Park Row, Leeds
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Park Row is a street in
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. A ...
,
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. It divides the main financial districts from the main retail districts and forms a spine between
City Square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Rel ...
and
The Headrow The Headrow is an avenue in Leeds city centre, West Yorkshire, England. It is one of the most important thoroughfares in central Leeds, hosting many of the city's civic and cultural buildings, including Leeds Town Hall, Leeds Central Libr ...
, two of Leeds' most sought-after addresses. The street forms the western flank of the Public Transport Box, and as such is mostly reserved for buses, taxis and cyclists, especially since reconfiguration 2020-2021 as part of city-centre-wide traffic infrastructure changes. Between the 1860s and the turn of the millennium, it was a prime business street, with the main banks, some insurance companies and several other major financial and business services employers such as
Pinsent Masons Pinsent Masons LLP is an international law firm headquartered in London. The firm has been cited among the UK's leading legal brands and ranks among the top hundred law firms in the world by turnover. Pinsent Masons LLP has over 490 partners, a ...
and
Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...
. Since then, it has become much more mixed, with a return of some residential occupiers and a range of bars and restaurants taking over banking halls and other ground floors. The architecture of the street is representative of changing property demand and architectural fashions. Styles range from the earliest purpose-built banks and offices of the 1860s through to late 20th century replacements. It is named Park Row because it was created as the eastern boundary of the long gone Manorial Park, used by the Lord for hunting.


History

Twenty-three houses were built on the east side of Park Row between 1767 and 1776. In 1821, on a site on the west side
Leeds Philosophical & Literary Society
opened its purpose-built Philosophical Hall with a lecture hall, library and museum. The building and parts of the collection were damaged by German bombs in the Second World War. The Museum closed in 1965 and the site was redeveloped as the Midland Bank - later HSBC. After some years in temporary accommodation, in 2008 the museum collection was re-housed in the former Mechanics' Institute, now
Leeds City Museum Leeds City Museum, established in 1819, is a museum in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Since 2008 it has been housed in the former Mechanics' institute, Mechanics' Institute built by Cuthbert Brodrick, in Cookridge Street (now Millennium Squar ...
in
Millennium Square Millennium Square may refer to: *Millennium Square, Bristol *Millennium Square, Leeds *Millennium Square, Sheffield {{dab ...
. From the 1830s onwards, early service sector businesses started to use space in some of the Georgian houses. By the middle of the nineteenth century, some houses were redeveloped as purpose-built offices, providing accommodation more suited to growing enterprises and giving a chance to express company identity in the architecture. Some of these buildings were redeveloped during the twentieth century. A few have been redeveloped again since then, or have been converted to uses other than offices. Britain's first permanent traffic lights were installed on Park Row at the junction with Bond Street in 1928 by Herbert Thorp.


Entertainment

Although during the day it is mainly concerned with the financial industry, at night it is at the centre of Leeds' nightlife culture. There is a high concentration of high-end restaurants along Park Row, as well as a number of cafes.


See also

* Abtech House


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Park Row (Leeds) Streets in Leeds