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Historic Towns & Picturesque Villages

Summer: punting

Oxford

a Historic City in the county of Oxfordshire

A picture of Penmon

Penmon

in the county of Isle of Anglesey

Pictures of Leeds

in the county of West Yorkshire

About Leeds

In the middle ages Leeds was a wool centre and it flourished. The sheep on the Yorkshire moors providing the wool for the cottage craft industry of spinning and weaving. The introduction of machinery in the late 18th century started the mill system around which the city of Leeds grew. By the mid 19th century the city moved into the ready-made clothing industry and by the end of the century Leeds was the world centre for the clothes trade. Joseph Hepworth pioneered chain-store tailoring in 1883 and by 1921 Montague Burton's mill was the largest clothing factory in the world.

Transformed in recent years Leeds has cleaned up and restored many of it's black sooted buildings, and the city now has some fabulous examples of victorian buildings to visit and see. Visit the pride of the city, the Leeds Town Hall which truly is a monument to the pride of the Victorian era, and was opened in 1858 by Queen Victoria herself. It is home to the International Piano Competition and the annual international concert season. Another must-see building in Leeds is The Corn Exchange - truly one of Britains finest Victorian buildings. It was designed by the late great Cuthbert Brodrick who also designed the aforementioned Leeds Town Hall. Recently restored, the Corn Exchange houses a great selection of shops and cafes.
Other buildings to see in Leeds include The Edwardian Kirkgate Market and Kirkstall Abbey which dates back to Medieval times.

As for today, Leeds is considered the social hub and capital of the North of England. It has just been voted as one of the top three places to shop in the UK by an independent survey, and offers a huge range of shops, stores and cafes for you to enjoy. It is also the second largest employer of the IT industry in the country with some 35% of England's email traffic carried on from Leeds. A combination of this prosperity and Leeds fascinating history make it one the most popular and interesting cities to visit in England and Europe. It truly is a cosmopolitan city with over 75 nationalities of people living there and a population of over 700,000 people.

Recommended towns & villages near Leeds

Wakefield Cathedral, West Yorkshire. Viewed from Westgate

Wakefield (43 Pictures) in the county of West Yorkshire

(8.4 miles, 13.4 km, direction S of Leeds)

Wakefield was the capital of Yorkshire's woollen industry for more than 700 years, it was an important weaving and dying centre as far back as the 13th century...

River Wharfe and Weir, Otley, West Yorkshire

Otley (45 Pictures) in the county of West Yorkshire

(9.3 miles, 14.9 km, direction NW of Leeds)

Otley is a beautiful old town with attractive buildings in medieval courts and alleyways and a lovely parish church that dates back to Norman times...

United Reformed Church at Saltaire, West Yorkshire.

Saltaire (54 Pictures) a Picturesque Village in the county of West Yorkshire

(10.0 miles, 16.1 km, direction W of Leeds)

This perfectly preserved village originated as an answer to Bradford's 'dark satanic mills', it was the brain-child of industrialist Sir Titus Salt, who in the early 19th-century.....

A picture of Pontefract

Pontefract (181 Pictures) a Historic Market Town in the county of West Yorkshire

(12.4 miles, 20.0 km, direction SE of Leeds)

Pontefract has a ruined castle which has seen many tragedies, Richard II was murdered there in 1400, and later it was the scene of bitter, bloody battles between Roundheads and Royalists...

The Brewery in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire

Tadcaster (4 Pictures) in the county of North Yorkshire

(13.1 miles, 21.0 km, direction NE of Leeds)

Tadcaster has been at the centre of the Brewing industry since the 18th century, and today breweries remain conspicuous on its landscape...

All towns & villages in West Yorkshire
Complete A to Z of towns & villages in England

Nearby attractions..

1998. Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, Outside Display

Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds (20 Pictures)

(1.0 miles, 1.6 km)

The Royal Armouries Museum occupies a dazzling modern building set beside the river. At nightfall it becomes one of the town's.....

Armley Mills Industrial Museum near Leeds.

Armley Mills Industrial Museum (4 Pictures)

(1.4 miles, 2.2 km, direction W)

Formerly the largest woolen mill in the world, Armley Mills is now a museum that explores the rich industrial past of.....

Kirkstall Abbey near Leeds, West Yorkshire

Kirkstall Abbey (14 Pictures)

(2.9 miles, 4.7 km, direction NW)

Kirkstall Abbey is one of Yorkshire's finest ruined Cistercian abbey's. It was founded in the 12th-century from which much of.....

Temple Newsam, Leeds. Lovely entrance

Temple Newsam (2 Pictures)

(3.9 miles, 6.2 km, direction E)

This is a stunning house set in magical grounds. It began life hundreds of years ago but the oldest part of the house we see.....

Harewood House in West Yorkshire - Terrace Gardens, June 2005

Harewood House (25 Pictures)

(6.7 miles, 10.7 km, direction N)

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Bradford Cathedral, West Yorkshire

Bradford Cathedral (3 Pictures)

(8.2 miles, 13.3 km, direction W)

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National Museum of Photography, Film and TV. Bradford.

National Museum of Photography, Film & Television (3 Pictures)

(8.6 miles, 13.8 km, direction W)

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All attractions in Leeds
All attractions in West Yorkshire
Complete A to Z of attractions in England