Moortown, Leeds

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Moortown
Moortown is located in West Yorkshire
Moortown
Moortown
 Moortown shown within West Yorkshire
Population 22,792 (2011) [1]
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 LS17
Dialling code 0113
Police West Yorkshire
Fire West Yorkshire
Ambulance Yorkshire
EU Parliament Yorkshire and the Humber
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire

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Moortown is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England in the LS17 postcode area. It is a civil parish and electoral ward in the north of the city. It is situated between Roundhay and Gledhow on the east and Weetwood on the west, with Chapel Allerton to the south, and Alwoodley to the north. It is essentially synonymous with Moor Allerton,[2][3] and institutions in the area use either name.[4][5] Moortown lies in Leeds 17 which was reported to contain the most expensive housing area in Yorkshire and the Humber by The Times.[6]

General description

File:Moortown Water Tower.JPG
Moortown Water Tower, north of the Ring Road

The suburb is around the junction of the (north-south) Harrogate Road A61 road and the Leeds Outer Ring Road (A6120) (west-east), at that point called the Moortown Ring Road, and overlooked by a Water Tower. Scott Hall Road (A61) and Harrogate Road lead southwards to Leeds city centre. However, the council ward boundary is the Ring Road, with properties to the north now being in the Alwoodley ward.[7] The Church of England parish includes areas north of the Ring Road. A set of woods north and south of the Ring Road and by the water tower are called the Moortown Plantation.[8]

It includes small estates of council housing around the junction of King Lane and the Moortown Ring Road.[9]

Housing estates

Black Moor & Cranmer Bank

File:MoortownSocialClub.jpg
Moortown Social Club, Cranmer Gardens

To the north of the ring road and west of King Lane is the Black Moor & Cranmer Bank estate, named after the moor on which Moortown was situated.[2] This has varied housing from the 1950s to recent along Black Moor road. There is a parade of shops on Cranmer bank as well as Moortown Social Club at the top of the hill, along with St Stephen's Church (C of E). The main areas on the estate are Blackmoor, Tynwald, Deanswood, Scotland Wood, Cranmer Bank, Alderton and Saxon.

Lingfield

File:LingfieldFlats1.JPG
Flats on the Lingfield Estate, viewed from King Lane

To the north of the ring road and east of King Lane is the Lingfield housing estate comprising mainly semi-detached tenant properties and council flats.

Queenshill

File:MoortownBaptist.jpg
Moortown Baptist Church, King Lane

To the south of the ring road and east of King Lane is the Queenshill estate, mainly low-rise flats built in the 1950s and 60s.[10] This area contains a small row of shops, a fire station, Moortown Baptist Church, and the offices of the Leeds Jewish Housing Association, who have plans to redevelop the area for the benefit of its clients.[10]

File:DarkwoodLS17.jpg
Darkwood housing estate

Leafield

A smaller development of public housing is the south of the ring road and west of King Lane, essentially in the grounds of a former mansion, now Leafield Clinic.

Darkwood

A small 1990 development low-rise flats off Shadwell Lane, in woods known as Blackwoods, part of the Forest of Leeds.[11] The property was originally a large private estate called "Blackwood". It was acquired by the City of Leeds sometime prior to 1963 and converted into several large flats with the extensive grounds preserved until the subsequent development of low rise flats in the 1990s.

Moortown Corner

File:Moortown corner 1.jpg
Moortown Corner, looking South from Harrogate Road

Moortown Corner is the junction between Street Lane and Harrogate Road, a local shopping area and geographical reference. The building known as the Corner House was built as a cinema (1938–1940), ballroom and restaurant but now contains shops. From 1968 to 2008 it contained a casino.[12] Nearby is a large Marks and Spencer Simply Food supermarket which serves the surrounding area. Branches of Leeds Building Society, Yorkshire Bank and Halifax can also be found at Moortown Corner.

Moortown Corner is served by First Leeds service 2, which is represented red on the 10-minute frequency Overground network. Less regularly, services 7a, 7s, 38, and 48 run through Moortown Corner. Transdev in Harrogate's route 36 also serves Moortown Corner between central Leeds and Harrogate every 20 minutes. The image in the photograph appears to be not the junction of Street Lane and Harrogate Road, but rather Shadwell Lane and Harrogate Road. This is actually a short distance North of the Street Lane junction which is in fact what most Leodensians would recognise to be the true Moortown Corner.

Moor Allerton District Centre

File:Sainsbury'sMoortown.JPG
Sainsbury's Moortown

Moor Allerton District Centre is adjacent to the Black Moor estate, north of the Ring Road and west of the junction with King Lane, which opened in 1982.[13] It includes a public library.

However it is mainly a shopping centre, with a large Sainsbury's, a Homebase, a Chinese Restaurant, a KeySmith's. It includes a public house, the Penny Fun, whose name relates to the history of the area as follows. The word 'pen' comes from the Celtic for 'hill'. What is now Tunnel How Hill is visible from the Centre to the south-west. It was previously Pen-how-fyn, and a hamlet around what is now the Centre was Paenfynaen (where fynaen means settlement). Tunnel How Hill was referred to as Penny Fun in the 19th century and several houses in the vicinity used the name.[14] There is a Penny Field nearby in Meanwood Park.

Religions

Moortown has longstanding Jewish and Roman Catholic communities, with schools and places of worship for both these groups. However, there is also a growing Muslim community across Moortown. There are secular schools as well. Moortown and neighbouring Alwoodley are the centre of the Leeds Jewish Community.

St Gemma's Hospice

File:StGemmasHospice.JPG
St Gemma's Hospice, Moortown, Leeds

Moortown is home to St Gemma's Hospice. This is situated to the south of Moortown Corner on Harrogate Road. St Gemmas Hospice have many charity shops around Leeds, assisting funding for the hospice, with branches in Alwoodley, Beeston, Boston Spa, Chapel Allerton, Cross Gates, Garforth, Guiseley, Halton, Horsforth, Ilkley, Morley, Oakwood, Otley, Pudsey, Roundhay, West Park, Wetherby and Yeadon. St Gemmas Hospice also have a furniture shop on Harrogate Road.[15]

Sport

There is a Rugby Union football club. Moortown Golf Club hosted the 1929 Ryder Cup, but is well North of the Ring Road and is now in the Alwoodley ward. Moor Allerton Sports and Social Centre [1] has bowls, tennis and indoor activities.

Government

As of May 2015 there are three Labour Councillors and one Labour MP that are responsible for raising concerns / issues from the Moortown Community.

The West Yorkshire Police are the local government and also operate a station within Moortown and are responsible for reducing crime in the area.

Location grid

References

  1. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Ralph Thoresby (1715) Ducatus Leodiensis: or, the topography of the ancient and populous town and parish of Leedes,and parts adjacent in the West Riding of York, page 135
  3. A History of Leeds, compiled from various authors (1797) (Leeds) page 57
  4. The Ordnance Survey gives the name Moor Allerton to the southeasternmost part (where Moor Allerton School is), whereas the Moor Allerton shopping Centre, containing Moor Allerton Library, is to the west by the junction of King Lane and the Ring Road (A6120). This is actually on the site of the original village of Moore Allerton.
  5. Likewise Chapeltown and Chapel Allerton
  6. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. www.leeds.gov.uk Moortown Ward (map)
  8. Forest of Leeds Moortown Plantation
  9. Welcome to Moortown Leeds City Council publication.
  10. 10.0 10.1 Leeds Jewish Housing Association Queenshill Masterplan Proposals: the need for development
  11. The Forest of Leeds
  12. Yorkshire Evening Post 15 October 2008 Wheel spins at Leeds casino for last time
  13. http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?resourceIdentifier=2002326_73720950
  14. Leeds Mercury 29 May 1886 "Local Notes and Queries"
  15. http://www.st-gemma.co.uk/shops/location1.htm

External links

Schools

Religion