Moortown, Leeds
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Moortown is a suburb of
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
,
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
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. Leeds has had a council since 1626, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 it has been a metropolitan borough council. It provides the ...
in the north east of the city. It is situated between
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), Roundhay electoral, ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds North East (UK Parliament constituen ...
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 suburb and civil parishes in England, civil parish of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is north of Leeds city centre, central Leeds and is one of the most affluent areas of the county. Alwoodley lies in the LS17 postcode are ...
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 135A ''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 the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It is one of the three regions covering Northern England, alongside the North West England and North East England regio ...
by ''
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'' in 2007.


General description

The suburb is located around the junction of the (north-south) Harrogate Road A61 road and the Leeds Outer Ring Road (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 in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
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 suburb and civil parishes in England, civil parish of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is north of Leeds city centre, central Leeds and is one of the most affluent areas of the county. Alwoodley lies in the LS17 postcode are ...
ward.www.leeds.gov.uk
Moortown Ward (map)
The
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
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
A
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
, petrol station and other shops are located on Harrogate Road at the northern end of Moortown. 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 gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...
.''Yorkshire Evening Post'' 15 October 2008
Wheel spins at Leeds casino for last time
Nearby is a large
Marks and Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...
Simply Food supermarket which serves the surrounding area. Branches of Leeds Building Society and
Virgin Money Virgin Money may refer to: * Virgin Money (brand), a financial services brand owned by Virgin Group * Virgin Money UK, a British banking and financial services company owned by Nationwide Building Society Nationwide Building Society is a Bri ...
(formerly
Yorkshire Bank Yorkshire Bank was a trading name used by Clydesdale Bank plc for its retail banking operations in England. The Yorkshire Bank was founded in 1859 as the West Riding of Yorkshire Provident Society and Penny Savings Society but the Provident ...
) can also be found at Moortown Corner. Halifax closed its local branch on 9 January 2024. Moortown Corner is served by First Leeds service 2, which is represented red on the high frequency Leeds core bus network map. Less regularly, services 7A, 7S, and 48 run through Moortown Corner.
Harrogate Bus Company The Harrogate Bus Company operates both local and regional bus services in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield. History In November 1906, The Harrogate Road Car Company was formed. Initially op ...
's distinctive route 36 also serves Moortown Corner, currently , running between central Leeds and
Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...
every 10 minutes (continuing to Ripon every 30 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 a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...
, and a
Homebase Homebase was a British Home improvement center, home improvement and garden centre retailer that operated across the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was founded by British supermarket chain Sainsbury's and Belgian retailer GIB Group, GB-Inno ...
, it also includes a
public library A public library is a library, most often a lending 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 servic ...
. 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 Foot ...
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 A shopping parade, also known as a parade of shops, suburban parade, neighbourhood parade, or just a simply a parade is a group of between five and 40 shops in one or more continuous rows, mostly being retail and serving a local customer base; in ...
on Cranmer Bank as well as Moortown Social Club at the top of the hill, along with St Stephen's Church (
C of E C, or c, is the third letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''cee'' (pronounced ), plural ''cees''. History "C ...
). 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. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as a minister under f ...
. 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 National Health Service (England), National Health Service (NHS) organisations set up by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to replace Strategic health authority, strategic health authorities and NHS pr ...
's offices were located, and which is now a nursery. 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 A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in order to dispense them safely to the pu ...
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 and child welfare centre. When clinical services were moved to more modern surroundings in 2012, Leafield House was refurbished to provide office space.NHS Property Services
Former home of ‘Yorkshire Relish’ marketed to raise funds for reinvestment in NHS
, undated, accessed 21 September 2020


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
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 suburb and civil parishes in England, civil parish of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is north of Leeds city centre, central Leeds and is one of the most affluent areas of the county. Alwoodley lies in the LS17 postcode are ...
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 (name), Margaret, which means pearl. It can also be spelled as Margery (name), Margery, Marjory or Margaery. Marjorie is a medieval variant of Margery, influenced by the name of the herb marjor ...
and Arnold Ziff 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, 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 in 1978. It is named after St Gemma's School which formerly occupied the site, in turn named after Italian Saint Gemma Galgani. 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 The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...
to give instruction in palliative care for health professionals. St Gemma's Hospice operates 24
charity shop A charity shop is a retail establishment run by a charitable organization to raise money. Charity shops are a type of social enterprise. They sell mainly used goods such as clothing, books, music albums, shoes, toys, and furniture donated by ...
s around Leeds.


Sport

There is a
Rugby Union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
football club. Moortown Golf Club hosted the 1929
Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...
, but is well north of the Ring Road and is now in the
Alwoodley Alwoodley is a suburb and civil parishes in England, civil parish of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is north of Leeds city centre, central Leeds and is one of the most affluent areas of the county. Alwoodley lies in the LS17 postcode are ...
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 Councillors and one Labour MP who are responsible for raising concerns / issues from the Moortown community. Moortown Community Group has a history on interacting with local councillors on behalf the local community, for example in working on the Council's Neighbourhood Design Statement.Moortown Community Group
Neighbourhood Design Statement
accessed 11 September 2023


Location grid


See also

* Listed buildings in Leeds (Moortown Ward)


References


External links


YEP Moortown Today Community WebsiteMoortown Corner House 2003, Leodis Photographic ArchiveMoortown 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 ChurchMoortown Baptist ChurchAll Nations Community ChurchSinai Synagogue, Roman Avenue, Moortown
{{City of Leeds Moortown