Beckett Park | |
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Beckett Park | |
Location within West Yorkshire | |
Metropolitan borough | |
Metropolitan county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | LEEDS |
Postcode district | LS6 |
Dialling code | 0113 |
Police | West Yorkshire |
Fire | West Yorkshire |
Ambulance | Yorkshire |
UK Parliament | |
Beckett Park (also known as Becketts Park) [1] is a residential area and a large public park in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is in the Weetwood ward of Leeds City Council. It borders onto Headingley, West Park and Kirkstall. It is named after Ernest Beckett, 2nd Baron Grimthorpe.
The public park stretches from Queenswood Drive to the West and Batcliffe Mount to the East. St Chads Drive to the North and Langdale Terrace to the South. It also encompasses the Beckett Park School, a children's play park, a skate park and tennis courts. Due to the sports facilities, the park is popular with local students, a large population of whom live in the surrounding area of Headingley during term-time. Located in the wood near to the campus is a monument to Queen Victoria's visit to the Leeds Town Hall in the year 1858. [2]
There are also local shops, a post office, a hair salon and a pizza takeaway in this area. Among other attractions to this area there are extensive woodlands and nature trails, with great views of nearby areas of Leeds.
The land originally belonged to Kirkstall Abbey but with the Dissolution of the Monasteries it was leased from The Crown to a series of private individuals who made homes there. It included a grange called Newgrange. In 1752 this was replaced by a new building. In 1832 the New Grange estate, comprising the house and park was bought by William Beckett, who carried out major alterations and changed the name to Kirkstall Grange. The arch dedicated to Queen Victoria echoes features of William's house as well as the town hall. [3] Beckett may have reworked an earlier arch made in 1766. [4]
A later family member Ernest Beckett sold the estate (then called Beckett's Park) for £48,000 to Leeds Corporation in 1908, who wished to establish a training college and public park. [5] [6] The flat area at the top of the hill including the Grange was retained for the college, and the sloping area to the south was acquired by Wade's Charity in 1909 and leased to the Corporation in 1911 for the creation of a public park. The park is still leased from the charity, and run by the council parks department. [7]
The City of Leeds Training College moved to newly constructed buildings and the remaining West Wing of Kirkstall Grange in Beckett's Park in 1912. During the First World War these were used as a hospital, and were only returned to the college in 1924. The buildings were also requisitioned as a hospital in the Second World War. In 1970 the college became part of Leeds Polytechnic which became Leeds Metropolitan University in 1993. [5]
Leeds Metropolitan University was renamed Leeds Beckett University from September 2014: the Chancellor, Sir Bob Murray, said "We will be very proud to adopt a new name for our University which is so closely linked to the location and birthplace of two of our major founding colleges." [8] This renaming was widely publicised by the University, including much new and altered signage in the city centre and Headingley, in addition to the giving away of free hoodies, all of which referenced the term 'Beckett' - much broadening knowledge of the park.
Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery in Kirkstall, north-west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire, England. It is set in a public park on the north bank of the River Aire. It was founded c. 1152. It was disestablished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII.
Kirkstall is a north-western suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, on the eastern side of the River Aire. The area sits in the Kirkstall ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds Central and Headingley parliamentary constituency, represented by Alex Sobel. The population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 21,709.
Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley Stadium.
Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The university's origins can be traced to 1824, with the foundation of the Leeds Mechanics Institute. Leeds Polytechnic was formed in 1970, and was part of the Leeds Local Education Authority until it became an independent Higher Education Corporation on 1 April 1989. In 1992, the institution gained university status. The current name was adopted in September 2014.
West Park is a suburb of north-west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, north of Headingley. It is a mixed area of private suburban housing and suburban council estates. The name derives from its main park containing playing fields together with a conservation area of grassy meadow ending in woodland. The largest housing estate in West Park is Moor Grange.
Weetwood is an area between Headingley and Meanwood in north-west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is bounded on the north by the A6120, on the west by the A660, on the east by Meanwood Beck and to the south by Hollin Lane. Weetwood Lane runs north and south through it.
Ireland Wood is a small residential area in north-west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England named after the Woodland Trust wood which it contains. It is approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) to the north-west of Leeds city centre. It was planned by the Leeds Housing Director, R.A.H. Livett, and won the Ministry Housing medal for 1945-9. An early plan of Ireland Wood in 1950 is shown on the Leodis website.
Bramhope is a village and civil parish in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, West Yorkshire, England, north of Holt Park and north east of Cookridge.
Leeds North West is a constituency in the City of Leeds which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Katie White, of the Labour Party.
Headingley Stadium is a stadium complex in Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Linked by a two-sided stand housing common facilities, it comprises the two following separate grounds: Headingley Cricket Ground and Headingley Rugby Stadium.
Headingley railway station is off Kirkstall Lane in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, on the Harrogate Line, 3 miles (5 km) north west of Leeds. The station was opened in 1849 by the Leeds & Thirsk Railway, later part of the Leeds Northern Railway to Northallerton.
Moor Grange Estate is a housing estate in the West Park area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which was built in the 1950s on reclaimed farmland. Work on the Moor Grange Estate began in 1955. It was originally owned by the local council, and was leased by the council to tenants as a council estate. Most of the housing on the estate is now privately owned. Moor Grange does not suffer the crime problems of other council estates. House prices on the estate are high, and Moor Grange is considered a 'model council estate'. This may be due to the affluence of the area in which it is situated. Moor Grange backs onto the smaller Spen Estate which is another council estate in West Park. The Estate falls within the Kirkstall ward of the Leeds Metropolitan Council.
Richmond Hill is a district of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The district lies a mile to the east of the city centre between York Road, East End Park and Cross Green. The appropriate City of Leeds ward is Burmantofts and Richmond Hill.
Burley is an inner city area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, 1 mile (1.6 km) north-west of Leeds city centre, between the A65 Kirkstall Road at the south and Headingley at the north, in the Kirkstall ward.
William Beckett was an English Conservative politician
St Chad's Church, Far Headingley is the parish church of Far Headingley in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The church is Grade II* listed in Gothic Revival style. The dedication is to Chad of Mercia, who was bishop of York and died in AD 672. It is set back from the busy Otley Road, with a cricket field and the parish war memorial nearer the road.
The architecture of Leeds, a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England, encompasses a wide range of architectural styles and notable buildings. As with most northern industrial centres, much of Leeds' prominent architecture is of the Victorian era. However, the City of Leeds also contains buildings from as early as the Middle Ages such as Kirkstall Abbey, one of Britain's best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries, as well as examples of 20th century industrial architecture, particularly in the districts of Hunslet and Holbeck.
Chapel Allerton is an inner suburb of north-east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, 2 miles (3.2 km) from the city centre.
The City of Leeds Training College was a teacher training college established in 1907 at Beckett Park in Leeds in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. After merging with the Carnegie College of Physical Education in 1968 it was renamed the City of Leeds and Carnegie College. It became one of the principal constituent institutions of Leeds Beckett University.