which was obtained from several quarries on the north side of Leeds, but it looks like Rough Rock has been used for Chadwick Lodge.

 

Chadwick Lodge

Old Edlington Revisited

 

Carved corbels on St. Peter's church

Following on from my day out to Leeds on the 11th of October 2024, where another British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge provided me with an insight into the late C19 and early C20 architects that used brick and terracotta, instead of sandstone, I returned to St. Peter’s church in Old Edlington – the first to be vested with the Churches Conservation Trust back in 1971, when it was then called the Redundant Churches Fund. 

 

St. Peter's church

 

When I first visited in July 2023, I had a good at its interior but it was a rainy day and, while standing under an umbrella, I was only able to take quick snaps of the exterior before catching the hourly bus to New Edlington, where I photographed its war memorial. 

 

Reddened sandstone at the base of the tower

 

Taking advantage of a sunny autumn day, I was keen to get out of the house and have another look the red/brown sandstone blocks in the original fabric of this C12 church, which had aroused my curiosity when I first saw it. 

 

A detail of the reddened sandstone

Back in 2016, I discovered that an outcrop of a dull red/brown sandstone on Holmes Lane in Hooton Roberts was mapped by the British Geological Survey as an unnamed sandstone from the Pennine Upper Coal Measures Formation (PUCMF), which I assumed was the Rotherham Red variety of the Mexborough Rock – especially since very many historic buildings in the village are constructed of this stone. 

 

The geological map of the area around Hooton Roberts

My more recent explorations of Wickersley, Thurcroft, Brampton-en-le-Morthen and Morthen had shown me that the soil in these places are reddened, where I found the occasional lump of bright red sandstone. Earlier in the year, I had also discovered that red sandstone has been used for St. Helen’s church in Burghwallis, which is set on the Permian Brotherton Formation. 

 

The geological map of the area around Old Edlington

In a few places, I have seen PUCMF sandstone immediately beneath the Permian Cadeby Formation that has some patchy red colouration, but none of these have the uniform reddening seen in the Rotherham Red sandstone. 

 

Quarries marked on the 1854 Ordnance Survey map

The geological map shows that an unnamed PUCMF sandstone outcrops to the north of the church but, except for a sand pit on Clifton Common, the 1854 Ordnance Survey map shows only  limestone quarries in the vicinity.

 

Reddened sandstone at the base of the tower

Looking for a discreet place at the base of the tower, where the sandstone had deteriorated to the extent that I might be able to dislodge a small piece, I obtained a couple of small samples with my stainless steel knife, which had disintegrated considerably by the time I got home. 

 

A sample of sandstone from St. Peter's church

Using my Wentworth scale, I concluded that the sandstone is medium grained and, when viewing it with a hand lens, it appears less well cemented and finer grained than various specimens of Rotherham Red sandstone in my rock collection. 

 

Comparison of the sample with my Whitworth scale

  

Furthermore, its colour and texture was more like the samples of sandstone that I removed from St. Helen’s church in Burghwallis and obtained from the outcrops in Hooton Roberts, which seems to suggest that it is more likely to be an PUCMF sandstone and not Rotherham Red from the Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation. 

 

The corbel table on the south side of the nave of St. Peter's church

Having obtained a sample of red sandstone, I then had another look at the corbel table along the south side of the nave and chancel, which are carved with a variety of human heads and beasts – as I had seen in 2023 at St. Lawrence’s church in Whitwell and All Saints chapel in Steetley. 

 

The corbel table on the south side of the chancel of St. Peter's church

 

With 20 minutes before my bus back to Rotherham arrived, I wandered down Rectory Gardens where I hoped that there might be access to Edlington Plantation, where a LIDAR map shows the position of old quarries. 

 

Old quarries in Edlington Plantation as seen on a LIDAR map

Seeing that there was no public access to the plantation, I just took a couple of photographs of the Magnesian Limestone escarpment above the River Don at Cadeby Rattles in the distance, before returning to Edlington Lane. 

 

A view of Cadeby Rattles in the distance

 

On my way I stopped to take a few photographs of the boundary walls along Rectory Gardens, which I would expect to have been built with stone from the most easily accessible rock exposure or quarry. Apart from a couple of slightly reddened blocks, which are dissimilar to the sandstone seen in the church, these are built with cream to yellowish limestone from the Cadeby Formation.

 

A boundary wall on Rectory Gardens

 

I then walked down Edlington Lane to investigate the RAF Memorial, which is marked on Google Map, only to find a plaque to say that a Lancaster bomber did not actually crash at Cockhill in Old Edlington and that the memorial was moved to Moor Monckton near York.

 

The war memorial on Edlington Lane

A small war memorial is located at this site, but it just comprises a slab of dolomitic limestone with an attached plaque that replaces the RAF Memorial plaque, which commemorates four victims of WWI. After photographing this, I walked back to the bus stop, from where I photographed the rendered Manor Farm House (c.1800) for the British Listed Buildings website.

 

Manor Farm House

Albion Street to The Headrow in Leeds

 

A Portland stone lion at Leeds Town Hall

Leaving Pack Horse Yard, I headed up Lands Lane and turned left into Albion Place and continued my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge for Leeds at No. 1A, the former east wing of a red brick house that was built in 1795.

 

No. 1A Albion Place

Moving on to Albion Street and walking down to Commercial Street, although not part of my Photo Challenge. I stopped to take a couple of photos of Moorlands House (1852-55), by W.B. Gingell, which is one of less than a dozen buildings that I saw on my exploration of Leeds city centre that is built entirely in stone.

 

Moorlands House

I didn’t look at it closely but, according to the Building Stones Heritage of Leeds (BSHL), it is built with three types of sandstone. The vermiculated plinth is built with the very coarse grained and pebbly Bramley Fall stone from the Rough Rock, the ground floor rusticated blocks and the Venetian windows use sandstone from the Caley Crags Grit, with Rawden Hill stone from the Lower Follifoot Grit used for the two upper storeys and columns.

 

Moorlands House

The adjoining mid C19 Nos. 21-22 Commercial Street is built with sandstone ashlar that appears quite grey in colour compared to the varieties of Millstone Grit used for Moorlands House. It reminds me of the sandstone that I had seen at Morley Town Hall, which is built with Woodkirk Brown sandstone from the Britannia Quarries, where the Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation Thornhill Rock is still worked.

 

Nos. 21-22 Commercial Street

 
The next building on my list on Commercial Street was the Grade II* listed Leeds Library (1808), by Thomas Johnson in the Greek Revival style, with alterations by R.D. Chantrell (1821-1836) and Thomas Ambler (1879-81), with further work c.1900.

 

Leeds Library

With no stonework to interest this Language of Stone Blog, I just took a few general record photos and continued to No. 14 (1868), designed by George Corson in the Gothic Revival style. Its triple gables, voussoirs - which are probably Red Mansfield sandstone - and pink Peterhead granite are also seen at Corson’s 17A East Parade, where Elland Flags sandstone is used for the ashlar. 

 

No. 14 Commercial Street

The early C20 Nos 1-3 Lands Lane (1901) by Thomas Winn, which includes Nos. 12 and 13 Commercial Street, is a fine example of the use of alternating buff and red/brown terracotta – a material used extensively in the area when Albion Place was extended to Briggate in 1903.

 

Nos. 1-3 Lands Lane

Turning up Lands Lane, I continued to No. 5 Albion Place (1866-68), which was designed in the Gothic Revival style of c.1300 by Richards Adams and John Kelly as the Church Institute and Sunday School Association. Although also not part of my Photo Challenge, its fine polychrome brickwork and sandstone dressings stand out amongst the surrounding terracotta architecture.

 

No. 5 Albion Place

I continued up Lands Lane until I reached The Headrow, which is dominated on its north side by several large Portland stone and red brick buildings - including Permanent House and Headrow House - by Sir Reginald Blomfield and G.W. Atkinson which were designed 1930-31, with additions in the 1950’s.

 

The Henry Moore Institute

On the corner of the west side of Cookridge Street and The Headrow is the Henry Moore Institute, which the BSHL describes as having cladding of a very dark green granodiorite from Quebec in Canada, which is called Verde Prairi.

 

Athenaeum House

Athenaeum House (c.1890) on the south side of The Headrow, was designed in a Gothic Revival style by William Bakewell, and was scaffolded when I wanted to photograph it during one of my previous Photo Challenges in Leeds. I did not zoom in to photograph them or closely look at the sandstone ashlar, but large robed figures representing the Arts occupy niches between the windows on the second floor.

 

Pearl Chambers

Adjoining Athenaeum House on the corner with East Parade is Pearl Chambers (1911), another building by William Bakewell, which the BSHL describes as using blue/grey Rubislaw granite for the ground floor, with Portland stone used for the upper storeys – one of the very fist uses of this material in Leeds.

 

Nos. 23-25 Great George Street

From here, I crossed over to Leeds Town Hall to look at one of the Portland stone lions, before finishing my Photo Challenge by taking a quick diversion to Nos. 23-25 Great George Street and then ended my day by taking a photo of the front of St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Cathedral.

 

St. Anne's Roman Catholic Cathedral

Briggate to Pack Horse Yard in Leeds

 

Nos.112-114 Briggate

Leaving Angel Inn Yard and continuing south down Briggate, the next building on my British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge was Nos. 115-120 (1898-1904) on the corner with King Edward Street, which is part of the development by Frank Matcham for the Leeds Estate Company.

Nos. 115-120 Briggate

 

As with the other façades fronting Vicar Lane, it is built with red brick and Burmantofts terracotta, but here it has a strong variation in colour that I don’t recall seeing before in this building material, which I have seen in the historic architecture of several cities.

 

Nos. 49-51 Vicar Lane

 

The next building on my Photo Challenge was Nos.18-26 King Edward Street and Nos. 49-51 Vicar Lane, which was originally a block of shops, offices and a restaurant that formed part of Matcham’s development of the Shambles meat market.

 

Nos. 2-16 King Edward Street

The use of red pressed brick and Burmantofts terracotta is a feature of all the buildings that form part of the development, as is the Baroque style with Dutch gables, which is seen at Nos. 115-120 Briggate, Nos. 2-16 King Edward Street and Nos.104-108 and Nos.110-114 Briggate.

 

Ns. 110-114 Briggate

Occupying a corner site, the early C20 No. 60 Briggate and Nos. 17-18 Albion Place are described by Historic England (HE) as shops and offices that are built with brick and terracotta – although from my photo it appears that sandstone ashlar is actually used for the dressings.

 

No. 60 Briggate and Nos-18 Albion Place

On the opposite side of Albion Place, Nos. 13-14 (1903), which includes No. 64 Briggate, are described by HE as a shop with offices above and built with stone and brown and green terracotta. I just took a single photo from a distance, from which I can see the green terracotta used for the columns that separate the windows, but I cannot distinguish the other materials.

 

Nos. 1-4 Albion Place and  No. 64 Briggate

Referring to my copy of Leeds Architects and Architecture, this Baroque style building was designed by Percy Robinson for Eveleigh Bishop – a printer, fancy goods importer, jeweller and silversmith – and built in a mixture of stone, red brick and buff, white and green faience. Furthermore, the Pevsner Architectural Guide for Leeds by Susan Wrathmell refers to Burmantofts faience used for cladding.

 

Nos. 19-23 Albion Place

The next building on my Photo Challenge was Nos. 19-23 Albion Place (1904), a row of shops with offices above that HE describe as being built with red brick and terracotta, when again the dressings appear to me to be made of sandstone.

 

Nos. 19-23 Albion Place

My background as a geologist and building stone specialist, with extensive experience in the building restoration industry in London, has provided me with a very good appreciation of the colours and textures of a wide variety of building materials – including brick, terracotta and faience.

 

No. 26 Albion Place

A little further down the road, the early C20 No. 26 is again described by HE as being built with terracotta but, enlarging the photos that I took, although terracotta is obviously used for the dressings, red brick with a very similar colour is used for the walling. It is thought that this building may have been the former entrance to the adjoining No. 6 Lands Lane (c.1900), which was built for Joseph Longley, a manufacturer of beds and a flock and feathers merchant.

 

No. 6 Lands Lane

Although the HE officers who write the listed building descriptions would not be expected to have my specialist experience, I have very often found them to have very basic errors, some of which Susan Wrathmell and Ruth Harman/John Minnis have reproduced in their Pevsner Architectural Guides, and perhaps HE should undertake further research on the buildings that they describe.

Nos. 8-9 Commercial Street

Nos. 8-9 Commercial Street, although not part of my Photo Challenge, is another very early C20 shop and offices built in red/brown terracotta, which formed part of the redevelopment of this part of Leeds, when Albion Place was extended to Briggate in 1903.

 

The Pack Horse public house

 

I then went to photograph the Pack House public house, which has nothing of interest to this Language of Stone Blog; however, it provides another example of a yard that developed from one of the burgage plots off Briggate and it was where Joseph Aspdin, who patented Portland cement, once lived and first sol this product in Angel Inn Yard.

 

A plaque in Pack House Yard