Moortown is an affluent suburb 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 popul ...
,
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 ...
in the LS17 and LS8 postcode district. It is a
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
and sits in the
Moortown ward of
Leeds City Council
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 ...
in the north east of the city.
It is situated between
Roundhay and
Gledhow on the east and
Weetwood on the west, with
Chapel Allerton
Chapel Allerton is an inner suburb of north-east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, from the city centre.
It sits within the Chapel Allerton ward of Leeds City Council and had a population of 18,206 and 23,536 at the 2001 and 2011 census respe ...
to the south, and
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 a ...
to the north. It is synonymous with
Moor Allerton,
[Ralph Thoresby (1715) ''Ducatus Leodiensis: or, the topography of the ancient and populous town and parish of Leedes, and parts adjacent in the West Riding of York'', page 135][A ''History of Leeds, compiled from various authors'' (1797) (Leeds) page 57] and institutions in the area use both names.
[The Ordnance Survey gives the name Moor Allerton to the southeasternmost part (where Moor Allerton School is), whereas the Moor Allerton shopping Centre, containing Moor Allerton Library, is to the west by the junction of King Lane and the Ring Road (A6120). This is actually on the site of the original village of Moore Allerton.][Likewise Chapeltown and ]Chapel Allerton
Chapel Allerton is an inner suburb of north-east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, from the city centre.
It sits within the Chapel Allerton ward of Leeds City Council and had a population of 18,206 and 23,536 at the 2001 and 2011 census respe ...
Moortown lies in the LS17 postcode district, which was reported to contain the most expensive housing area in
Yorkshire and the Humber
Yorkshire and the Humber is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The population in 2011 was 5,284,000 with its largest settlements being Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Hull, and York.
It is ...
by
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
in 2007.
General description
The suburb is located around the junction of the (north-south) Harrogate Road
A61 road A61 or A-61 may refer to:
* A61 road (England), a road connecting Derby and Thirsk
* A61 motorway (France), a road connecting Narbonne and Bordeaux
* A61 motorway (Germany), a road connecting Venlo and Hockenheim
* Benoni Defense
The Benoni Defense ...
and the
Leeds Outer Ring Road
The Leeds Outer Ring Road is a main road that runs around most of the perimeter of the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The ring road is approximately long and consists of single and dual carriageways. The road is not a loop and so is ...
(A6120) (west-east), at that point called the Moortown Ring Road, and overlooked by a Water Tower. Scott Hall Road (A61) and Harrogate Road lead southwards to
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 popul ...
city centre. The Leeds City Council boundary for
Moortown ward is the Ring Road, with properties to the north in the
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 a ...
ward.
[www.leeds.gov.uk]
Moortown Ward (map) The
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
parish includes areas north of the Ring Road. Woodland north and south of the Ring Road and by the water tower is called the
''Moortown Plantation''.
[Forest of Leeds]
Moortown Plantation
Moortown includes small estates of council housing around the junction of King Lane and the Moortown Ring Road.
[Welcome to Moortown]
Leeds City Council publication.
Moortown Corner
Moortown Corner is the junction between Street Lane and Harrogate Road, a local shopping area and geographical reference. The building known as the Corner House was built as a cinema (1938–1940), ballroom and restaurant but now contains shops. From 1968 to 2008 it contained a
casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...
.
[''Yorkshire Evening Post'' 15 October 2008]
Wheel spins at Leeds casino for last time Nearby is a large
Marks and Spencer
Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...
Simply Food supermarket which serves the surrounding area. Branches of
Leeds Building Society
Leeds Building Society is a building society based in Leeds, England. It serves approximately 719,000 customers across the United Kingdom, who together hold £9.9 billion in savings balances and is the fifth largest building society in the UK.
...
,
Virgin Money
Virgin Money is a financial services brand used by two independent brand-licensees worldwide from the Virgin Group. Virgin Money branded services are currently available in Australia and the United Kingdom. The brand formerly operated in South A ...
(formerly
Yorkshire Bank) and
Halifax can also be found at Moortown Corner.
Moortown Corner is served by
First Leeds service 2, which is represented red on the 10-minute frequency Overground network. Less regularly, services 7A, 7S, 38, and 48 run through Moortown Corner.
Harrogate Bus Company's distinctive
route 36 also serves Moortown Corner, currently running between
central Leeds and
Harrogate
Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa ...
every 15 minutes.
Moor Allerton District Centre
Moor Allerton District Centre is adjacent to the Moortown estate (west), north of the Ring Road and west of the junction with King Lane, which opened in 1982.
[ ] Primarily a shopping centre, with a large
Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...
, and a
Homebase
Homebase is a British home improvement retailer and garden centre with stores across the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Founded by Sainsbury's and GB-Inno-BM in 1979, the company was owned by Home Retail Group from October 2006, un ...
, it also includes a
public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants.
There are five fundamen ...
. A public house, the ''King on the Lane'', was called the ''Penny Fun'' until 2019; its name relates to the history of the area as follows. The word 'pen' comes from the
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foo ...
for 'hill'. What is now Tunnel How Hill is visible from the Centre to the south-west. It was previously ''Pen-how-fyn'', and a hamlet around what is now the Centre was ''Paenfynaen'' (where ''fynaen'' means settlement). Tunnel How Hill was referred to as Penny Fun in the 19th century and several houses in the vicinity used the name.
[''Leeds Mercury'' 29 May 1886 "Local Notes and Queries"] There is a Penny Field nearby in
Meanwood Park.
Housing estates
Black Moor and Cranmer Bank
To the north of the ring road and west of King Lane is the Moortown estate (west) and Cranmer Bank is part of the estate, named after the moor on which Moortown was situated.
[ This has varied housing from the 1950s to recent along Black Moor road. There is a parade of shops on Cranmer Bank as well as Moortown Social Club at the top of the hill, along with St Stephen's Church (]C of E
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
). The main areas on the estate are Blackmoor, Tynwald, Deanswood, Scotland Wood, Cranmer Bank, Alderton and Saxon.
Lingfield
To the north of the ring road and east of King Lane is the Lingfield Estate comprising mainly semi-detached tenant properties and council flats.
Queenshill
To the south of the ring road and east of King Lane is the Queenshill estate, mainly low-rise flats, which was opened in 1962 by Sir Keith Joseph
Keith Sinjohn Joseph, Baron Joseph, (17 January 1918 – 10 December 1994), known as Sir Keith Joseph, 2nd Baronet, for most of his political life, was a British politician, intellectual and barrister. A member of the Conservative Party, he ...
. This area contains a small row of shops, a fire station, Moortown Baptist Church, and the offices of the Leeds Jewish Housing Association.
Leafield
A smaller development of public housing lies to the south of the ring road and west of King Lane, essentially in the grounds of a former mansion, Leafield House, later Leafield Clinic, where the former Leeds North Clinical Commissioning Group
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were NHS organisations set up by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to organise the delivery of NHS services in each of their local areas in England. On 1 July 2022 they were abolished and replaced by Integ ...
's offices were located. the building is for sale.[NHS Property Services]
Former home of ‘Yorkshire Relish’ marketed to raise funds for reinvestment in NHS
, undated, accessed 21 September 2020
Leafield House was built around 1873 and was known initially as Albert House. In the 1920s, it was the family home of William Powell Bowman (1862-1955), the owner of Goodall, Backhouse & Co., who described his profession as a “wholesale druggist and manufacturer of the celebrated Yorkshire Relish". Millions of bottles of Yorkshire Relish – a piquant, cold sauce – were manufactured in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Leafield House was bought in 1951 and two years later, the Leeds Corporation Health Committee submitted a planning application to turn the building into a maternity
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...
and child welfare centre. When clinical services were moved to more modern surroundings in 2012, Leafield House was refurbished to provide office space.
Darkwood
A small 1990 development low-rise flats off Shadwell Lane, in woods known as Blackwoods, part of the Forest of Leeds
The Forest of Leeds was originally the Forest of Loidis in which today's city of Leeds arose. It now refers to patches of woodland throughout the metropolitan district, managed by Leeds City Council amounting to 1200 hectares. .[The Forest of Leeds]
The property was originally a large private estate called "Blackwood". It was acquired by the City of Leeds sometime prior to 1963 and converted into several large flats with the extensive grounds preserved until the subsequent development of low rise flats in the 1990s.
Religion
Moortown and neighbouring 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 a ...
are the main centres of the Leeds Jewish community. There are three synagogues in the Moortown area: the Beth Hamidrash Hagadol Synagogue on Street Lane, Etz Chaim Synagogue on Harrogate Road and the UHC Synagogue on Shadwell Lane. The Marjorie
Marjorie is a female given name derived from Margaret, which means pearl. It can also be spelled as Margery or Marjory. Marjorie is a medieval variant of Margery, influenced by the name of the herb marjoram. It came into English from the Old Fr ...
and Arnold Ziff
Israel Arnold Ziff OBE (31 January 1927 – 14 July 2004) was a British businessman and philanthropist, who particularly donated to good causes within Leeds, West Yorkshire. He was made a Freeman of the City of London in 1979 and received an OBE i ...
Community Centre opened in 2005, providing facilities for the Jewish community in Leeds and district, with the only Kosher restaurant in Leeds and providing offices for some Jewish organisations.[ The Church of England parish church is St John the Evangelist on the corner of Harrogate Road and the ring road; the Catholic church is the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. There is also a Baptist church on King Lane. Moortown Methodist Church Centre is located in the Black Moor area: it is currently used by Showers of Mercy Ministries International, Lighthouse Chapel and Leeds Independent Seventh Day Adventist Church,Moortown Methodist Church Centre]
accessed 22 December 2017 but there are no regular Methodist services there. There are three mosques which also act as Muslim community centres, including one in the former "Lingfield" public house on Lingfield Hill which opened in 2016.[''Yorkshire Evening Post'']
"Muslim-run community centre opens in Leeds three years after far-right protest", published 29 March 2016
St Gemma's Hospice
Moortown is home to St Gemma's Hospice, a charity hospice
Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...
founded by the Sisters of the Cross and Passion
Sisters of the Cross and Passion (also known as the Passionist Sisters) is a Roman Catholic religious institute founded in 19th-century Manchester, England, by Elizabeth Prout, later called Mother Mary Joseph. It is part of the larger Passionist ...
in 1978. It is named after St Gemma's School which formerly occupied the site, in turn named after Italian Saint Gemma Galgani
Maria Gemma Umberta Galgani (12 March 1878 – 11 April 1903), also known as Saint Gemma of Lucca, was an Italian mystic, venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church since 1940. She has been called the "Daughter of the Passion" because of her ...
.[ This is situated to the south of Moortown Corner on Harrogate Road. In 2017 it became a University Teaching Hospice in association with 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
, ...
to give instruction in palliative care for health professionals. St Gemma's Hospice operates 24 charity shops around Leeds.
Sport
There is a 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 ...
football club. Moortown Golf Club
Moortown Golf Club is a golf club located in Alwoodley, near Leeds, England. It was founded in 1909, and the championship golf course was designed by Dr Alister MacKenzie. hosted the 1929 Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...
, but is well north of the Ring Road and is now in the 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 a ...
ward. Moor Allerton Sports and Social Centre has bowls, tennis and indoor activities. North Leeds FC's home pitch is situated on Cranmer Bank, next to Moortown Social Club.
Governance
As of July 2022 there are three Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
Councillors and one Labour MP that are responsible for raising concerns / issues from the Moortown Community.
Location grid
See also
*Listed buildings in Leeds (Moortown Ward)
Moortown is a ward in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It contains 36 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. All the listed buildings are designated at Grade ...
References
External links
YEP Moortown Today Community Website
Moortown Corner House 2003, Leodis Photographic Archive
Moortown Corner 1950, with tram tracks along Street Lane, Leodis Photographic Archive
* Historical and genealogical resource for area including Moortown
Moortown Community Group
Religion
Immaculate Heart of Mary RC Church
Moortown Baptist Church
All Nations Community Church
Sinai Synagogue, Roman Avenue, Moortown
{{City of Leeds
Moortown