Five interesting facts about Leeds, England

categories: europe travel

I suspect a lot of people in the United States have never heard of my home city of Leeds. It’s the 3rd largest city in the UK by population, after London and Birmingham. In this post I wanted to highlight some interesting facts about the city, and maybe next time when you are travelling to England, you’ll visit.

First moving images filmed in Leeds

In October 1880 Louis le Prince recorded the very first moving images with a Leeds back garden as his subject. The Inventor and cinema pioneer then shot the first motion pictures “Crossing Leeds Bridge” in the city centre in 1888.

Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds

Confusion over the location of Leeds Castle

Leeds castle is not in the city of Leeds, but in Kent, some 250 miles away. It is amazing how many guides on the city have photos of the castle. We do have the impressive looking Kirkstall Abbey, where the foundations of Kirkstall Abbey were built in 1152.

Kirkgate Market, Leeds

Largest indoor market in Europe

Leeds Kirkgate Market is Europe’s largest indoor market with over 600 stalls. It is open 6 days a week. There are over 400 stalls inside and a further 200 stalls outside. Michael Marks opened his Penny Bazaar in 1884, leading to the founding of Marks & Spencer in 1890.

Famous people born in Leeds

I am sure you will have heard of Peter O’Toole, an actor famous for his role in Lawrence of Arabia. Then there’s Ernie Wise of the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise and finally Barbara Bradford-Taylor, who is a novelist and has written 25 novels, of which all have been best sellers.

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temple works, leeds

Temple of Horus… in Leeds

Temple Works is a former flax mill, built between 1836 and 1840 and was based on the Temple of Horus at Edfu in Egypt. At the time it was said to be the biggest single room in the world. An unusual feature of the building is that sheep used to graze on the grass-covered roof.

This served the purpose of retaining humidity in the mill to prevent the linen thread from becoming unmanageable.

Editor: for more information about Leeds check out Darren’s local guide called My Life in Leeds.

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Darren Cronian

by Darren Cronian

Darren Cronian is the founder and editor of a local guide called My Life in Leeds. Darren hates winter, rants about travel, loves a cold beer, and wants to prove that there’s more to England than London and the Queen’s corgis, red telephone boxes.

5 Responses to “Five interesting facts about Leeds, England”

Josh Chandler

Says:

Darren,

This is exciting to see that Leeds has such a wonderful heritage. It’s funny just how few people know about Leeds (surprisingly!)

I will be attending the Leeds Met University in September and very much looking forward to visiting the sights and sounds you highlight in this post. 🙂

Regards,

Josh Chandler

Darren Cronian

Says:

Thanks for commenting Josh.

Leeds is a great city, and i am not just saying that because I am born and bred there. Make sure you bookmark the guide because we have a section specifically for students, and the guides are written by people studying at Leeds Met and Leeds Uni.

Darren

frank

Says:

BRILLIANT!!

Jamie

Says:

Who is Barbara Bradford Taylor?

chris2x

Says:

Jamie, http://www.barbarataylorbradford.com/ but I had not heard of her either

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