| Leeds City Centre |
Article Index for Leeds City |
Shopping Centre |
Website Links For Leeds |
Information AboutLeeds City Centre |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT LEEDS CITY CENTRE | |
| districts of leeds | |
| west yorkshire | |
|
The city centre of Leeds , West Yorkshire , England , can be separated roughly into five areas or quarters. The Civic Quarter The Civic Quarter is the area at the north of the city centre and is bisected by The Headrow . It is home to the Leeds Magistrates and Crown Courts. Leeds Town Hall is a prominent landmark which was completed in 1858 and opened by Queen Victoria . The City Library and City Gallery are next door. Park Square is also found here. The city's largest hospital, the Leeds General Infirmary , is also located here and was first opened in 1771. Behind Leeds Town Hall is Millennium Square and Leeds Civic Hall , two other prominent Leeds landmarks. Millennium Square was Leeds' flagship project to mark the year 2000 and hosts regular concerts by bands including the Kaiser Chiefs , HARD-Fi , Fall Out Boy and Embrace . Leeds Civic Hall was opened in 1933 by King George V and is home to the Lord Mayor's Room and the council chambers. Because of its close proximity to the courts, many Barrister s' chambers and Solicitor s' offices are found here. The architecture in the civic quarter is predominantly Victorian to match the civic buildings. The Civic Quarter also lies in close proximity to the universities of Leeds Metropolitan University , University Of Leeds and other academic institutions such as Park Lane College , Leeds College Of Art & Design and Leeds College Of Technology . The Shopping Quarter The Shopping Quarter is the area which extends south from the Headrow to Boar Lane. Many of city's largest shops are found here. Like any major city the shopping district is home to both major international chains, including Marks & Spencer (founded in 1894 on a small stall at the city's market), and independent shops. The Corn Exchange is home to many of these independent shops. Most streets in the Shopping Quarter are connected to Briggate . It is one of many of the main shopping streets and is also home to several national and international food chains, like McDonald's , Burger King and Pizza Hut , and several international shopping chains, including Borders and Zara . Department stores in Leeds which have historically included Lewis's , which became Allders in 1996 and latterly closed in 2005, Schofields which was taken over by House of Fraser in 1988 and closed in 1996, the Co-op which closed in the mid 1990s, Littlewoods which closed in the late 1990s and is now occupied by Zara and H&M , C&A which closed in 2001 and is currently occupied by Next Clearance (until demolition for construction of the Trinity Quarter) and Marshall & Snelgrove which became part of Debenhams and closed in the 1970s and lies of the site of Lloyds TSB on Park Row have disappeared but currently department stores include Debenhams (historically known as Matthias Robinson), Harvey Nichols (which when opened in 1996 became the first branch outside of London), Marks And Spencer , Bhs and House Of Fraser (formerly a Woolworths , it became temporarily became premises for Schofields and latterly became Rackhams before becoming House of Fraser in 1996). Off Briggate are several of Leeds' famous shopping arcades, such as the department store and Trinity Quarter. The Cultural Quarter The Cultural Quarter is situated in the east of the city centre. Landmarks here include the BBC building, which moved from Woodhouse Lane just north of the city centre in August 2004 , the West Yorkshire Playhouse , which opened in March 1990, and the Leeds College Of Music , which moved to its current location in 1997. The Cultural Quarter is also where the Royal Armouries Museum (opened in 1996 when the collection was transferred north from its previous location, the Tower Of London ) can be found, although it is more in the south of the city centre than it is the east. The building, designed by architect Derek Walker, was built at a cost of £42.5 million and completed in two years, and has since become one of the city's major tourist attractions. The Financial Quarter The Financial Quarter is bounded by Park Row to the East, Leeds Inner Ring Road to the west, The Headrow to the north and Wellington Street to the south. It is centred around the Georgian Park Square, one of the green spaces in Leeds City Centre. The City Centre Loop passes through the quarter, using Quebec Street, King Street and East Parade. Leeds Law School is located at Cloth Hall Court. Major names can be found in the financial quarter such as Norwich Union and The Bank Of England . Infirmary Street is a major bus interchange in the financial district. Although its principal function is as a financial quarter, there are a number of restaurants and hotels. Hotel Metropole, Residence 6, Quebecs Hotel name some of the hotels. Est Est Est , Restaurant Bar and Grill, Wagamama , Pitcher And Piano , Slug And Lettuce and Loch Fyne Seafood are some of the restaurants, mainly around the East Parade and Park Row areas. The Skyscraper Quarter The Skyscraper Quarter is the location for much of the extensive building works currently in Leeds. It is the area south of Boar Lane. Many of the city's tallest buildings can be found here, such as Bridgewater Place , currently the tallest building in Leeds. However, Bridgewater Place could well be topped as early as 2007 by the proposed La Lumiere development. Other major high rise developments include the planned Criterion Place scheme of 160 metres, the Providence Tower element of the Green Bank residential scheme and City One both of a planned height of 120 metres and The Plaza student residential tower of about 100 metres are all examples of high rise development in Leeds. Leeds Lights Each Christmas the streets of Leeds City Centre are decorated with a variety of Christmas lights. The widely publicized 'turning-on' ceremony is in early November, when a celebrity flicks the switch to illuminate the decorations at Victoria Garens and usually attracts many thousands of people to the turning on ceremony. The illuminations are renowned as being the largest display in the United Kingdom. Celebrities who turned on the Leeds Christmas lights
|
|
|