Leeds: History

Pre-20th-Century History

People probably first occupied the Leeds area in about 500 BC. Little is known about the early occupancy, though by around 800 AD the re-establishment of European Christianity led to the founding of numerous religious sites in the area. From the discovery of several stone crosses, it appears Leeds may even have been considered a particularly blessed place to be buried. In the 10th century, it straddled the three major political territories of the time: Celtic-British to the north, Anglo-Saxon to the south and Norse to the east. Its location at a vital river crossing led to it dominating the other towns of the region.

When the Normans arrived, William the Conqueror found the locals to be rebellious and difficult; his response was brutal. When 500 of his knights were massacred in 1069 at Durham, north of the Yorkshire Dales, he burnt York and Durham and devastated the surrounding countryside. The north took generations to recover from this economic and social setback. Amazingly, though, the actual town of Leeds was untouched by William's forces, and had a head start in regional renewal.

The Leeds area developed into a farming region of considerable size, and was a major thoroughfare for traffic headed to York in the northeast. The Briggate (bridge gate) is still the key thoroughfare in the town. In later centuries, the Yorkshire region prospered in the medieval wool trade (three dye vats are recorded in the town in the 14th century), which sponsored the great cathedral at York and enormous monasteries, such as Rievaulx and Fountains, which can still be seen today. Early in the 17th century, Leeds was regarded as the foremost place in Britain to buy cloth.

During the civil war of the 17th century, Leeds was a stronghold of forces loyal to the King, while nearby Bradford was controlled by the parliamentarian army of Oliver Cromwell. Leeds was the scene of a fierce battle in 1643 that saw the Parliament's forces win control, only to be forced out again by the Royalists, who in turn were forced to retreat by pro-Parliament Scottish forces from the north. While 40 people reportedly died in the skirmishes in Leeds, over 1300 succumbed when the Plague hit only two years later.

As the centuries passed, Leeds - along with the nearby cities of Bradford and Sheffield - became a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution, with cloth production fuelled by local coal mines. In the 19th century the population increased almost tenfold to 430,000. While wool and flax were still important, Leeds diversified its industries to include printing and brewing, among others. The 19th century also saw a rise in anti-industrial feeling, both from workers and Luddites, as well as several serious health threats, including cholera and typhus.

Modern History

By the 1920s the textile industry was declining, and tailoring and manufacturing became dominant industries. The Burton tailoring factory - the largest in Europe - employed 16,000 people at its peak in the mid-'20s. While they escaped large-scale assault, 200 buildings were destroyed by bombers during WWII. After the war, an influx of West Indian and Asian migrants swelled the population.

Recent History

Although it's no longer the huge industrial centre it used to be, Leeds is now vibrant and cosmopolitan, and is the second-largest information technology centre in England. It has undergone a successful transformation to a modern city packed with services, especially of the educational kind.

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