News White Cloth Hall
An important Leeds landmark is set to be restored as part of the ongoing regeneration of the city
Other Recent News Articles
The White Cloth Hall in Kirkgate was first built in 1711 and served as key location in the Leeds textile industry. However, the Grade II* listed building has fallen into disrepair to such an extent that now only 15% of the original structure remains.
Fronted by a row of semi-derelict shops, the ageing historical site has been earmarked for restoration by property firm City Fusion and Harewood-based Vektor Investments. Engineers and architects have recreated plans of the original building using the sections that still stand. Restoration work has begun with a view to using the hall as a centre of commerce for Leeds.
Paul Nathan-Geary of Vektor Investments said: “Working closely with English Heritage and Leeds City Council, painstaking research of the surviving building fabric has been undertaken by renowned local conservation architect Ian Tod and specialist heritage engineers Giffords.
“Much of the surviving original fabric has been damaged during [previous remodelling] and [this] has ultimately contributed to the building’s current demise, posing an extremely challenging restoration project. City Fusion has inherited a collection of buildings that are structurally unstable and a dangerous working environment to attempt a traditional refurbishment restoration.” As well as private investment, Leeds City Council has secured Lottery funding for the development.
Leeds Civic Trust welcomed the proposals, but voiced concerns about how work in the surrounding area could affect the project. Trust Director Dr Kevin Grady said: “We have all been concerned about the fate of this building, and clearly the Civic Trust is desperately keen that a renovation should go forward. But we are concerned that there is demolition of adjacent buildings without an agreed scheme or timetable for the reconstruction of the White Cloth Hall.”
The White Cloth Hall was commissioned in 1710 to provide a more attractive site for textile merchants to buy and sell their goods. In the same year, Wakefield added a cloth hall to their market, providing shelter for the textiles and traders. Concerned that this superior market could draw business away from Leeds, a cloth hall was built on the Kirkgate site provided by Lord Irwin of Temple Newsam and with funds of £1,000 collected from city tradesmen. The name of the site derives from the sale of undyed, or ‘white’, cloths in the market.
The second and third White Cloth Halls were built in 1755 and 1775-6 respectively as a response to the rapid expansion of the textile trade in the city. In 1765 between 4,000 and 5,000 clothiers visited the Leeds cloth halls per week, and by the 1770s there were over 70 cloth merchant firms in the town.
With the restoration of the White Cloth Hall at Kirkgate, it is hoped that this once great centre for commerce will again contribute to the continuing economic growth in the region.
Posted on Thursday 5th August 2010
Naomi Rainey
Sending you to Twitter, hold on... 
