Burmantofts
| Burmantofts | |
|---|---|
 Skyline of Burmantofts | |
  Burmantofts  Burmantofts Location withinWest Yorkshire | |
| Population | 24,863 (Burmantofts and Richmond Hill Ward,2011 census)[1] |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LEEDS |
| Postcode district | LS9 |
| Dialling code | 0113 |
| Police | West Yorkshire |
| Fire | West Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| UK Parliament | |
Burmantoftsis an area of 1960s high-rise housing blocks in inner-city eastLeeds,West Yorkshire,England adjacent to the city centre andSt. James's Hospital.It is a racially diverse area, with sizable Afro-Caribbean and Irish communities, but suffers the social problems typical of similar areas across the country.
From 1859 to 1957 Burmantofts was the home ofBurmantofts Pottery,a manufacturer of ceramic pipes and construction materials.
In the early 20th century, Burmantofts was a large centre of thetextile industry.ABurtonstextile factory was located in the area; it is still owned by Burtons, but today is being used as a storage facility.
Etymology
[edit]The nameBurmantoftsis first attested, asle Burmantoftes,in 1427. It seems to have been coined in theMiddle Englishperiod, from the wordsburghman('burgher, town-dweller, burgess', fromburgh'town' andman'person') andtoft('plot of land'.[2]The name refers to the half-acre parcels of land (or tofts) given to owners of building plots (orburgages) by theRiver Aire,thus Burgage Men's Tofts.[3]
History
[edit]The burghers from whom Burmantofts takes its name pursued craft businesses in the town, and grew crops on their tofts, such as grain which would be processed at the nearby mill on what is nowMiles Hill.[4]
It was on the edge of the Yorkshire coalfield and coal mines and clay extraction led to works making bricks and earthenware. Notably in 1842 Lassey and Wilcock acquired 100 acres north of Nippet Lane, and found they were able to extract both coal and clay from the same mine and became coal sellers and brickmakers. In 1870 this became Wilcock and Co also selling drainage pipes, though this only occupied 4 acres, the rest being farmland. Further development of the site and of newer products led to Burmantofts Pottery, which was made there until 1957.[5]
In 1878, Burmantofts was the site of Leeds' first municipal waste incinerator, making use of a former industrial chimney.[6]
The area was also home to some textile industry and in 1921,Montague Burtonbegan to develop a site on Hudson Road which eventually became the biggest clothing factory in the world.[7]
After theSecond World WarBurmantofts was in a very poor condition, however redevelopment did not occur for sometime. While the area was dilapidated and buildings such as the Pineapple Hotel (no 77 Accommodation Road) stood derelict for many years throughout the 1930s and 1940s,[8]no real redevelopment started until the mid-1950s, most of this however was just demolition and in this time only a handful of houses were built around Torre Road and Lupton Avenue. In 1960 the site of Burmantofts Pottery was acquired by the Leeds Corporation and used for housing and the Shakespeare school.[5][9]
St Agnes' parish church
[edit]
The only historic building in the area is St Agnes' United Church, theChurch of England parish churchon Stoney Rock Lane. It is aGothic Revivalbuilding with stone walls and slate roof, designed by Leeds architects John Kelly and Edward Birchall. The foundation stone was laid on 9 July 1887 and the completed church was consecrated by the Bishop of Ripon on 20 May 1889.[10][11]It was made the parish church in the 1930s when the church of St Stephen (built 1851) was demolished. The west window stained glass in St Agnes' was originally in St Stephen's. The church has areredosofBurmantofts faience[10][11]and is aGrade II listed building.[12]
Housing
[edit]There was relatively little housing in Burmantofts until the 20th century: just a few low-rent houses built amongst the mills. Most of the workers in Burmantofts would have lived in nearby areas such asHarehills,however redevelopment through the 1950s and 1960s brought high density living to Burmantofts and it is this redevelopment that has shaped modern Burmantofts.
By the 1960s, neighbouringLincoln Greenwas seeing many new high rise council flats being erected, however it did not take long for Burmantofts to catch up and by the mid-1960s most of the blocks that stand today had been completed. Burmantofts as it is known today was completed around the early 1970s, since then changes in the area have been few and far between.
Burmantofts has changed very little in the last forty years, the only area of change is a St James' Hospital, which separated Harehills and Burmantofts. St Bridgets Roman Catholic Secondary Modern School on Torre Road closed down in the 1980s and is now St. Patrick's Primary School, while the transport depot opposite is now the site of BenfieldFord.In September 2006, the area's main secondary school, Primrose High School moved into new premises. With regards to housing, Leeds City Council has not proposed any regeneration in the area, and in recent years is focusing on areas of early-20th centuryback-to-back housingsuch asBeestonandHolbeck.There has however been refurbishment of a number of blocks.
At present the majority of the housing in Burmantofts is mid-20th century council-owned housing, mostly made up by multi-story blocks of flats of various heights. A small number of 19th century houses remain close to the Burtons warehouse.
Population
[edit]
Burmantofts has a sizeableAfro Caribbeancommunity. The age range of Burmantofts residents is quite varied, with probably the two largest age groups being young adults and the elderly. Burmantofts has a highunemploymentrate, which is one of the contributing factors to its low house prices.
Politics
[edit]Burmantofts falls into theBurmantofts & Richmond Hillward ofLeeds City Council,currently represented by threeLabourward councillors. The ward sits within theLeeds Centralparliamentary constituency, for whomHilary Bennhas been theMember of Parliamentsince the1999 Leeds Central by-election.
The population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 24,843.[13]
Transport
[edit]Burmantofts is situated adjacent to theA64 road.It has regular bus routes to thecity centreand to other parts of the city, in particular East Leeds. The proposedLeeds SupertramEastern line was supposed to run in-between Burmantofts and Harehills, however the future of this scheme is uncertain. Other projects have been considered using this route including theLeeds Trolleybus.There is no railway station in Burmantofts, the nearest beingLeedsandCross Gates.
Facilities
[edit]
Burmantofts has fairly limited facilities. NeighbouringLincoln Greenhas a small shopping precinct with a Freshways, Costcutter, Cash Converters and other shops, this is walking distance for most of Burmantofts. Burmantofts itself has Ebor Garden's Primary and St Peter's Primary, the Anglers Club on Nippet Lane, The Sportsman'public houseon Stoney Rock Lane and The New Torre on Torre Road. A Heron Foods store opened in 2017 on Lincoln Green Road.[14]Burmantofts is in most parts less than a mile from the Eastern fringes ofLeeds city centreproviding it with many other amenities close by. Burmantofts amateurbo xingclub are based in parts of the former Burtons factory, on the corner of Hudson Road and Stoney Rock Lane.[15]
Education
[edit]Burmantofts has twosecondary schools,Trinity Academy Leeds andCo-op Academy Leedsand Shakespeare Primary School which is on the same site.
People
[edit]- Elizabeth Dawn,actress best known for her portrayal ofVera DuckworthinCoronation Streetwas born and raised in the area.
- Nicola Virginia Adams,the first woman to win an Olympic bo xing gold medal, was raised in the area.
- Jabez Tunnicliff,founder of theBand of Hopetemperance society, was buried at Burmantofts Cemetery on Sunday 18 June 1865, with a reported attendance of 15,000.[16]
Location grid
[edit]Places adjacent to Burmantofts | ||||||||||||||||
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See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^UK Census(2011)."Local Area Report – Burmantofts and Richmond Hill Ward (1237321073)".Nomis.Office for National Statistics.Retrieved19 June2018.
- ^Harry Parkin,Your City's Place-Names: Leeds,English Place-Name Society City-Names Series, 3 (Nottingham: English Place-Name Society, 2017), p. 31.ISBN9780904889956.
- ^leeds.gov.ukArchived31 May 2007 at theWayback MachineDiscovering Leeds – Industrial Leeds
- ^Thoresby SocietyA Brief History of Leeds.
- ^abBradford Art Galleries & Museums and Leeds City Museum (1984) Burmantofts PotteryISBN0 946657 025
- ^Scientific American Supplement. Vol. XIV, No. 362 (1882)via Gutenberg
- ^on:yorkshire magazineBurton Menswear – A Leeds History
- ^"Accommodation Road no. 77, Pineapple Hotel".Leodis.
- ^BBC Leeds Local HistoryGlazed Over
- ^abSt Agnes' United ChurchUndated leaflet available from the church
- ^ab"History and Architecture of St Agnes' Church".St Agnes' United Church, Leeds.Retrieved12 June2018.
- ^Historic England."Details from listed building database (1255970)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved12 June2018.
- ^"City of Leeds Ward population 2011".Neighbourhood Statistics.Office for National Statistics.Archived fromthe originalon 14 March 2016.Retrieved26 February2016.
- ^"Doors Open at New Store in Burmantofts".heronfoods.Archived fromthe originalon 21 July 2020.Retrieved21 July2020.
- ^"Bo xing club fights its way back off the ropes".Yorkshire Evening Post.16 October 2006.Retrieved19 June2018.
- ^Leeds Express25 June 1865
External links
[edit]
- The ancient parish of Leeds:historical and genealogical information atGENUKI(Burmantofts was in this parish).
