| Hunslet | |
Church Street, Hunslet |
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Hunslet
Hunslet shown within West Yorkshire |
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| Population | 59,877 |
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| OS grid reference | SE311314 |
| Metropolitan borough | City of Leeds |
| Metropolitan county | West Yorkshire |
| Region | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LEEDS |
| Postcode district | LS10 |
| Dialling code | 0113 |
| Police | West Yorkshire |
| Fire | West Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| UK Parliament | Leeds South |
| List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire | |
Hunslet is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is 1 mile (1.6 km) south east of the city centre and has an industrial past.
Hunslet had many engineering companies based in the district, such as John Fowler & Co. manufacturers of traction engines & steam rollers, the Hunslet Engine Company builders of locomotives (including for the Channel Tunnel), as well as engineering firms Kitson & Co., Manning Wardle and Hudswell Clarke. Many railway locomotives were built in the Jack Lane area of Hunslet.
Thee area has a mixture of modern and 19th century industrial buildings, terraced housing and 20th century housing. It is an area that has grown up significantly around the River Aire in the early years of the 21st century, especially with the construction of modern riverside flats. It was at one point the main production site for Leeds Creamware, a type of pottery (still produced) so called because of its cream glazing. Hunslet is now prospering as it follows the trend of Leeds generally and the expansion of office and industrial sites south of Leeds city centre.
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Hunslet is first mentioned as Hunslet in the Domesday Book of 1086, though twelfth-century spellings of the name such as Hunsflete seem to be more conservative: the name appears originally to have meant 'Hūn's inlet', from an Anglo-Saxon personal name Hūn and the Old English word flēot 'creek, inlet', probably referring to an inlet from the River Aire.[1] At the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, the manor belonged to the Lacys, from whom it passed to various families including the Gascoignes and the Neviles.[2]
Its population grew rapidly in the first half of the 19th century becoming an important manufacturing centre. Several large mills were built for spinning of flax, and there were chemical works, works for the manufacture of crown and flint glass, extensive potteries for coarse earthenware and the Leeds Pottery.
By 1906, Hunslet was home to Leeds’ second largest gas works, the city’s main rail goods yards, known at the time as ‘Midland Goods Station’ (now the site of Crown Point Retail Park), as well as a large number of factories.
The area was redeveloped in the 1960s, the main feature of this being the Hunslet Grange (Leek Street) flats. In the 1980s it was again redeveloped, and in the 2000s, the area around the River Aire and Clarence Dock was redeveloped.
The brewers Joshua Tetley and Son set up business in Hunslet in 1822 producing beer and bitter today as part of Carlsberg Tetley group. However, the brewery is due to close in 2011.[3]
Hunslet, in the lower Aire Valley, is bounded on the east by the River Aire and covers nearly 1200 acres of flat land. The underlying rocks were coal measures.[2] Hunslet has different areas including Hunslet Moor, Hunslet Carr, Crown Point, Pottery Fields and Penny Hill.
Crown Point once had a large railway depot which contained Leeds' main goods station. It has been redeveloped into the Crown Point Retail Park, the main railway cutting into the terminus station can still be seen at the southern end. The former track beds are currently let for storage and contain timber and brickwork. Tetley's Brewery is to the north of this area, as was the Yorkshire Chemical Works, which has now been demolished. Next to the river is Clarence Dock.
Pottery Fields is the industrial area around Kidacre Street, Leathley Road, Ivory Street, Meadow Lane and Cross Myrtle Street where Leeds City Council's Pottery Fields Depot and the former Meadow Lane Gas Works are situated. Pottery Fields House, has the administrative and engineering functions for Northern Gas Networks. Other businesses include Merlin Gerin medium voltage electrical supplies, a scrap yard and Volkswagen auto breakers. \the DVLA motorcycle test centre is situated in this area. There are several disused railways crossing the roads, which brought coal from Middleton Colliery to the Meadow Lane Gas Works for the production of town gas, before conversion to North Sea natural gas.
Penny Hill surrounds Church Street. This is the old centre of Hunslet referred to as Hunslet Grange when the Leek Street Flats (1968 to 1983) were built. The Leek Street Flats developed problems with crime and condensation and were demolished fifteen years after their construction. The area was agan redeveloped in the 1980s with more traditional houses. The area contains the Penny Hill Shopping Centre and a Morrisons supermarket.
Hunslet today is still primarily based around manufacturing and heavy engineering. Newer industries have moved to the Western fringes of the area in recent years with the building of new office complexes including the Leeds City Business park which originally opened with offices for companies including O2 and British Gas. O2 have since relocated to Morley. The Morrisons supermarket in the Penny Hill Centre as well as the Costco wholesale warehouse on Leathley Road are also large employers.
A chapel dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin, was built in 1636, and enlarged in 1774. It was a brick structure with a tower. It was enlarged by subscription in 1826.[2] The present church is the third on the site. The Victorian church, of which the spire remains, is the tallest in Leeds, was built in 1864 and the present building was built in the 1970s.
Other smaller less notable chuches exist in the district. The area is also home to St Joesph's Catholic Club, a sectarian social club.
Hunslet's redevelopment in the 1960s was notable for the construction of the Hunslet Grange or Leek Street Flats. Construction of the 2,500 flats started in 1968 following a widespread slum clearance project in the area.[4] The flats were commissioned by Leeds City Council and constructed by Shepherd Construction.[1]. The flats sprawled over much of Hunslet. The construction was of a maisonette type with many overhead walkways connecting blocks. The flats had large windows and were spacious and light and for the first few years were very popular. Hidden in the complex, on the second floor were shops and a public house. All the blocks of flats were six storeys in height.
The popularity of the flats was short-lived, however: the heating systems were inadequate for the poorly insulated concrete prefabs and the buildings suffered from condensation. A few years after their construction and the 'rabbit warren' style of construction made them hard to navigate and even harder to police. Demolition of the flats started in 1983, less than fifteen years after the first tenants moved in. The flats were replaced by low rise council housing completed in the late 1980s. [2]
Each block was six storeys high and was entered via the second floor. In one part the second floor of the maisonettes had a pub and shops on it. The buildings were grey and pebble dashed, with windows stretching the width of each flat. Each floor had a rubbish disposal unit.[5]
The area is home to a number of voluntary organisations servicing the community, this includes The Hunslet Club, a youth organisation established in 1940 which provides sport, dance and drama activities for hundreds of young people in the area as well as offering vocational education courses for 14 to 16 year olds. See [3]
The M621 and A61, two major roads, pass through the area, providing convenient access to the whole of Yorkshire and access the M62 to Manchester and Hull. The motorway was completed in 1971, and isolated a large part of Hunslet Moor.
The area also possesses a historic rugby league club in the form of the Hunslet Hawks RLFC who play at the John Charles Centre for Sport formerly known as the South Leeds Stadium.Hunslet were the first club in Rugby League to win "All Four Cups" in season 1907 -1908, The Challenge Cup, The RFL Championship, The County League Cup & The County Cup. Only two other teams have achieved this feat, Huddersfield and Swinton. Other local rugby league clubs include Hunslet Warriors and Hunslet Parkside.
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