Shadwell is a village and

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 ...

in north-east

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 ...

. The village is to the north east of

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 ...

. It sits in the Harewood

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

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 ...

and in the Wetherby and Easingwold constituency since

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. The village is in the LS17 postal code and is served by the Shadwell Parish Council. Shadwell borders with areas including

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 ...

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 ...

Whinmoor Whinmoor is a residential area of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is 5 miles (8 km) to the north-east of the city centre and adjacent to Swarcliffe and Seacroft in the LS14 Leeds postcode area. Historically, the area was wi ...

and Moortown and is being increasingly referred to simply as an area or suburb of Leeds but retains its many village traditions. It had a population of 1,864 in 2001, reducing to 1,849 in 2011 and reducing furthermore to 1,581 at the 2021 Census

History

The first written proof of Shadwell's existence is in 1086 in

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

, where it is called ''Scadewelle'', and is part of the Feudal Barony of Pontefract. The origin of the name is not certain, and some 25 variations are found in the historical record, the present one being largely fixed in the 18th century. In the original

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

form, ''welle'' could mean a well, spring or boundary, often a boundary stream, such as Shadwell Beck. The ''scade'' portion could refer to shade, such as a shady spring, or a name such as Chad or Shad, and different characters with these names have been postulated. Eight "wells" or ‘springs" situated within Shadwell are shown on an 1851

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

map. One of these, a “Holy Well”, is located in the Shadwell Holywell Triangle, a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

. Spring water emerges in a ditch near to the north entrance to Spencer House, a property on Holywell Lane. According to Leeds City Council's ''Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan'', it is reputed to have been visited by

Bede Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...

, and used for the

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

of early Christians. The village pub "The Red Lion" is located between two wells which were originally used to gather water for the

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

process. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

it was part of the Wapentake of Skyrack. Over the centuries Shadwell was sometimes a separate manor, sometimes part of the Manor of

until these rights were extinguished in 1935. In the early part of the 19th century it was still a village with fewer than 200 inhabitants, containing 11 farms, 2 inns and a Methodist chapel but no school or church. However, from the middle of the century buildings began to appear as wealthier people moved out of industrial Leeds, made with stone from the local quarries. Shadwell was historically a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in the ancient church parish of Thorner in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, until the construction of St Paul's Church in 1842 when it became a parish in its own right. Roundhay Grange, originally a grange of

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 . It was disestablished during the Dissol ...

, was a detached part of the township. In 1866 the township became a separate civil parish as part of

Wetherby Wetherby ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire and lies approximately from Leeds city centre, from ...

Rural district A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...

, but in 1912 the parish was abolished and absorbed into Leeds. In 1974 Shadwell became part of the enlarged City of Leeds in the new county of West Yorkshire. In 2002 the civil parish was reconstituted, with an elected parish council.

Amenities

The village has two churches. The Church of England parish church is St Paul's, a Grade II

Listed Building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

from 1842, which replaced a much earlier

Chapel of Ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

on Gateland Lane which had been disused and had vanished by then, as stones were taken for other buildings. The Shadwell Methodist Chapel dates from 1892, and replaced the smaller building on the opposite side of the road which was the Methodist Chapel from 1814 to 1892 and is also Grade II. This now serves as a library, which has operated independently since 2013.Shadwell Library, Arts Centre and Café
accessed 24 January 2017 Other buildings include a primary school, The Red Lion pub, the Village Hall, a social club, a tennis club, a golf club and six shops (clothing shop, beauty shop, dry cleaner, fish and chip shop (itself a Grade II listed building dating from 1637), post-office/newsagent and a hairdresser. There is also a cricket club. Shadwell United is a junior football club which trains at the primary school. There are Scouts, Cubs, Beavers, Guides and Ranger groups. It is also covered by a local newspaper, the ''

Wetherby News The ''Wetherby News'' is a local weekly Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published on a Thursday and based in Wetherby, West Yorkshire, England. The newspaper was founded in 1859 with its offices on the High Street next to the Ang ...

''.

Slaid Hill

Slaid Hill is an area of Leeds which is within the manor or traditional estate of Shadwell, but is about half a mile west of Shadwell village with clear countryside between them, and the Shadwell name sign between. Slaid Hill is within the

ward of

, whereas Shadwell village sits within the Harewood ward.Leeds City Council Website
accessed 20 April 2009 Today, Shadwell Parish excludes most of Slaid Hill, but includes the estate to the south of Shadwell Lane and east of Roundhay Park Lane.Shadwell Parish Council Website
Parish Map The 1881 Census makes it clear that the district of Shadwell extended to the west end of Shadwell Lane and to the Moortown Ring Road in the South.
Shadwell Census 1881 In addition Shadwell Grange is a large house and farm in Slaid Hill, with a view over the Moortown Ring Road. It is a Grade II listed building. File:Shadwell88VHall.jpg, Shadwell Village Hall File:Shadwell18RedLion.jpg, Red Lion File:Shadwell72Library.jpg, Shadwell Library Shadwell Methodist Church 14 June 2017.jpg, Methodist Church File:Shadwell90Wheel.jpg, Millennium Wheel and cottages File:Fish Chips Shadwell 20 April 2019 1W.jpg, Fish and chip shop File:ShadwellTerminus.JPG, Terminus for the 7S Bus Leeds-Shadwell File:ShadwellWelcome.jpg, Sign going from Slaid Hill to Shadwell File:Shadwell Grange.jpg, Shadwell Grange viewed from the Leeds Ring Road Image:Slaidhill.jpg, One of the parades of shops in Slaid Hill

Location grid

References

Bibliography *

External links

* {{Genuki, county=WRY, Thorner, , Shadwell
Shadwell Parish Council Website
local parish council website, including details of village amenities and activities
Shadwell In Bloom
local volunteer group maintaining Shadwell's floral environment
Shadwell Bridge Club
local Bridge club meeting on Friday evenings
Shadwell Tennis Club

Shadwell Cricket Club

Shadwell Independent Library
taken over from Leeds Council and run by volunteers Villages in West Yorkshire City of Leeds Civil parishes in West Yorkshire

History

Amenities

Slaid Hill

Location grid

See also

References

External links