Lawnswood is a small suburb in the north west of the city of

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 ...

. As such it is north north east of the

West Yorkshire Urban Area The West Yorkshire Built-up Area, previously known as the West Yorkshire Urban Area is a term used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to refer to a conurbation in West Yorkshire, England, based on the cities of Leeds, Bradford and Wakefie ...

. The suburb falls within the Adel and Wharefdale Ward of the City of Leeds Council. Lawnswood Borders

Location

It is bordered by West Park, Adel, Ireland Wood and

Holt Park Holt Park is a medium-sized low-rise 1970s housing estate in the northwest suburbs of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is approximately from Leeds city centre situated between Tinshill, Cookridge and Adel, and is at the edge of the Leeds ur ...

. The A660 Leeds to Otley road runs through the area..

University influences

Bodington Hall Bodington Hall was the largest hall of residence of the University of Leeds, in Leeds, England. It was opened in 1961 and closed in 2013. The site still contains the university's main playing fields. Known as ''Bod'' within the university, it wa ...

, a former major hall of residence for the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

was in Lawnswood and it was not uncommon to find some students taking accommodation in Lawnswood after their first year. Also, when considering

Lawnswood School Lawnswood School is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in the Lawnswood area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The school was founded in 1972 and had its first comprehensive intake in 1974. Its predecessors were the Leed ...

as part of Lawnswood, one must also regard Oxley Hall as if not in Lawnswood itself, then on the very border of Lawnswood and Headingley or Weetwood. Oxley, as it is affectionately known, is also a major

hall of residence A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

of the

. The ''Stables Pub'' and the ''Lawnswood Arms'' are both occasionally, but rarely, visited by students doing the

Otley Run The Otley Run is a pub crawl in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The route shares much in common with the Headingley Mile (a similar crawl in LS6) but usually incorporating more pubs on the A660 road, typically those towards Leeds City Centre. The Ot ...

Transport

Lawnswood is north of Leeds city centre and its nearest railway station is in Horsforth. Lawnswood is served by regular buses on the

First Leeds First West Yorkshire operates both local and regional bus services in West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of the FirstGroup, and is made up of three sub-division brands: First Bradford, First Halifax, Calder Valley & Huddersfield and Firs ...

Overground Lines that pass through the area towards the

Leeds city centre Leeds city centre is the central business district of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is roughly bounded by the Leeds Inner Ring Road, Inner Ring Road to the north and the River Aire to the south and can be divided into several quarters. C ...

.Leeds Overground bus route map, First Group
/ref> * Brown Line (1) * Sky Line (6) * Pink Line (18 18A) * Unilink (95) Supertram Lawnswood and Bodington Hall were two of the planned stops on the Leeds Supertram North Line. The Supertram project was cancelled by the Government in 2005 much to the disappointment of many Lawnswood residents.

Politics

The area is in the

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

Leeds North West Leeds North West is a constituency in the City of Leeds which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Alex Sobel, of Labour Co-op. Boundaries 1950–1955: The County Borough of Leeds wards of Far He ...

, represented by

Greg Mulholland Gregory Thomas Mulholland (born 31 August 1970) is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom who was the MP for Leeds North West. He was first elected at the 2005 general election, winning the seat from Labour and was re-elected with ...

MP. In terms of local politics, Lawnswood constitutes a large portion of the

council ward A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

, Weetwood.

Housing

Most of the houses in Lawnswood are large private detached and semi detached suburban houses. Houses in the area fetch amongst the highest prices in the

City of Leeds The City of Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Garforth, Guiseley, Horsforth, Morley, Otley, Pudsey, Rothwell, W ...

along with neighbouring Adel,

Alwoodley Alwoodley is a civil parish and suburb of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is north of central Leeds and is one of the most affluent areas of the city. Alwoodley lies in Leeds 17 which was reported to contain the most expensive housing ar ...

Roundhay Roundhay is a large suburb in north-east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Roundhay had a population of 22,546 in 2011. It sits in the Roundhay ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds North East parliamentary constituency. History Etymology Roundh ...

, Scarcroft and Boston Spa. Besides these large houses there are many 1930s flats in Lawnswood, built in the style of semi-detached houses, each block contains four flats, each with a private entrance, these are a good example of architecture of their time and while there are examples of similar houses in Moortown, Lawnswood has a great number of them.

Amenities

Lawnswood has most of its amenities on the western side of Otley Road.

lies on the Leeds Outer Ring Road. Along Otley Road there are several shops, including a Co-op, a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

(named 'Adel Post Office'), several banks as well as hairdressers, estate agents, delicatessens and other independent retailers. Towards the top end of Lawnswood is the Lawnswood Arms, a large detached public house, whilst on the opposite side of Otley Road there is an Esso Petrol Station.

Sport

Support

Lawnswood is within walking distance of

Headingley Stadium Headingley Stadium is a stadium complex in Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, comprising two separate grounds; Headingley Cricket Ground and Headingley Rugby Stadium, linked by a two-sided stand housing common facilities. The grounds a ...

and so many of the residents are supporters of the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

club, the

Leeds Tykes Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 1. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 when it j ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club and the

Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Yorkshire. Yorkshire are the most successful team in English cricketing hi ...

, all based at the stadium. In terms of football, most people in Lawnswood support the city's major football club, Leeds United.

Participation

The City of Leeds Lawnswood

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

provides facilities for aerobics,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and many other competitive sports.

Lawnswood Cemetery

Lawnswood has one of the city's main cemeteries and crematoria. Lawnswood Cemetery was opened in 1875, its grounds and most of its buildings designed by architect

George Corson George Corson (1829–1910) was a Scottish architect active in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Background He was born in Dumfries, where he was articled to Walter Newall before moving to Leeds in 1849 to work with his brother William Reid Cor ...

, who was himself buried here in 1910. The crematorium, first in Leeds, was opened in 1905. The cemetery contains the

war graves War is an intense armed conflict between State (polity), states, governments, Society, societies, or paramilitary groups such as Mercenary, mercenaries, Insurgency, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violenc ...

of 138 Commonwealth service personnel of 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 ...

and 67 of 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 ...

, besides a screen wall memorial listing 105 service personnel buried in the closed

Leeds General Cemetery The Leeds General Cemetery (also known as Woodhouse Cemetery, Woodhouse Lane Cemetery and, since its closure in 1969, St George's Fields) is a former cemetery in Woodhouse, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is now within the campus of the U ...

whose graves could no longer be maintained. The crematorium has a memorial erected within the columbarium central hall by the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

(CWGC) to 94 service personnel cremated here during the Second World War. Three soldier recipients of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

were also cremated here: *Colonel

Richard Kirby Ridgeway Colonel Richard Kirby Ridgeway (18 August 1848 – 11 October 1924) was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth force ...

(1848–1924) (earned in Naga Hills Expedition) *Lieutenant-Colonel

Harry Daniels Lieutenant Colonel Harry Daniels VC MC (13 December 1884 − 13 December 1953) was a British Army officer and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that c ...

(1884–1953) (First World War) *Sergeant Albert Mountain (1895–1967) (First World War) Buried here is the computing pioneer and entrepreneur

Dora Metcalf Dora Stuart Primrose Metcalf (11 March 1892 – 17 October 1982) was an entrepreneur, mathematician and computing pioneer. During World War I she was a comptometer operator in a munitions factory during which time she realised the potential in ...

(1892-1982). Also buried here is Second Lieutenant Anthony Moorhouse (1935–1956), whose kidnap and murder following the ceasefire in Suez formed the diplomatic row known as the Moorhouse Affair.

Local employment

The Department for Work and Pensions, (DWP), has a cluster of buildings in Lawnswood dealing with Disabilities and Carers.

Notable Lawnswoodians

Playwright Alan Bennett and

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

television presenter

John Craven John Raymond Craven, (born 16 August 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, best known for presenting the BBC programmes '' Newsround'', ''Countryfile'' and '' Beat the Brain''. Early life Craven was born in Leeds, West Rid ...

attended

Leeds Modern School Leeds Modern School was a school in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. History Leeds Modern School was founded on 14 July 1845 in Rossington Street as the Mathematical and Commercial School. This building in the centre of Leeds became council offi ...

, now known as

(slogan ''"a truly comprehensive school"''.)http://www.lawnswood-portal.co.uk/Pages/Default.aspx

References

{{City of Leeds Places in Leeds