38225
The Grade II Listed Queens Arcade in Leeds West Yorkshire.
Leeds first began as a Saxon village, by 1207 the Lord of the Manor, Maurice De Gant, had extended it into a town. He created a new street of houses west of the existing village and he divided the land into plots for building. In Medieval Leeds, there were butchers, bakers, carpenters, and blacksmiths. However, the main industry in Leeds was making wool.
In 1628 a writer described Leeds as standing pleasantly in a fruitful and enclosed vale upon the north side of the River Eyer over or beyond a stone bridge from where it has a large and broad street leading directly north and continually ascending. The houses on both sides are very thick and closely compacted together, being old, rough, and low built and generally all made of timber.
In 1642 came civil war between king and parliament. Most of the townspeople supported the king and a royalist army occupied Leeds. But in January 1643 parliamentary soldiers captured it. They held Leeds until the summer of 1643 when, after losing a battle in Yorkshire, they were forced to abandon the town. The parliamentary army returned to Leeds in April 1644. They held Leeds for the rest of the civil war.
In the 17th century Leeds was a wealthy town. The wool trade boomed. However, like all towns in those days, it suffered from outbreaks of the plague. There was a severe outbreak in 1645. However, in 1694 Leeds gained a piped water supply (for those who could afford to be connected).
In the 18th century wool manufacture was still the lifeblood of Leeds but there were other industries. Leeds pottery began in 1770. There was also a brick making industry in Georgian Leeds. There were also many craftsmen such as coachmakers, clockmakers, booksellers, and jewelers as well as more mundane trades such as butchers, bakers, barbers, innkeepers, carpenters, blacksmiths, and glaziers. In 1700 the rivers Aire and Calder were made navigable from Leeds to Wakefield. In 1794 work began on the Leeds to Liverpool canal. It was completed in 1816. For the rich and the middle-class life grew more comfortable and more genteel during the 18th century.
The city flourished in the Victorian year’s textiles became less important. But tailoring for a more mass market flourished with the leather industry boot and shoemakers. Leeds grew rapidly but many of the new houses built were dreadful. Overcrowding was rife and streets were very dirty.
In the 1850s the council-built sewers but very many of the houses in Leeds were not connected to them. Many dwellings continued to use cesspits or buckets which were emptied at night by the 'night soil' men. Not until 1899 was it made compulsory for dwellings in Leeds to be connected to sewers.
Information Source:
www.localhistories.org/Leeds.html
38225
The Grade II Listed Queens Arcade in Leeds West Yorkshire.
Leeds first began as a Saxon village, by 1207 the Lord of the Manor, Maurice De Gant, had extended it into a town. He created a new street of houses west of the existing village and he divided the land into plots for building. In Medieval Leeds, there were butchers, bakers, carpenters, and blacksmiths. However, the main industry in Leeds was making wool.
In 1628 a writer described Leeds as standing pleasantly in a fruitful and enclosed vale upon the north side of the River Eyer over or beyond a stone bridge from where it has a large and broad street leading directly north and continually ascending. The houses on both sides are very thick and closely compacted together, being old, rough, and low built and generally all made of timber.
In 1642 came civil war between king and parliament. Most of the townspeople supported the king and a royalist army occupied Leeds. But in January 1643 parliamentary soldiers captured it. They held Leeds until the summer of 1643 when, after losing a battle in Yorkshire, they were forced to abandon the town. The parliamentary army returned to Leeds in April 1644. They held Leeds for the rest of the civil war.
In the 17th century Leeds was a wealthy town. The wool trade boomed. However, like all towns in those days, it suffered from outbreaks of the plague. There was a severe outbreak in 1645. However, in 1694 Leeds gained a piped water supply (for those who could afford to be connected).
In the 18th century wool manufacture was still the lifeblood of Leeds but there were other industries. Leeds pottery began in 1770. There was also a brick making industry in Georgian Leeds. There were also many craftsmen such as coachmakers, clockmakers, booksellers, and jewelers as well as more mundane trades such as butchers, bakers, barbers, innkeepers, carpenters, blacksmiths, and glaziers. In 1700 the rivers Aire and Calder were made navigable from Leeds to Wakefield. In 1794 work began on the Leeds to Liverpool canal. It was completed in 1816. For the rich and the middle-class life grew more comfortable and more genteel during the 18th century.
The city flourished in the Victorian year’s textiles became less important. But tailoring for a more mass market flourished with the leather industry boot and shoemakers. Leeds grew rapidly but many of the new houses built were dreadful. Overcrowding was rife and streets were very dirty.
In the 1850s the council-built sewers but very many of the houses in Leeds were not connected to them. Many dwellings continued to use cesspits or buckets which were emptied at night by the 'night soil' men. Not until 1899 was it made compulsory for dwellings in Leeds to be connected to sewers.
Information Source:
www.localhistories.org/Leeds.html