Everything about Leeds City Centre totally explained
Leeds city centre is the business and commercial centre of
Leeds,
West Yorkshire,
England. It is the administrative centre of the
metropolitan district of
City of Leeds, an area which includes many separate smaller towns and villages. It is within the
Leeds Central parliamentary constituency, represented by
Hilary Benn as MP since a
by-election in 1999.
While the city centre has no formal definition, it may be taken as roughly bounded by the
Leeds Inner Ring Road on the north. Many people in the city say it stretches from the Library Pub in the North to
Holbeck in the South and from the Casinos on
Kirkstall Road in the West to Lincoln Green in the East. It is one of the largest city centres in the
UK.
Leeds city centre can be separated roughly into five areas or quarters.
The Civic Quarter
The
Civic Quarter is the area at the north of the city centre, roughly north of
the Headrow. It is home to the Leeds Magistrates and Crown Courts.
Leeds Town Hall is a prominent landmark which was completed in 1858 and opened by
Queen Victoria. The City Library and City Gallery are next door. Park Square is also found here. The city's largest hospital, the
Leeds General Infirmary, is also located here and was first opened in 1771.
Behind Leeds Town Hall is
Millennium Square and
Leeds Civic Hall, two other prominent Leeds landmarks. Millennium Square was Leeds' flagship project to mark the year
2000 and hosts regular concerts by bands including the
Kaiser Chiefs,
HARD-Fi,
Fall Out Boy and
Embrace. Leeds Civic Hall was opened in 1933 by
King George V and is home to the Lord Mayor's Room and the council chambers.
Because of its close proximity to the courts, many
barristers' chambers and
solicitors' offices are found here. The architecture in the civic quarter is predominantly
Victorian to match the civic buildings. The Civic Quarter also lies in close proximity to the universities of
Leeds Metropolitan University,
University of Leeds and other academic institutions such as
Park Lane College,
Leeds College of Art & Design and
Leeds College of Technology.
The Shopping Quarter
The
Shopping Quarter is the area which extends south from the Headrow to Boar Lane. Many of city's largest shops are found here. Like any major city the shopping district is home to both major international chains, including
Marks & Spencer (founded in 1894 on a small stall at the city's market), and independent shops. The
Corn Exchange was home to many of these independent shops, however in 2007, the owners of the building evicted most of them.
Most streets in the Shopping Quarter are connected to
Briggate. It is one of many of the main shopping streets and is also home to several national and international food chains, like
McDonald's,
Burger King and
Pizza Hut, and several international shopping chains, including
Borders and
Zara.
Department stores in Leeds which have historically included
Lewis's, which became
Allders in 1996 and latterly closed in 2005,
Schofields which was taken over by House of Fraser in 1988 and closed in 1996, the
Co-op which closed in the mid 1990s,
Littlewoods which closed in the late 1990s and is now occupied by Zara and
H&M,
C&A which closed in 2001 and is currently occupied by
Next Clearance (until demolition for construction of the Trinity Quarter) and
Marshall & Snelgrove which became part of Debenhams and closed in the 1970s and lies of the site of
Lloyds TSB on
Park Row have disappeared but currently department stores include
Debenhams (historically known as Matthias Robinson),
Harvey Nichols (which when opened in 1996 became the first branch outside of London),
Marks and Spencer,
Bhs and
House of Fraser (formerly a
Woolworths, it temporarily became premises for Schofields and latterly became
Rackhams before becoming House of Fraser in 1996).
Off Briggate are several of Leeds' famous shopping arcades, such as the
Thornton Arcade and the
Victoria Quarter. Briggate was fully pedestrianised in 1996 and connected the two previously pedestrian areas either side of it. Other shopping attractions include the Corn Exchange,
Leeds Kirkgate Market, Granary Wharfe,
Leeds Shopping Plaza, Headrow Shopping Centre,
The Light
, the St Johns Centre, the
Merrion Centre Leeds and Crown Point Retail park which lies half a mile away from the retail core. In addition, two further shopping centres are proposed, namely the
Eastgate Quarters which is to include a
John Lewis department store and Trinity Quarter.
The Cultural Quarter
The
Cultural Quarter is situated in the east of the city centre. Landmarks here include the
BBC building, which moved from Woodhouse Lane just north of the city centre in
August 2004, the
West Yorkshire Playhouse, which opened in March 1990, and the
Leeds College of Music, which moved to its current location in 1997.
The Cultural Quarter is also where the
Royal Armouries Museum (opened in 1996 when the collection was transferred north from its previous location, the
Tower of London) can be found, although it's more in the south of the city centre than it's the east. The building, designed by architect Derek Walker, was built at a cost of £42.5 million and completed in two years, and has since become one of the city's major tourist attractions.
The Financial Quarter
The
Financial Quarter is bounded by Park Row to the East,
Leeds Inner Ring Road to the west, The Headrow to the north and Wellington Street to the south. It is centred around the Georgian Park Square, one of the green spaces in Leeds City Centre. The City Centre Loop passes through the quarter, using Quebec Street, King Street and East Parade. Leeds Law School is located at Cloth Hall Court. Major names can be found in the financial quarter such as
Norwich Union and
The Bank of England.
Infirmary Street is a major bus interchange in the financial district.
Although its principal function is as a financial quarter, there are a number of restaurants and hotels. Hotel Metropole, Residence 6, Quebecs Hotel name some of the hotels.
Est Est Est, Restaurant Bar and Grill,
Wagamama,
Pitcher and Piano,
Slug and Lettuce and Loch Fyne Seafood are some of the restaurants, mainly around the East Parade and Park Row areas.
The Skyscraper Quarter
The
Skyscraper Quarter is the location for much of the extensive building works currently in Leeds. It is the area south of Boar Lane. Many of the city's tallest buildings can be found here, such as
Bridgewater Place, currently the tallest building in Leeds. However, Bridgewater Place could well be topped as early as 2007 by the proposed
Lumiere development. Other major high rise developments include the planned
Criterion Place scheme of 160 metres, the
Providence Tower element of the
Green Bank residential scheme and
City One both of a planned height of 120 metres and The Plaza student residential tower of about 100 metres are all examples of high rise development in Leeds.
Leeds Lights
Each
Christmas the streets of Leeds City Centre are decorated with a variety of
Christmas lights. The widely publicised 'turning-on' ceremony is in early November, when a celebrity flicks the switch to illuminate the decorations at Victoria Gardens and usually attracts tens-of-thousands of people to the turning on ceremony. When Leeds Lights were first established in 1983, the switch on was held on the 4th Thursday of November, however it has since been brought forward. The illuminations are renowned as being the largest display in the United Kingdom, spanning over 13 miles of city centre streets and using over 2 million light bulbs.
Leeds is notable for designing, manufacturing and maintaining its own Christmas Light motifs. Leeds City Council is the only local authority to do this; all other displays buy in their lights. The lights are repaired and pressure cleaned annually at the Leeds Lights workshop in Seacroft throughout the year. 80,000 coloured lamps are stored at the workshop, and 2000m of coloured garland are stored in hoppers. A team of 14 works all year round producing the display. From October-January, a team of 24 works to erect the lights ready for the switch on in early November, before removing the lights after Christmas.
In recent years, commercial advertising has been permitted on some of the lights, such as The Headrow's champagne bottle lights.
The 2007 switch on took place at Victoria Gardens with entertainment starting at 7 pm.
Celebrities who turned on the Leeds Christmas lights
2007 — Shayne Ward, Dick and Dom, Chico.
2006 — McFly (Gaynor Faye and Jane Tomlinson also appeared)
2005 — Rachel Stevens and the Lovebites with Nicki Chapman presenting.
2004 — Chris Moyles and Girls Aloud
2003 — Phill JupitusFurther Information
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