Jump to content

Adel, Leeds

Coordinates:53°50′56″N1°35′06″W/ 53.8489°N 1.5849°W/53.8489; -1.5849
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Adel
Adel is located in Leeds
Adel
Adel
Adel is located in West Yorkshire
Adel
Adel
Location withinWest Yorkshire
Population19,430 (ward. Adel and Wharfedale)
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLEEDS
Postcode districtLS16
Dialling code0113
PoliceWest Yorkshire
FireWest Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire
53°50′56″N1°35′06″W/ 53.8489°N 1.5849°W/53.8489; -1.5849

Adelis a suburb ofLeeds,West Yorkshire,England. To its immediate south isWeetwood,to the west areCookridgeandHolt Park,to the east areAlwoodleyandMoortown,and to the north areBramhope,ArthingtonandEccup.

It forms part of theLeeds City Councilward ofAdel & Wharfedaleand the parliamentary constituency ofLeeds North West.

In common with many areas of Leeds it is not easy to define the boundaries of Adel, but Adel Church and the two schools are well to the east ofOtley Road,theA660,although the post office is on that road.

History

[edit]
Drawing of Adel by W. Braithwaite in 1878.

Adel is situated near the site of aRomanfort, the ancient road fromTadcastertoIlkleypassing nearby. (The footpath by the side of Long Causeway was said to be made from the original Roman stones, until they were removed by the council in the 1960s because they were unsafe. Some of the footpath has been replaced, starting at the junction between Long Causeway and Stairfoot Lane, and continuing up to the entrance of Bedquilts playing fields.) Several inscribed stones from the Romano-British period were discovered in Adel, also a number of Anglo-Saxon stones were discovered in the church foundations during restoration work in 1864. Some of these items are on display in theLeeds City Museum,Cookridge Street. Among the foundation stones of roman buildings found near Eccup Moor in 1702 were two altars, inscribed PIENTISSIMA, and D.M.S. CANDIDINAE, FORTUNA PIA V.A.X. respectively.[1]Several large urns were also found there. On the side of the 'hill of Ada,' an altar dedicated toBrigantiaDEAE BRIGANTIAE DONUM CINGE/ TISSA POSUIT, along with some statues and coins were later found.[2][3]In 1849, a stone coffin was found on Addle Mill Farm.[4]

The Roman name for the area is long thought to have beenBurgodunum,but theYorkshire Archaeological Societyargues that this is "dubious".[5][6]An alternative name is alsoBurgodurum,meaning theFort by the Waterway.It has also been suggested that this was shortened to Burden, which is similar in sound to the CelticVerdun,found in Belgium.[7]It is probable that anAnglevillage sprang up around the fort and that a church was built in the village. Adel is mentioned in the 1086Domesday BookasAdele.Another spelling used until 1816 isAddle.Most recent authorities derive the name from theOld Englishadela‘dirty, muddy place’,[8][9]but arguments have also been made for a personal nameAda(or similar Anglo-Saxon names such as Eadda, Eada or Ædda) + Old Englishlēah'open ground, lea' (compare the terminus spelling of nearby Headingley DB:Hedingelei&hedingeleia).[10]

The parish of Adel stretched to theRiver Wharfein the north and included Adel,Arthington,Breary,CookridgeandEccup.

In 1152, the nearbyCistercianabbey atKirkstallwas founded. At the same time, the church of St John the Baptist was built in Adel to replace the older Saxon building. Although the present church is Norman, it looks quite similar to the late 7th century Anglo-Saxon church inLedshamvillage, "the oldest church (and the oldest building) standing in West Yorkshire".

Adel Church

[edit]
Main article:St John the Baptist Church, Adel
Three faces from the corbel frieze around Adel Church, Leeds, UK, c. 1150–70, with Romanesque window bottom left.

The Church ofSt John the Baptist,Adelparish church,is described as "one of the best and most complete Norman churches in Yorkshire".[11]It is a Grade Ilisted building;[12]the sundial,[13]mounting block[14]and several memorials are Grade II listed.[15][16][17]

It was built inRomanesquestyle around 1150–1170 and has been little altered since, although abell-cotewas added in 1838–39 byR. D. Chantrell.The doorway, protected by a modern wooden roof, has an ornately carved arch with animals heads and zig-zag patterns; inside, there are 81 decorativecorbelson the north and south walls with animals and representations of Christ'sbaptismandcrucifixion,and the chancel arch has 37 grotesque beakheads and zig-zag decoration.[18]Above the south doorway, the gable was filled with panels with theEvangelistsandChrist in Majesty.[18]

The medievalfonthas an oak canopy byEric Gill,and possibly aleper's window survives in the chancel though the evidence for this is poor given the nearest Leper Colony was some distance away and other churches were much closer.[19]

The Romanesque bronze doorknocker, often referred to as a Sanctuary Ring, is a replica, as the original was stolen in 2002.[20]It was 'probably made inYorkc.1200 (cf.All Saints' Pavement,York)' and 'was of excellent quality... with a monster's head, probably a lion, clasping the ring and a man's head protruding from its mouth'.[21]The sculpture has been understood to represent the animal swallowing a person,[22]a warning of mankind's fate at theDay of Judgment,[18]but it has also been suggested that 'there is nothing exaggeratedly fearsome about this lion that we should assume the man is being eaten... he could be waking up, taking a breath, coming out of the mouth rather than being chewed or swallowed'.[20]

Because of thefts of stones from the graveyard, all the church's paving stones are engraved with crosses.

The paternal grandparents ofthe Princess of Walesmarried at Adel Church in December 1946.[23]

Adel Dam

[edit]

Adel Dam, awildlife reserveowned and operated byYorkshire Wildlife Trust,was opened in May 1968.[24]The reserve covers 19 acres and there are twohides.Leeds Birdwatchers' Club originally developed the site and the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust acquired the reserve in 1987.[25]

Adel today

[edit]
Adel Crags – rocky outcropping

Adel is a mainly residential area of Leeds close to Adel Crags and theMeanwood Valley Trailand has a distinctive countryside feel. Adel also has two primary schools, St John the Baptist Primary School and Adel Primary School.

Adel is within theAdel and Wharfedale wardofLeeds City Counciland theLeeds North Westparliamentary constituency, represented byAlex SobelMP.

Entrance to York Gate Garden

Close to Adel Church isYork Gate,an old farmhouse with a landscaped garden and a pavement maze in the driveway. The gardens, owned by Perennial, theGardeners' Royal Benevolent Society,are open to the public on regular occasions.[26]

Also close to the church is the Adel Memorial Hall and sports ground. The hall was opened on 14 November 1928 as a memorial to those killed in theFirst World War.The engraved 20 ton stone outside the hall was moved from Adel Moor in May 1922 and erected on the site of the then future hall. The hall is home to the Bowmen of Adel, who hosted theScorton Arrowin 1962, 1967, 1970 and 1988, and also Adel Players, an amateur dramatics group founded in 1945 that puts on three productions a year.

Quaker Meeting House, New Adel Lane

Adel is home to Headingley Golf club, the oldestgolfclub in Leeds, Adel Methodist Church[27]and Adel Quaker Meeting House, dating from 1868.[28]

Just to the west is theUniversity of Leedssports grounds and (now closed)Bodington Hall,which was previously the university's largest hall of residence.

Leeds Adel Hockey Cluba large hockey club with men's, women's, mixed and junior teams is based here.

Adel is linked toLeedscity centre by buses, including the 28, operated byFirst Leeds.

AsdainHolt Parkis incorrectly called "Asda at Adel", perhaps because, although geographically incorrect, the term Adel is a historical term that can be traced back many centuries, whereas the term "Holt Park" does not predate the area itself.

Adel Crag located near Adel Woods Car Park is an isolated rocky outcrop featuring two crags made of gritstone. There are currently 17 climbable routes that have been recorded by climbers who visit Adel Crag forbouldering.[29]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^"The Annals of Yorkshire, from the earliest period to the present time".Leeds, J. Johnson. 1862.
  2. ^"RIB 630. Altar dedicated to Brigantia | Roman Inscriptions of Britain".
  3. ^"The Annals of Yorkshire, from the earliest period to the present time".Leeds, J. Johnson. 1862.
  4. ^"The Annals of Yorkshire, from the earliest period to the present time".Leeds, J. Johnson. 1862.
  5. ^Yorkshire Archaeological Society,Adel SettlementArchived1 October 2014 at theWayback Machine,accessed 1 January 2018
  6. ^A. L. F. Rivet and Colin Smith, however this is unsubstantiated and has never been proven absolutely.
  7. ^The Place-Names of Roman Britain(London: Batsford, 1979), pp. 510–14.
  8. ^Mills, A. D. (2003).Dictionary of British Place-Names.Oxford University Press.ISBN0-19-852758-6.
  9. ^Harry Parkin,Your City's Place-Names: Leeds,English Place-Name Society City-Names Series, 3 (Nottingham: English Place-Names Society, 2017), p. 12.
  10. ^Alaric Hall, 'On the Etymology of Adel', inWawnarstræti (alla leið til Íslands) lagt Andrew Wawn 65 ára 27. október 2009,ed. by Robert Cook, Terry Gunnell, Margrét Eggertsdóttir and Þórunn Sigurðardóttir (Reykjavík: Menningar- og minningjasjóður Mette Magnussen, 2009), pp. 39–42;http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/10184/.
  11. ^Wrathmell, Susan; Minnis, John (2005).Leeds.Pevsner architectural guides. Yale U.P. p. 268.ISBN0-300-10736-6.
  12. ^Historic England."Church, grade I listed (1255610)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved1 August2019.
  13. ^Historic England."Sundial, grade II listed (1255616)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved1 August2019.
  14. ^Historic England."Mounting block, grade II listed (1255583)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved1 August2019.
  15. ^Historic England."Memorial to Zinai Wormald, grade II listed (1255582)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved1 August2019.
  16. ^Historic England."Memorial to Audus Hirst, grade II listed (1255620)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved1 August2019.
  17. ^Historic England."Memorial to Eliza and William Hill, grade II listed (1255581)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved1 August2019.
  18. ^abcLinstrum, Derek (1969).Historic Architecture of Leeds.Oriel Press. p. 8.
  19. ^Wrathmell, Susan; Minnis, John (2005).Leeds.Pevsner architectural guides. Yale U.P. pp. 268–70.ISBN0-300-10736-6.
  20. ^abRita Wood, 'The Romanesque Sculpture at Adel Church, West Riding — A Suggested Interpretation',Yorkshire Archaeological Journal,85 (2013), 97–130 (p. 108).
  21. ^Wrathmell, Susan; Minnis, John (2005).Leeds.Pevsner architectural guides. Yale U.P. p. 269.ISBN0-300-10736-6.
  22. ^Nikolaus Pevsner,The Buildings of England: Yorkshire, West Riding,2nd edn by Enid Radcliffe (London: Penguin, 1967), p. 339.
  23. ^Reitwiesner, William Addams; Wood, Michael J."The Ancestry of Kate Middleton".wargs.com.Retrieved17 November2010.
  24. ^"Adel Dam Nature Reserve".Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.Retrieved30 April2018.
  25. ^North LeedsLife,May 2018
  26. ^York Gate Garden,accessed 13 January 2016
  27. ^Adel Methodist ChurchArchived5 June 2014 at theWayback Machine,accessed 13 January 2016
  28. ^Leeds Quakers - Adel History,accessed 13 January 2016
  29. ^"Adel Crag".Logbook.UK Climbing.Retrieved20 February2020.

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related toAdel, Leeds.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adel,_Leeds&oldid=1191869404"