Cross Gates, Leeds
Encyclopedia
Cross Gates is a large suburb
in east Leeds
, West Yorkshire
, England
. It is situated between Seacroft
and Swarcliffe
to the north, Whitkirk
and Colton
to the south, Killingbeck
to the west and Austhorpe
to the south east. Manston
and Pendas Fields
are generally regarded as part of Cross Gates.
and lies in the LS15 Leeds postcode area
. Cross Gates is popular with local shoppers as an alternative to Leeds city centre as it contains its own shopping centre - the Cross Gates Arndale Centre
now known as the Crossgates Shopping Centre - complete with branches of some major High Street
traders, in addition to many more independent shops and local library
services.
Cross Gates means "crossroads
" from Old English cros "cross" (as in Crossens
) and Old Norse gata "street, gait" (not 'gate'). The name was recorded as Crosget in 1129. Cross Gates was originally part of Austhorpe, as were Colton and Barrowby, which is indicated through various streets in Cross Gates beginning with "Austhorpe".
Until the building of the railway, Cross Gates was a quiet village
. However, Leeds' industrialisation, as well as the building of the railway, developed Cross Gates into a 'commuter village'. At this time Cross Gates was 'well removed' from the city and the collieries to the west of the village, so Cross Gates began to attract Leeds' more affluent residents. Cross Gates' development however had always been attributable to its proximity to Leeds. Before 1900 there was little evidence of Cross Gates, and unlike nearby suburbs such as Halton
, Seacroft
and Austhorpe
there is no mention of Cross Gates in the Domesday Book
. The earliest housing in Cross Gates was built for the workers at Cross Gates Colliery.
The Twentieth century led to Cross Gates effectively becoming a suburb of Leeds, with the open fields in between being developed into housing. This also led to much development around Cross Gates, including the building of the Cross Gates estate, a development of council housing and private development around Austhorpe, Whitkirk
and Manston
. Cross Gates quickly outgrew its amenities, which led to the building of the Arndale Centre.
The Barnbow Tragedy
The worst tragedy ever to happen within Leeds (in terms of fatalities) was the Barnbow
tragedy of 5 December 1916. 35 workers (all women aged 14 or over) were killed in the Barnbow Munitions Factory, which later became ROF Barnbow. The plant employed 16,000 workers, from Leeds
, Selby
, Wakefield
, Tadcaster
and Wetherby
and had its own railway station to cope with the daily influx of workers. The railway station had an 850 feet (259.1 m) platform and 38 special trains from surrounding towns and cities. An explosion from Hall 42 killed 35 workers and mutilated many more. Mechanic, Mr William Parking was presented with an engraved silver watch for his bravery in saving factory workers during the incident.
The demolition of Gas holder Number Two at the Cross Gates Gasworks made way for a shopping centre in Cross Gates as some felt that Cross Gates was badly lacking in amenities. This led to the building of the Cross Gates Arndale Centre. It opened on 21 September 1967 and was the first indoor "American-style" shopping mall in England. It was situated on the old marshalling yards which were behind what is now the parade of shops at the bottom of Station Road, just north of the Station Pub. Marshall Street, Terrace and Avenue get their names from this marshalling yard. Poplar Avenue and Chestnut Avenue were built later on land that had a spring running through it which explained the gap in the Marshalls. In the mid 80's it was renamed Cross Gates Shopping Centre and was then renamed to Crossgates in January 2005 as part of new ownership and re-branding. This is a large indoor shopping centre (approximately 200,000 sq.ft) containing retailers such as Tesco Metro, Peacocks, Newlook, Select, Iceland, Wilkinson, Home Bargains, Superdrug
and Bon Marche. There is also a LB's situated upstairs, Flavours Cafe, and several banks and building societies with almost 60 stores in total. The Centre is an 'L' shape, with both legs being approximately equal in length. The Centre is single storey, except for the central part where there is a second storey containing LB's cafe and external unit East of India restaurant. The barrelled roofs at the Station Road and Austhorpe Road entrances were added several years after the shopping centre's construction in 1967 - they were refurbished in 2001. There have been many small-scale renovations in the Centre since its construction, including the car parks, which are operated on a ticket-on-entry and pay-on-foot system. The Centre is bright, clean, modern and well kept.
Other shopping facilities in Cross Gates are found along Austhorpe Road. Cross Gates' main supermarket was originally a Fine Fare
next to the Methodist Church on Austhorpe Road, and then the GEM supermarket (formerly the Regal Cinema which was demolished for GEM to be built) which later became an Asda
on the western side of the roundabout where the Ring Road meets Cross Gates Road. This then became 'Questword' supermarket and is now Mecca Bingo. There are also nearby shopping facilities in Halton
(Newly built Lidl) Seacroft
(the Seacroft Shopping centre, with a large Tesco Extra) and Colton
(the Colton Retail Park), which has a Sainsbury's and an Argos
.
through terraces. There are some upmarket Victorian villas around Tranquility Avenue.
Manston Park is a large park in Cross Gates with football pitches, a bowling green, tennis courts and a playground.
is on the Leeds to Selby line
, now part of the "York & Selby Lines
". It is a well used stop for residents commuting to Leeds or York city centres. In June 2006 Cross Gates won the award for "Best Kept Railway Station" in all of Yorkshire, having made major strides in the refurbishment of the station. Cross Gates is also close to the A64
dual carriageway
and the M1
. The A6120 Leeds Outer Ring Road
"Station Road" is the main road through the area.
, ROF Leeds, was built at Barnbow, off Manston Lane, producing guns & ammunition for the army and navy. The building was bought by Vickers Defence Systems
and produced the Challenger 2 tank
before it closed in 2004. The bus manufacturer Optare
, formerly "Charles H. Roe Ltd
", also have a factory on Manston Lane, and the haulage company J Long & Sons are based on Sandleas Way.
- Cross Gates was described as being in the parishes of Whitkirk and Barwick in Elmet - Cross Gates was described as being in the parishes of Whitkirk and Barwick in Elmet
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
in east Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is situated between Seacroft
Seacroft
Seacroft is an outer-city suburb consisting mainly of council estate housing covering an extensive area of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is east of Leeds city centre and lies in the LS14 Leeds postcode area....
and Swarcliffe
Swarcliffe
Swarcliffe, originally the Swarcliffe Estate, is a district of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is east of Leeds city centre, and within the LS14 Leeds postcode area....
to the north, Whitkirk
Whitkirk
Whitkirk is a suburb of east Leeds, situated between Cross Gates to the north, Austhorpe to the east, Killingbeck to the west, Colton to the south-east and Halton to the south-west...
and Colton
Colton, Leeds
Colton is a district of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, situated between Cross Gates to the north, Halton and Halton Moor to the west, Whitkirk to the north-west and Austhorpe to the north-east...
to the south, Killingbeck
Killingbeck
Killingbeck is a district of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England that is situated between Seacroft to the north, Cross Gates and Whitkirk to the east, Gipton to the west, Halton Moor to the south, Halton to the south east and Osmondthorpe to the south west. It blends in to the Cross Gates and...
to the west and Austhorpe
Austhorpe
Austhorpe is a civil parish in east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England that is situated between Pendas Fields to the north, Whitkirk to the west, Cross Gates to the north-west and Colton to the south-west....
to the south east. Manston
Manston, Leeds
Manston is a small area of Cross Gates, Leeds, England, that lies to the east of Leeds city centre.Manston is a residential part of Cross Gates. It has its own park, Manston Park, and had a pub named after it, the Manston hotel, which is now known as The Barnbow, next to the park. It has a Parish...
and Pendas Fields
Pendas Fields
Pendas Fields is a private, suburban housing estate in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is considered part of Cross Gates, as is Manston. Swarcliffe is close, and Cock Beck runs nearby....
are generally regarded as part of Cross Gates.
Location
The suburb is 4 mi (6 km) to the east of Leeds city centreLeeds City Centre
Leeds city centre is the central business district of Leeds, England. It is within the Leeds Central parliamentary constituency, represented by Hilary Benn as MP since a by-election in 1999...
and lies in the LS15 Leeds postcode area
LS postcode area
The LS postcode area, also known as the Leeds postcode area, is a group of postcode districts around Leeds, Wetherby, Tadcaster, Pudsey, Otley and Ilkley in England...
. Cross Gates is popular with local shoppers as an alternative to Leeds city centre as it contains its own shopping centre - the Cross Gates Arndale Centre
Arndale Centres
Arndale Centres were the first "American-style" malls to be built in the United Kingdom. In total twenty-two Arndales have been built in the UK, and two in Australia...
now known as the Crossgates Shopping Centre - complete with branches of some major High Street
High Street
High Street, or the High Street, is a metonym for the generic name of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom. It is usually a focal point for shops and retailers in city centres, and is most often used in reference to retailing...
traders, in addition to many more independent shops and local library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
services.
History
Crossroads (culture)
In folk magic and mythology, crossroads may represent a location "between the worlds" and, as such, a site where supernatural spirits can be contacted and paranormal events can take place...
" from Old English cros "cross" (as in Crossens
Crossens
Crossens is the northernmost district of the town of Southport, Merseyside, England and part of the ancient parish of North Meols. Whilst most of the village is now within Merseyside, part of northern Crossens known as Fiddlers Ferry, is in West Lancashire...
) and Old Norse gata "street, gait" (not 'gate'). The name was recorded as Crosget in 1129. Cross Gates was originally part of Austhorpe, as were Colton and Barrowby, which is indicated through various streets in Cross Gates beginning with "Austhorpe".
Until the building of the railway, Cross Gates was a quiet village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
. However, Leeds' industrialisation, as well as the building of the railway, developed Cross Gates into a 'commuter village'. At this time Cross Gates was 'well removed' from the city and the collieries to the west of the village, so Cross Gates began to attract Leeds' more affluent residents. Cross Gates' development however had always been attributable to its proximity to Leeds. Before 1900 there was little evidence of Cross Gates, and unlike nearby suburbs such as Halton
Halton
- Places in the United Kingdom :* Halton , Cheshire**Halton **Halton, Cheshire village* Halton, Buckinghamshire village** RAF Halton* Halton, district of Leeds, West Yorkshire* Halton, Northumberland village...
, Seacroft
Seacroft
Seacroft is an outer-city suburb consisting mainly of council estate housing covering an extensive area of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is east of Leeds city centre and lies in the LS14 Leeds postcode area....
and Austhorpe
Austhorpe
Austhorpe is a civil parish in east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England that is situated between Pendas Fields to the north, Whitkirk to the west, Cross Gates to the north-west and Colton to the south-west....
there is no mention of Cross Gates in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
. The earliest housing in Cross Gates was built for the workers at Cross Gates Colliery.
The Twentieth century led to Cross Gates effectively becoming a suburb of Leeds, with the open fields in between being developed into housing. This also led to much development around Cross Gates, including the building of the Cross Gates estate, a development of council housing and private development around Austhorpe, Whitkirk
Whitkirk
Whitkirk is a suburb of east Leeds, situated between Cross Gates to the north, Austhorpe to the east, Killingbeck to the west, Colton to the south-east and Halton to the south-west...
and Manston
Manston, Leeds
Manston is a small area of Cross Gates, Leeds, England, that lies to the east of Leeds city centre.Manston is a residential part of Cross Gates. It has its own park, Manston Park, and had a pub named after it, the Manston hotel, which is now known as The Barnbow, next to the park. It has a Parish...
. Cross Gates quickly outgrew its amenities, which led to the building of the Arndale Centre.
The Barnbow Tragedy
The worst tragedy ever to happen within Leeds (in terms of fatalities) was the Barnbow
Barnbow
Barnbow was a munitions factory situated near the city of Leeds during World War I. It was officially known as National Filling Factory No. 1. In 1916 the factory suffered the worst tragedy in the history of the city , when a massive explosion killed 35 of the women who worked there.After the...
tragedy of 5 December 1916. 35 workers (all women aged 14 or over) were killed in the Barnbow Munitions Factory, which later became ROF Barnbow. The plant employed 16,000 workers, from Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, Selby
Selby
Selby is a town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Situated south of the city of York, along the course of the River Ouse, Selby is the largest and, with a population of 13,012, most populous settlement of the wider Selby local government district.Historically a part of the West Riding...
, Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
, Tadcaster
Tadcaster
Tadcaster is a market town and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. Lying on the Great North Road approximately east of Leeds and west of York. It is the last town on the River Wharfe before it joins the River Ouse about downstream...
and Wetherby
Wetherby
Wetherby is a market town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Wharfe, and has been for centuries a crossing place and staging post on the Great North Road, being mid-way between London and Edinburgh...
and had its own railway station to cope with the daily influx of workers. The railway station had an 850 feet (259.1 m) platform and 38 special trains from surrounding towns and cities. An explosion from Hall 42 killed 35 workers and mutilated many more. Mechanic, Mr William Parking was presented with an engraved silver watch for his bravery in saving factory workers during the incident.
Cross Gates Shopping Centre
Superdrug
Superdrug Stores PLC is Britain's second-largest beauty and health retailer behind Boots. Superdrug - part of the AS Watson Group which in turn is part of the Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa - is a UK based company with over 890 stores, which since 2006, includes the Republic of Ireland...
and Bon Marche. There is also a LB's situated upstairs, Flavours Cafe, and several banks and building societies with almost 60 stores in total. The Centre is an 'L' shape, with both legs being approximately equal in length. The Centre is single storey, except for the central part where there is a second storey containing LB's cafe and external unit East of India restaurant. The barrelled roofs at the Station Road and Austhorpe Road entrances were added several years after the shopping centre's construction in 1967 - they were refurbished in 2001. There have been many small-scale renovations in the Centre since its construction, including the car parks, which are operated on a ticket-on-entry and pay-on-foot system. The Centre is bright, clean, modern and well kept.
Other shopping facilities in Cross Gates are found along Austhorpe Road. Cross Gates' main supermarket was originally a Fine Fare
Fine Fare
Fine Fare was the name of a chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. It was famous for its Yellow Pack budget own-label range.-History:The company started as a single supermarket in Brighton in 1956. It was one of a series of convenience store chains established in the 1950s, the others being...
next to the Methodist Church on Austhorpe Road, and then the GEM supermarket (formerly the Regal Cinema which was demolished for GEM to be built) which later became an Asda
Asda
Asda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...
on the western side of the roundabout where the Ring Road meets Cross Gates Road. This then became 'Questword' supermarket and is now Mecca Bingo. There are also nearby shopping facilities in Halton
Halton
- Places in the United Kingdom :* Halton , Cheshire**Halton **Halton, Cheshire village* Halton, Buckinghamshire village** RAF Halton* Halton, district of Leeds, West Yorkshire* Halton, Northumberland village...
(Newly built Lidl) Seacroft
Seacroft
Seacroft is an outer-city suburb consisting mainly of council estate housing covering an extensive area of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is east of Leeds city centre and lies in the LS14 Leeds postcode area....
(the Seacroft Shopping centre, with a large Tesco Extra) and Colton
Colton, Leeds
Colton is a district of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, situated between Cross Gates to the north, Halton and Halton Moor to the west, Whitkirk to the north-west and Austhorpe to the north-east...
(the Colton Retail Park), which has a Sainsbury's and an Argos
Argos (retailer)
Argos is the largest general-goods retailer in the United Kingdom and Ireland with over 800 stores. It is unique amongst major retailers in the UK in that it is a catalogue merchant...
.
Housing
The area's housing ranges from detached houses, semi-detached houses and terraced houses. More recently a block of new low-rise flats has been built opposite the Crossgates Shopping Centre, and apartments are being sold and rented at very high prices. Austhorpe Road and the areas surrounding Marshall Street are made up largely of VictorianVictorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
through terraces. There are some upmarket Victorian villas around Tranquility Avenue.
Manston Park
Transport
Cross Gates railway stationCross Gates railway station
Cross Gates railway station serves Cross Gates, an area in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the York and Selby Lines, operated by Northern Rail east of Leeds railway station...
is on the Leeds to Selby line
Leeds and Selby Railway
The Leeds and Selby Railway was an early British railway company and first mainline railway in Yorkshire. It was opened in 1834.The company was absorbed by the York and North Midland Railway and the line remained in use through the subsequent NER, LNER, BR and post-privatisation periods.As of 2010...
, now part of the "York & Selby Lines
York & Selby Lines
The York & Selby Lines is the name given to a group of services in the West Yorkshire Metro area, connecting Leeds with places to its north and east: as well as the Northern Rail local services to York and Selby, the services extend to:...
". It is a well used stop for residents commuting to Leeds or York city centres. In June 2006 Cross Gates won the award for "Best Kept Railway Station" in all of Yorkshire, having made major strides in the refurbishment of the station. Cross Gates is also close to the A64
A64 road
The A64 is a road in North and West Yorkshire, England which links Leeds, York and Scarborough. The A64 starts as the A64 ring road motorway in Leeds and then is a dual carriageway for the rest of its route, except parts of the road from Malton to Scarborough.The road approximates a section of the...
dual carriageway
Dual carriageway
A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...
and the M1
M1 motorway
The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
. The A6120 Leeds Outer Ring Road
Leeds Outer Ring Road
The Leeds Outer Ring Road is a main road that runs around most of the perimeter of the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The ring road is approximately long and consists of single and dual carriageways....
"Station Road" is the main road through the area.
Industry
A Royal Ordnance FactoryRoyal Ordnance Factory
Royal Ordnance Factories was the collective name of the UK government's munitions factories in and after World War II. Until privatisation in 1987 they were the responsibility of the Ministry of Supply and later the Ministry of Defence....
, ROF Leeds, was built at Barnbow, off Manston Lane, producing guns & ammunition for the army and navy. The building was bought by Vickers Defence Systems
Vickers plc
Vickers plc was the remainder of Vickers-Armstrongs after the nationalisation of three of its four operating groups: aviation , shipbuilding and steel...
and produced the Challenger 2 tank
Challenger 2 tank
FV4034 Challenger 2 is a British main battle tank currently in service with the armies of the United Kingdom and Oman. It was designed and built by the British company Vickers Defence Systems . The manufacturer advertises it as the world's most reliable main battle tank...
before it closed in 2004. The bus manufacturer Optare
Optare
Optare plc is a bus manufacturer and importer based in Leeds and Blackburn, UK. The company operates from three main business units, Bus Manufacturing, Coach Sales and Unitec....
, formerly "Charles H. Roe Ltd
Charles H. Roe
Charles H. Roe Ltd. was a Yorkshire coachbuilding company. It was for most of its life based at Crossgates Carriage Works, in Leeds.In 1947 it was taken over by Park Royal Vehicles. Two years later, along with its parent, it became part of Associated Commercial Vehicles in 1949, which was merged...
", also have a factory on Manston Lane, and the haulage company J Long & Sons are based on Sandleas Way.
'Gates' sculpture
Recently a sculpture composed of 3 large metal gates arranged in a triangle configuration has been erected on Crossgates roundabout (opposite to the library). The sculpture is meant to represent Crossgates metaphorically, each gate having a large 'X' in steel in its design to reflect the history of the town's name. Local residents have expressed different views on the structure, some finding it an asset to the area, others finding it an eyesore and a ridiculous waste of space on what could have and has been a rather handsome roundabout planted with many flowers and a well kept grassy area.Comparison
Cross Gates lies in the LS15 postcode area. Here is a population breakdown of the postcode area in comparison with the UK population.| Category | LS15 | UK average |
|---|---|---|
| Population density (people/sq mi) | 43.2 | 24.9 |
| Gender split (female/male) | 1.05 | 1.05 |
| Average commute | 6.1 miles | 8.73 miles |
| Average age | 38 | 39 |
| Home ownership | 16% | 16.9% |
| Student population | 2.4% | 4.4% |
| People in good health | 69% | 69% |
Location grid
External links
- YEP Cross Gates Today Community Website
- Crossgates Shopping Centre
- Crossgates Town Centre regeneration - Leeds City Council
- VE Day 60 Years:Leeds - Manufacturing at Cross Gates
- Cross Gates was described as being in the parishes of Whitkirk and Barwick in Elmet - Cross Gates was described as being in the parishes of Whitkirk and Barwick in Elmet