Since a posse of wenches will be attending the RNA conference in Leeds, England this month, and we’ll be visiting some historical sites while there, I thought I should brush up on the history of Leeds. Various characters in my Unexpected Magic books have passed through Leeds since it was a forerunner in the industrial revolution, which worked right into my scientific Ives’ stories.
Leeds is in Yorkshire, and in 731, there was only a church mentioned there. By 1086, a settlement by the name of Ledes is on the books. It’s believed the name comes from a Celtic word Loidis, people of the river, but there is little evidence of the civilization inhabiting the area prior to 731. It seems to have been on the boundary between a Viking kingdom and a Welsh-speaking kingdom in the 10th century. As in most parts of England, there are Roman remains nearby, but no history other than earthworks and a paved ford.
Of course, one could not actually call Ledes a town in 1086. It seems to have consisted of a manor house and a church. The “tenant in chief” was Ilbert de Lacy (ha, I stole that name for Devil’s Lady, I believe), a favorite of William the Conqueror, so the land remained untouched while William was ravaging the north. Even as early as the 13th century, the area was known for its weaving and spinning.
In 1399, Richard II was briefly imprisoned there before his execution. The property still belonged to the de Lacys. At the time, the population of the entire parish—the manor, the church, and a small borough-- was probably around 1000, and considered a fairly substantial town. Eventually, the de Lacys married high enough that Henry IV added the estate to the Crown’s properties.
It was still a market and mill town, with no charter, existing in semi-feudalism into the Tudor era. A priest in 1552 left property to establish a school, which later became Leeds Grammar School, an institution of some importance. It wasn’t until 1626 that the town became incorporated, but even then the Crown reserved the right to fill 30 vacancies of the governing body and Leeds had no representation in Parliament, so it’s part in England’s history is limited at this point.
In the 1700s, all that wool weaving had made Leeds into a merchant town, primarily manufacturing cloth and trading with Europe. As the textile trade burgeoned, the good weavers and millers financed a canal, which led to expanded trade with Europe, which led to building manufacturing plants and railroads. So our Regency heroines would have remarked upon the busy canal, the bustle of wagons hauling woolen cloths to the markets, the small mills manufacturing uniforms, and new merchant buildings going up where all of this was traded. Twenty years later, the town would have large belching mechanical mills, railway stations, and canals and be a city of 150,000!
With the wealth of the Industrial Revolution to fill coffers, the Victorians turned a once-sleepy village into streets of imposing edifices, many designed by Cuthbert Broderick, an architect from Hull. A number of these buildings and the shopping arcades are still standing. So we may not have a vast selection of medieval sites, but we can go shopping!
What do you like to do when you travel? Shop? Museums? Gardens?