Beckett Park (also known as Beckett's Park) is a residential area and a large public park in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is in the

Weetwood Weetwood is an area between Headingley and Meanwood in north-west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is bounded on the north by the A6120 road, A6120 (Outer Ring Road), on the west by the A660 road, A660 (Otley Road), on the east by Meanwood ...

ward of Leeds City Council. It borders onto

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

, West Park and

Kirkstall Kirkstall is a north-western suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, on the eastern side of the River Aire. The area sits in the Kirkstall ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds West parliamentary constituency, represented by Rachel Reeves. Th ...

. It is named after

Ernest Beckett, 2nd Baron Grimthorpe Ernest William Beckett, 2nd Baron Grimthorpe (born Ernest William Beckett-Denison; 25 November 1856 – 9 May 1917) was a British banker and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 until 1905 when he inherited the Grimt ...

General description

The public park stretches from Queenswood Drive to the West and Batcliffe Mount to the East. St Chads Drive to the North and Langdale Terrace to the South. It also encompasses the Beckett Park School, a children's play park, a skate park and tennis courts. Due to the sports facilities, the park is popular with local students, a large population of whom live in the surrounding area of

during term-time. Located in the wood near to the campus is a monument to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

's visit to the Leeds Town Hall in the year 1858.Leodis
Queen Victoria Arch, Beckett's Park There are also local shops, a post office, a hair salon and a pizza takeaway in this area. Among other attractions to this area there are extensive woodlands and nature trails, with great views of nearby areas of Leeds.

History

The land originally belonged to

Kirkstall Abbey Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery in Kirkstall, north-west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire, England. It is set in a public park on the north bank of the River Aire. It was founded ''c.'' 1152. It was disestablished during ...

but with the Dissolution of the Monasteries it was leased from

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

to a series of private individuals who made homes there. It included a

grange Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to a monastery Geography Australia * Grange, South Austral ...

called Newgrange. In 1752 this was replaced by a new building. In 1832 the New Grange estate, comprising the house and park was bought by William Beckett, who carried out major alterations and changed the name to Kirkstall Grange. The arch dedicated to

echoes features of William's house as well as the town hall. Beckett may have reworked an earlier arch made in 1766. A later family member

Ernest Beckett Ernest Beckett (1869 – 1952) was a footballer who played as a forward for Burslem Port Vale in the 1890s. Career Beckett joined Burslem Port Vale in July 1895 from Newcastle Swifts. Scoring on his debut at Rotherham Town in a 2–0 win ...

sold the estate (then called Beckett's Park) for £48,000 to

Leeds Corporation Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of l ...

in 1908, who wished to establish a training college and public park.Lori Beckett (2007) ''City of Leeds Training College, Continuity and Change 1907–2007'' Leeds Metropolitan University Note: there are two books with this number and Amazon gives the other. Use ASIN B007SBV6FC. The flat area at the top of the hill including the Grange was retained for the college, and the sloping area to the south was acquired by Wade's Charity in 1909 and leased to the Corporation in 1911 for the creation of a public park. The park is still leased from the charity, and run by the council parks department.Wade's Charity
Parks The

City of Leeds Training College The City of Leeds Training College was a teacher training college established in 1907 at Beckett Park in Leeds in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. After merging with the Carnegie College of Physical Education in 1968 it was renamed the City ...

moved to newly constructed buildings and the remaining West Wing of Kirkstall Grange in Beckett's Park in 1912. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

these were used as a hospital, and were only returned to the college in 1924. The buildings were also requisitioned as a hospital in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1970 the college became part of

Leeds Polytechnic Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The unive ...

which became

Leeds Metropolitan University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...

in 1993. Leeds Metropolitan University was renamed

Leeds Beckett University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...

from September 2014: the Chancellor, Sir Bob Murray, said "We will be very proud to adopt a new name for our University which is so closely linked to the location and birthplace of two of our major founding colleges." This renaming was widely publicised by the University, including much new and altered signage in the city centre and Headingley, in addition to the giving away of free

hoodie A hoodie (in some cases spelled hoody and alternatively known as a hooded sweatshirt) is a sweatshirt with a hood. Hoodies with zippers usually include two pockets on the lower front, one on either side of the zipper, while "pullover" hoodies ...

s, all of which referenced the term 'Beckett' - much broadening knowledge of the park. File:Queenswood Drive 04 May 2017.jpg, Queenswood Drive flats File:Queenswood Road 04 May 2017.jpg, Semi-detached houses, Queenswood Road File:Beckett Park Grange front 04 May 2017.jpg, The Grange, Leeds Beckett University File:Victoria Arch (4451588631).jpg, Victoria Arch File:Beckett Park Campus 04 May 2017.jpg, Former Training College, Leeds Beckett University

General description

History

References

External links

Location grid