For anyone interested in industrial heritage it may be interesting to know that it is possible to walk from the Leeds city centre to the Middleton Railway taking in the historical industrial area of Holbeck, the old route of the Middleton Railway from the city centre and the former engine making area of Hunslet. Or if you would rather go easier on the legs you could view the sites of just one of these areas.
Holbeck and its fancy factories
The Middleton Railway - Bringing the coal to Leeds
Hunslet - the engine building community
Bibliography and Further Reading on the Internet
Google Maps satellite maps of Holbeck
Just outside Leeds city centre lies the area of Holbeck. Named after the stream that runs through it, Holbeck was once a very industrialised area. The area played an important part in the industrial revolution and the innovation that was happening amongst the firms here can still be appreciated by looking at the buildings that survive.
Holbeck is reached by passing under Leeds station through the "Dark Arches". The dark arches are themselves quite an outstanding piece of engineering.
As the railways were built in to Leeds it was soon found that a railway line across the city centre from east to west was needed to allow journeys across Leeds to be made without either taking a long journey around the city or having to change stations in Leeds. An original scheme was rejected as it would have lead to the demolition of much of the city centre. The later scheme had the New Station situated on a large viaduct spanning the River Aire. A series of arches were built with passageways connecting them, many of these vaults were used for handling goods from the railway or nearby canal.
This Grade 2 listed bridge was built by George Leather Jnr, engineer of the Aire and Calder Navigation between 1837 and 1839. Beneath the bridge the Hol-beck diverges from the River Aire as does the Leeds Liverpool Canal.
Above – Office Lock and the Tower Works in the background before the beginning of redevelopment in the area.
The 127 mile long canal was proposed in 1767, received an act of parliament in 1770. Construction began at various locations and gradually the canal opened a section at a time, it wasn't until 1816 that the canal fully opened.
The earliest building in this area is the canal warehouse built to a design by canal engineer Robert Owen in 1776, in time for the canal opening as far as Gargrave. Unlike later buildings in the area this building is constructed of stone (picture) . Next to the building is a crane of 1845.
In the area between the canal and the railway viaduct are a couple of small docks, soon to become focal points of the redevelopment of the area. These docks were used for repairing boats.
Another original building from the construction of the canal is the office adjacent to the next lock along the canal, built in 1775. (Picture)
In the late 1840s a link was provided between the canal and the river above of the weir, this allowed boats on to the River Aire between Leeds City Station and Armley. The access to the river was used by Bean Ing Mill and for supplying coal to Whitehall Power Station. The site of the link can be seen from the south end of the station (picture). At the north end of the station it is overgrown by trees but still visible. Looking across the River Aire from the station car park the mooring rings can be seen in the canal bank where the Whitehall Power Station's coal wharf once was. Situated directly above the weir on what can be a fast flowing river during wet weather it must have been quite difficult manoeuvring boats on and off the coal wharfs
Only a mile along the Leeds and Liverpool canal is the Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills. Housed in mill buildings sandwiched between the canal and the river the museum has displays and exhibits about all manner of industrial history in the area and is well worth a visit.
One dominant landmark of the area is the towers of the former Tower Works. Situated on Globe Road this was originally the site of Globe Foundry from 1844 to 1864. One of the Globe Foundry buildings survives, fronting on to the canal (picture). From 1864 it became the Tower Works of T. R.Harding and produced pins and needles for the textile industry. The façade of the works has been covered with scaffolding for a number of years but the grade II listed structure should be refurbished as part of a modern development (sadly the development will mean the famous towers no longer dominate the skyline)
The oldest of the three towers is from 1864 and is based on the Torre del Commune, or Lamberti tower in Verona. Next to it is the Giotto Tower based on the Campanile of Florence Cathedral (picture). The Giotto tower is about half the height of that in Florence and rather than the marble cladding it has a finish of red brick work and local Burmantoft tiles. Inside this tower, which was in fact a chimney, was fitted with filters to remove harmful metal filings from the emissions.
The third tower looks plain by comparison but is believed to be based on one of the towers of St Gimignano in Tuscany.
Matthew Murray had begun his career as an apprentice blacksmith and millwright. Seeking better opportunities in Leeds he walked from Stockton on Tees in 1788 leaving his wife behind until he had enough money to send for her and carrying just a small bag, his tools and barely enough money for his accommodation. He picked up work with flax mill owner John Marshall and revolutionised the machinery used in flax working. He subsequently started up in business with James Fenton, David Wood, and William Lister, making machinery in rented buildings in Mill Green, moving to his own purpose built works on Water Lane just a year later. The complex became famous for the building known as the Rotunda, a round ‘fitting up shop’ building meant to be reminiscent of a steam engine cylinder, this lead to the complex being known as the Round Foundry. Matthew Murray also had a house adjacent to the works which was heated by steam from the machinery in his works, this is believed to be the first central heating system to use steam filled radiators. This lead to his home getting the nickname "Steam Hall." In 1803 Murray entertained Mr Murdock of pioneering Birmingham steam engineers Boulton and Watt here, though Matthew Murray was not allowed in to their Soho Works when he later visited.
Steam Hall was also the scene of a visit of a mob of Luddites who were looking to put a stop to the work being carried out in the works. With Matthew Murray away his wife was alone in the house and ended up getting them to disperse by firing a pistol in to the crowd, they didn’t return again.
Matthew Murray made a number of improvements on steam engine designs of the time, often being accused by James Watt of plagiarism. The rivalry between the Leeds and Birmingham firms was particularly bitter. Concerned about the developments going on at Water Lane, James Watt sent his son to the area. A piece of land next to the work was anonymously purchased allowing a spot of industrial espionage and at the same time restricting expansion to Murray’s works. The works did expand within the site it occupied, Matthew Murray moved to a new house called Holbeck Lodge in 1813, this building ended up being in the centre of the triangle of railway lines in Holbeck, though it was demolished some years ago.
The works is most famous for the four Middleton Railway engines produced from 1812 to an order for John Blenkinsop who rebuilt the 1758 built Middleton Railway as a steam powered rack railway. These engines were the first commercially successful industrial locomotives. They featuring improvements on previous engines such as the use of rack wheels to allowed them to haul heavy coal trains, and the two cylinder design which eliminated the need for a flywheel and made the engines much lighter. The works also built a steam ship a year previously by fitting a steam engine to a boat that had been captured from the French. After testing on the Leeds Liverpool Canal it steamed to Great Yarmouth where it was used as a passenger ferry. The works also produced a great deal of mill machinery and improved on previous designs of stationary mill steam engines.
After the death of Matthew Murray in 1826 the firm continued, then under the name Murray, Fenton & Jackson, until 1843. They turned their attention back to steam locomotives for a time, producing engines for a number of the early railways including a number of the GWR’s Firefly class. When the business closed the works was taken over by Smith, Beacock and Tannett who produced machine tools, the works was renamed Victoria Works, though was still known to locals as the Round Foundry. Sadly though the Rotunda burned down in 1875.
From the city centre direction the first building of the works we see is on the corner of David Street and Water Lane. Shown in the picture above, this building was constructed after Murray’s firm had closed and the works belonged to Smith, Beacock and Tannett.
The earliest parts of the building are the assortment of buildings just beyond this and the buildings along Foundry Lane.
Map of Matthew Murray's works in 1841
Picture of Murray’s works from the rear.
Recent excavation as part of the Round Foundry development work revealed the foundations of another part of the works that had long been demolished, a former 'fitting up shop'
Unearthed foundations of a demolished part of the works seen in January 2007.
At the back of the works site the perimeter wall of the Rotunda from which the Round Foundry got its name was excavated some years ago and the perimeter is now marked out in the paving.
Foundry Lane has been refurbished recently, much of the buildings here are original, though rebuilt several times over the years. Off Foundry Lane parts of the complex such as the Saw Mill have also been refurbished. With its prime location close to the city centre the area is being put to use as offices, bars and restaurants. The redevelopment work has been sensitive to the historic value of the site with old buildings refurbished and several plaques fitted giving visitors details of the history of the site.
The layout of the site is very different to that of later engine building works. This site brought together a number of seperate trades for the first time, though each trade had its own part of the complex so for example we see the courtyard around which woodworking took place and the small buildings in which the foundry work took place instead of the vast factory floors we'd see in later works.
Alongside the Round Foundry complex on Water Lane stands a number of surviving examples of the group of mill buildings that once belonged to John Marshall. The works of Murray, Fenton and Wood had been built alongside the flax mills of John Marshall due to the close relationship of the two firms. John Marshall was the son of a draper from Briggate and set up his first water powered flax-spinning mill in Adel. Having seen improvements in the mechanisation of the cotton spinning industry he was keen to see similar improvements applied to flax spinning. He moved from Adel to Holbeck in 1790, the first mill used a waterwheel to power the machinery. The water supply to the wheel was pumped in using a Thomas Savery design steam engine, its basic design being nearly a century old. Just three years later this system was replaced by a Boulton & Watt steam engine of 28hp capable of working 900 spindles. Matthew Murray soon set to work improving on this engine and from 1790 onwards he took out a number of patents for machinery brought in to use at Marshall's Mill.
At one point the complex was one of the worlds largest factories with around 7000 steam powered spindles in use. The first mill was between Globe Road and Water Lane and was demolished some years ago, the complex of mills was gradually extended back further from the canal. The earliest surviving building is the 1806 built mill on the corner of Water Lane and Marshall Street (Picture). Behind this is a large courtyard and car park where an 1817 mill building previously stood, and behind this the largest surviving mill building is the 1826-1830 Marshall’s Mill complex, now converted to offices. The scale of this building is quite remarkable
Along the bottom of the brick building are a row of inverted arches, these are not for decoration but to even the load of the five story brick building on its foundations. Beyond the size of the building, it is a fairly plain structure, though typical of the mill buildings that were built across the north of England.
Beyond the brick mill buildings is Temple Mill, one of the most interesting mill buildings around and Grade 1 listed.
Temple Mill was built between 1838 and 1843 as a further development of the John Marshall works complex, the mill itself is a single story building that covers two acres, the office block on Marshall Street has a façade based on an Egyptian temple design. This building was designed by Joseph Bonomi who was not an architect by trade but spent 1824 – 34 in Egypt making drawings of temples and pyramids. The façade of the mill offices are largely based on the Pronaos, the part leading to the sanctuary, of the Great Ptolemaic Temple of Horus in Edfu, built between 257 and 237 BC.
The mill is quite an unusual design too, the large flat roofed complex had a large open layout, once the largest single room in the world. Plenty of light was provided by the 65 conical glass domes on the roof, the roof was covered by plaster, tar, earth and grass. This may sound similar to some modern concepts for eco houses, the reason for this turfed roof being that it provides effective heat insulation. It is believed that sheep were allowed to graze on the roof of the building and it has often been said that a sheep once fell off the roof, though accounts from the time of this have not been found. Inside the roof is supported by cast iron columns, featuring the papyrus design to match those of the office façade. Temperature and humidity were controlled using a forced air heating system and a series of channels under the floor from which water was evaporated, the humid conditions were essential while handling flax.
Sadly one of the columns of the front of the building and a section of roof recently collapsed. Though this casts a shadow over the future of the building hopefully with its Grade 1 listed status and historical importance the building will be saved.
This covers the most important sites of the Holbeck area so it may be a good time to return to Water Lane and either to the city centre or on to one of the other walks listed. On the other hand there are a few more interesting sites in the Holbeck area if you are interested.
Continuing away from Leeds on Water Lane we soon come to another old mill building.
Tucked away in a corner of the railway viaduct and accessed through a bridge under the railway this mill buildings dates from 1793, making it the oldest surviving mill in the area. Originally a flax mill it soon became used by a manufacturer of mill machinery supplying many of the new mechanised mills of the area. It survived in this role until the 1981s and has since seen a number of other industrial related uses.
A dominant feature of much of Holbeck is the massive railway viaduct that seems to weave its way through the old buildings. Completed in 1882 this was another part of the expansion in Leeds railways that saw the construction of the 'New' station and Dark Arches. The viaduct in 1500 yards long and has 85 arches as well as 6 metal bridges. An interesting feature is the old public footpath that runs from Bridge Lane to Marshall Lane, at one point this path is crossed by the Midland Railway line to Sheffield and the viaduct at the same point, what must have been an interesting problem for the engineers.
At present this building is looking a bit derelict, untouched for many years so far this building has not been subject to office or residential development. Much of this mill was built in 1874 as a Flax Mill, with other parts of the mill complex quoted as being parts of an older mill dating from 1927
On the corner of Bridge Street and Nineveh Road stands the former engine repairing shed of Holbeck engine sheds, once the home of many of the mainline express engines that worked out of Leeds. Much of the site today is still used by local trains and track machines. Though the old roundhouses, coaling plant and staff accommodation building are long gone. The repairing shed and the ornate office buildings on Bridge Street remain.
There was a village here going back to medieval times, however during the industrial revolution Holbeck became a densely populated area. Hundreds of back to back houses were constructed in the late 1800s, many of them still surviving, though seemingly under constant threat of redevelopment. Schemes in the past have seen back to back houses replaced with more modern council housing and with a number of tower blocks.
Along with cheap housing for the local workers and their families a number of amenities such as a park, pubs, schools and a library were provided
Across the railway bridge on the corner of Nineveh Road and Marshall Street stands the ornate brick building of Holbeck Public Library. Built in 1901 to a design of William Bakewell, this building also makes use of the Burmantoft glazed terracotta tiling. (Picture)
On the corner of Marshall Street and Sweet Street West, it was in this pub that the train drivers' ASLEF trade union was founded. A blue plaque has been fitted to the building to note the pub's historical significance.
Going up Stocks Hill and St Matthew’s street a cast iron obelisk can be seen, this is the monument of the Murray family tomb. The cast iron obelisk was produced by workers from his works as a tribute to their manager.
St Matthew’s church is now a community centre. It was built between 1829 and 1832 to a design by R.D.Chantrell, architect of Leeds Parish Church, the spire was added in 1860
Now Holbeck Mills Carpet Warehouse this brick building features a grand Renaissance style façade. Despite its change of use the interior of the former chapel is well preserved.
Returning back to Victoria bridge, from there it is then a short walk back in to the town, or to Kidacre Street, once the city centre terminus of the Middleton Railway
The Middleton Railway was the first railway to be authorised by act of Parliament in 1758. The purpose of the line was to bring coal from the collieries in Middleton to the city centre where the coal could either be sold or shipped on using the River Aire. Originally the railway ran to Cassons Close, slightly closer to the River, though the narrow twisting route at this point proved unsuitable for the longer trains that were to run when steam locomotives began to opperate the line. The line was cut back to a new staith on Kidacre Street which remained in use until 1947. Kidacre Street survives to this day and the coal staith was along the west side of the road, land now occupied by modern office developments.
The line crossed Holmes Street on a very low bridge, 7'6'', needless to say this was demolished very soon after Kidacre Street staith had closed! Here the course of the line disappears in to the gas works. The course of the line has survived as it is now used by a pipeline, this can be seen as you follow Kidacre street round the edge of the gas works. By looking as a satellite image from Google maps the course of the railway can be seen along the western edge of the gas works.
Satellite image showing the trackbed through the gas works. Where Parkfield Street meets Jack Lane and Dewsbury Road the railway used to cross through this junction at an angle, where it emerged between the buildings can still be seen, the building that was once on the west side of the line having a curved wall where it once followed the curve of the railway line.(Picture) This site was Leeds Pottery and it was at this site that an attack took place by Luddites on 31st December 1812, stone and iron was placed on the line causing damage to a train.
Jack Lane was once at the heart of the engine building area of Hunslet so it is worth stopping off here to explore the former engine building sites
Across the road from the Pottery site is a billboard, this is where the railway once crossed the Midland Railway line on a large girder bridge. For a while the Middleton Railway ran alongside the Midland Railway on a higher level, the formation exists still but it is not possible to walk along it here, instead the nearest walking route is New Craven Gate, turning left after crossing the railway line on Dewsbury Road. As you walk along New Craven Gate look towards the back of some of the industrial units where there are gaps between the buildings, the row of trees at the back is where the railway ran, the old cast iron railings that fenced off much of the line can be seen in places.
At the end of New Craven Gate there is a footpath that leads to the current terminus of the Middleton Railway. The railway itself ran alongside on what is now the road running parallel to the motorway upto the Tunstall Road roundabout. Where Hillidge Road crosses the railway was once the site of Hunslet Station on the Midland Line, here the Middleton Railway diverged from the Midland line to the south and there was a staith here known as Whittaker's staith.
The path continues through a subway under the roundabout and emerges at the Moor Road terminus of the present day Middleton Railway.
It is worth alighting from the train at the Park Halt to visit Middleton Park. The park was once dotted with small coal workings dating back to the 1500s, several mounds and dips in the ground can be seen where these early pits once were. The park is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument owing to its mining remains. Different types of mine workings can be found, some of the earliest pits were the very basic Bell Pits where a shaft was dug down to the coal seam and the coal was dug out around the bottom of the shaft. Later more elaborate pits made use of various designs of gins where horses would haul the coal up the shafts. There is also at least one pit in the park that would have used a steam engine at the pit head
A number of wagonways ran through what is now the park, it is estimated that there are about 2.5km of old wagonways in the park. These are easily recognisable as earthworks were carried out to achieve a fairly constant gradient, this allowed wagon loads of coal to descend by gravity to the railway at the bottom of the hill, horses would then bring the wagons back up the hill
Remains of 'Bell Pit' workings
Replica of a horse gin in the Beamish Open Air Museum
One of the former wagonways through Middleton Woods
The Middleton Railway continued from its present Park Halt terminus, which stands on the site of the last surviving colliery, known as Broom Pit. After a section of rope worked incline, the line reached Middleton Town Street, though no further traces of the line can be found as the area became a large landfill site after the closure of the collieries.
Google Maps satellite maps of Hunslet
Shepheard & Todd, Kitson and Co, John Fowler, J&H McLaren, Hudswell Clarke, Manning Wardle, Hunslet Engine Co and E.B.Wilson are names which many who are interested in steam engines will recognise at least a few of. These companies all operated next door or across the road from each other making Hunslet very much a neighbourhood of engine builders. To understand why this happened we need to look at a little of the history of these companies, and ideally to look at the area itself to try and get an idea of how it might have been years ago when the whole area was a mass of engineering companies.
In 1837 Charles Todd left Fenton, Murray & Jackson's of Holbeck to establish a new firm with James Kitson and financial backer David Laird.
The first engine works was established in old mill buildings on Pearson Street leased from John Fretwell. The reason the firm was established here was largely due to family connections. John Fretwell had a great niece called Ann who was married to James Kitson and a niece called Isabelle who was married to Charles Todd.
The firm built 6 locos for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, of which Lion still survives in Manchester’s Museum of Science.
Legend has it that when the first engine was built it was too big to get it out of the mill’s doorways and a hole had to be knocked in the wall.
The Todd Kitson & Laird partnership was short lived and in late 1939 Kitson & Laird formed the Airedale Foundry on the north side of Pearson street while Todd teamed up with John Shepheard to form Shepheard & Todd’s Railway Foundry on the south side of the street.
The Kitson & Laird partnership didn’t last much longer and in 1842 Laird left and James Kitson formed a new partnership with Isaac Thompson, and William Watson Hewitson to form Kitson, Thompson and Hewitson. The company just became known as Kitson & Co in 1863 following the death of Hewitson and with Thompson having retired in 1858.
Kitsons produced around 4500 locomotives in the Airedale Foundry until 1938. The site was then acquired by J&H McLaren who had previously built traction engines in the nearby Midland Engine Works and were at the time building the increasingly popular diesel engines. Many of the diesel engines made by McLarens were fitted to locomotives including a number of those built by local firms. Renamed the Airedale Works the site produced diesel engines until 1959 when J&H McLaren’s then parent company Hawker Sidley closed the outdated factory in a streamlining exercise.
One part of the McLaren operation involved in specialist welding remained until 1965 as McLaren Fabrications in Kitson’s former M shop and a building known as the California Shop, this was the former V Shop of Kitson’s works. Amongst the fabrication work carried out here were parts for the class 31 diesels being built by Brush, another Hawker Sidley company. Brush survive to this day, the last builder of mainline locomotives in this country. Of the former Kitson works one building survives, the former California Shop of McLarens and V shop of Kitsons. This building can be seen on the corner of Ivory Street and Leathley Road and is now known as California house, though the building has been modified a great deal.
The former Kitson V Shop and McLaren California Shop
To give an idea of the problems associated with having so many engineering companies located in a relatively small area it is worth remembering this story. The Forge at Fowler’s was situated adjacent to McLaren’s M shop in the Airedale Works that had previously been a part of Kitson’s works. Some precision machining took place in the M shop and many pieces of work were ruined as the ground shuddered when Fowler’s used their large drop hammer. To resolve these problems Fowler’s had to phone McLaren’s to warn them when they were going to use the drop hammers.
Another small part of the Kitson works to survive is this stretch of perimeter wall at what is now the back of Costco’s car park. This wall would have had been the edge of a courtyard an Fowler's works and had a row of lean to buildings on the other side in Kitson's works.
Picture of wall at the edge of Kitson’s works
A building built in the 1950s as McLaren’s service department also survives on Kitson Street.
A name that became one of the leading names in steam traction engine production, John Fowler originally worked with other firms to supply such agricultural equipment. In 1860 Kitson, Thompson and Hewitson began producing a number of ploughing engines to Fowler orders. It was this partnership that lead to John Fowler establishing his own works alongside the Airedale Foundry. Fowlers produced huge numbers of traction engines, ploughing equipment and steam locomotives, and went on to produce diesel locomotives until the mid 1960s.
The main part of Fowler’s works has been demolished and the site is now occupied by a Costco store, a plaque in the car park tells visitors of the works that once occupied the site.
Picture of Plaque at site of Fowler's works
One building of the Fowler works does survive. This building can be found between Leathley Street and the Crown Point Retail Park that now occupies what was once the site of the Midland Railway’s Hunslet West goods sheds.
Completed locos would often have been delivered by rail, Fowler had a connection to the Hunslet West goods yard via a wagon turntable. The now bricked up doorway at the rear of this building is where completed locomotives would have emerged from the works complex
Works photo of Fowler diesel shunter 3900002 here in 1945
(This loco is preserved at the Middleton Railway and is currently being cosmetically restored to this condition)
Many of Fowler's official works photos were taken at this location and a number of photos of locomotives and traction engines taken here can be found.
When the modern steel shutters are open on the Leathley Street side of the building the old arched doorways of the building can be seen, also look out for the rails that are still set in to the workshop floors. There are rails to a number of gauges since much of Fowler's locomotive production was for narrow gauge industrial railways.
Picture of the site of the rail access in the building
The Shepherd & Todd partership also didn’t last very long as Todd departed to set up another firm, The Sun Foundry on Dewsbury road. Todd's place at the Railway Foundry was then taken by Edward Brown Wilson.
E. B.Wilson recruited David Joy, another apprentice from Murray, Fenton and Wood. With Joy's skills as designer The Railway Foundry produced successful, fairly standardised designs of engines for many early railways, most notably the famous Jenny Lind class. Their method of producing engines speculatively meant they were able to supply locos quickly, just what was needed as the railways went through their greatest boom of ‘the railway mania’. The old mill buildings had very soon proved inadequate and the Railway Foundry expanded considerably. At one time E.B Wilson’s plant was the largest engine builders in the country. The firm closed in 1858 after a dispute between E.B.Wilson and his stockholders resulted in chancery action. Plans to sell off the whole site failed and in the end the site was split up in to smaller lots and sold off separately, this lead to a number of separate companies building locos in and around E.B Wilson’s site. Hunslet became a neighbourhood of engine builders and a scene of sometimes bitter and sometimes friendly competition. The map below shows the area in 1906
Compare this map with more recent ariel photography from Google Maps
The first Railway Foundry works which can be seen in the centre of the map, the quadrangle as it became known, survived as stores for many years after it had been superseded by newer buildings, though it was in a very dilapidated state. All that remains to this day is an archway on Pearson Street through which locomotives would have emerged from the old Railway Foundry.
Jack Lane was once the address of four engine building companies, today two of their head offices still survive. Walking along Jack Lane from the Leeds the first one we come to is the former office of Manning Wardle. Also still in evidence is the gateway to the former works with the cast iron gateposts bearing the inscription "BOYNE ENGINE WORKS", though nothing survives of the works themselves.
Manning Wardle were the first company to emerge in the wake of E. B.Wilson’s and their early engines were practically identical to E. B.Wilson products. People within E. B.Wilson’s, including manager Alexander Campbell had established the new works alongside the Railway Foundry. On the collapse of E. B.Wilson’s Manning Wardle purchased the intellectual property and took on their good will.
When Manning Wardle ceased production in the 1920s the goodwill transferred to Kitson, though this arrangement was short lived with Kitson themselves not surviving much longer. The Manning Wardle works site saw a number of industrial uses as well as making arms in the war.
Next to Manning Wardle's Offices on Jack Lane we see the grand building that was once the head offices of the Hunslet Engine Company. This building is listed so hopefully should survive for many years to come. A blue plaque on the front of the building acknowledges its role in local history.
The date above the door of the Hunslet office is misleading, 1864 being the year Hunslet began production, this office was built in 1882.
When the Hunslet Engine Company was set up next door in a plot from the old Railway Foundry you would think there would be great rivalry. Hunslet Engine Company was set up by John Leathley, of a family with coal mining interests in the area. They already used E.B.Wilson engines on the Waterloo Colliery railway. When Hunslet built their first engines there was more than a passing resemblance to the E.B Wilson designed engines now being constructed next door at Manning Wardle's, in fact Manning Wardle were good enough to lend them wheel patterns. The person put in charge of the Hunslet Engine operation was in fact the eldest son of Manning Wardle’s director. It had been intended to keep the business in the Leathley family but there were clearly advantages to employing someone from an engine building background.
The Hunslet works was altered many times over the years. Looking left on to Grape Street we see a massive building, this was the final assembly shop of Hunslet’s. The factory was expanded and modernised for an order of commuter trains built here in the 90s. A number of problems with these units combined with the disappearance of one of the biggest customers, Britain’s mining industry, were to see the end of train building here and the works has since been modernised again, this time for use making electrical components. The original erecting shop would have been situated immediately behind the 1990s erecting shop. Any surviving parts of the early factory buildings here were lost when the site was rebuilt after loco building had finished.
The level crossings from the 1990s are still set in to Jack Lane. From the beginning of loco production here the locomotives would usually have been despatched by rail, often travelling under their own power on the main line. As the main line railways were rationalised it became more difficult to move shunters in this manner and the costs of using rail escalated. For many years Hunslet engines were dispatched by road. In 1984 the rail connection was lifted, having not been used in three years. It became necessary to reinstate the rail link in the 1990s for the contract to build commuter trains.
Hunslet Engine Company were possibly the most successful company in the area, out surviving all the other companies, acquiring Hudswell Clarke's Railway Foundry and also parts of the Manning Wardle’s works. Part of Manning Wardle's works remained with Hunslet right to the end, in use as Hunslet’s final testing shop. Acquiring Andrew Barclay of Kilmarnock at around the same time as they took over Hudswell Clarke in the early 70s (making the most of a decline in the industry at the time) means Hunslet has a family tree that takes in much of Britain’s Industrial loco building industry. In the early 80s they took over Leeds firm Greenwood & Batley of Armley (nothing survives of their old works). Greenbat, as they became known, were a company that specialised in battery locos and electrical equipment.
The name of Hunslet lives on to this day having been bought by LH Group of Burton on Trent. The new company overhauls and builds locos, including some new steam engines to the Hunslet 'quarry engine' design. In 2007 to celebrate the Leeds heritage of the current Hunslet Engine Company their second newly built quarry engine was named Jack Lane. This engine visited the Middleton Railway and a photo shoot was arranged next to the old Hunslet offices.
Hunslet Engine ‘Jack Lane’ outside the former Hunslet head office (photo Andrew Johnson)
Another picture of the Hunslet offices and the level crossings on Jack Lane
On the opposite side of the Jack Lane to Hunslet and Manning Wardle there were two more engine building neighbours, though sadly there is little to be seen of these works.
It is still possible to see where the rail link in to Hunslet’s works ran. To the left were the engine works of Hudswell Clarke where steam and diesel locos were produced. Diesel shunters were in production here until the 1970s when the firm was bought out by Hunslet. Hudswell Clarke made the sensible marketing move of adopting the "Railway Foundry" name previously used by E. B.Wilson. Nothing remains of their works and a modern industrial unit now occupies the site.
To the right of the former rail link were McLaren’s original Midland Engine Works that produced steam traction engines. A blue plaque marks the site of McLaren's Midland Engine Works, mounted on a small pillar made of bricks from the works. (Picture)
After McLaren moved to the former Kitson works Hudswell Clarke took over the Midland Engine Works site. Modern industrial units stand on the site of these works now, though a piece of the walls of McLaren’s works can be seen alongside the trackbed of the line that ran in to Hunslet’s works.
Not far away in Pepper Street were another major manufacturer of steam traction engines and other road vehicles. A blue plaque also marks this works. (picture) Looking at the buildings we see that the offices were at the front of the complex with the works behind, typical of how many of the works were arranged. Where as the other works we have seen have lost their original workshops, this works has survived intact.
One more Leeds engine builder can still be found today, though this one is on the northern edge of the city centre on North Road. The office building of Thomas Green's Smithfield Works still survives. This building was originally the Smithfield Hotel before being converted to the works offices, the works that once stood behind the office building have all been demolished. Note the name T. Green & Sons on the clock tower. The building is fitted with a blue plaque.
Picture of the former Thomas Green Offices
Blue plaque marking Smithfield works
Coal Mining in Middleton Park, Martin Roe, ISBN 9780955947704, Stocked in the Middleton Park Lakeside Visitor Centre, the Middleton Railway shop and Leeds Civic Society shop.
The History of J. & H. McLaren of Leeds: Steam & Diesel Engine Makers, John Pease, ISBN 1-84306-105-8
A History of the Middleton Railway Leeds, ISBN 0-9516205-5-X, Available from the Middleton Railway Shop
The Hunslet Engine Works, D.H. Townsley, ISBN 1-871980-38-0, Out of print.
John Blenkinsop of Middleton, John Bushell, Old Middleton Railway publication still available from the shop
The Leeds & Liverpool Canal, ISBN 1-85936-013-0
Old Ordinance Survey Maps, Holbeck & New Wortley 1906, ISBN 0-85054-111-5, Available in most local books shops
Old Ordinance Survey Maps, South Leeds 1906, ISBN 0-85054-250-2, Available in most local books shops
Robert Hudson Ltd, Alan J Haigh, Published by Alan J Haigh, 2 Foster Close, Morley, Leeds, LS279NH
Victorian Society Walks No6, Leeds – 3 suburban walks, from 1987, copies can be found in the Leeds Civic Society shop
History section of the Holbeck Urban Village Site.
steamindex.com: This site features a comprehensive list of loco manufacturers and includes greater detail about the history of the local firms
The current Hunslet Engine Company website
Picture Gallery from the author of this page.
If you have any comments or questions about this page please e-mail Kris Ward (Please replace [AT] and [DOT] with @ and dots before sending e-mail)
