Halton Moor

Halton Moor is a district of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, about three miles east of Leeds city centre close to the A63. It is situated between Killingbeck to the north, Temple Newsam to the south, Osmondthorpe to the west and Halton and Colton to the east.

Halton Moor

The Halton Moor public house
Halton Moor
Halton Moor
Location within West Yorkshire
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLEEDS
Postcode districtLS15 & LS9
Dialling code0113
PoliceWest Yorkshire
FireWest Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament

The area falls into the Temple Newsam ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds East parliamentary constituency.

The area is mainly a council housing estate with approximately 1000 homes, made up of semi-detached houses, with some detached sand terraced houses and some high rise blocks of flats. Halton Moor lies entirely within the LS15 postcode, with Wyke Beck forming its western boundary.

In 2018, the Halton Moor Public House was demolished and will be replaced by a housing development. Many housing developments are currently being constructed in and around the estate.

History

Before the 20th century, Halton Moor was open land between Osmondthorpe and the older village of Halton which was constructed in the late 19th century. Halton Moor Estate was built in the 1930s, one of several low-density housing estates in Leeds built to accommodate the growing population and to house people moved from the areas of high-density housing destroyed in the inner-city slum clearances.[1]

Housing is red brick terraced and semi-detached housing typical of council housing of its era. Later in the twentieth century a high-rise block of flats was constructed to the south of the estate and stands in contrast to the low-density 1930s council housing that makes up the rest of the estate.

Through the 1980s and 1990s, the estate suffered a period of decline. Although it benefited from estate action funding from 1989, by 2000 the decline was so marked that a committee of MPs recommended the estate for demolition and reconstruction.[2] However, following substantial intervention both through renovation of the housing stock and selective demolition of harder to let properties, the estate is now seen as having good scope for continuing regeneration.[3]

Geography and demographics
Halton Moor Avenue with housing typical of the estate.

Halton Moor was built as a low density garden suburb, one of several constructed in Leeds in the 1930s and 1940s.[4] It is set on the side of a hill overlooking East End Park and Leeds City Centre. The western boundary of Halton Moor is marked by Wyke Beck, a tributary of the River Aire which rises in Roundhay Park and discharges into the River Aire at Rothwell.[5]

The estate is laid out around Coronation Parade, a central boulevard running east to west. Several roads running broadly north to south following the contours of the hillside, while at the centre of the estate is a relatively large open greenspace. Subsequently, substantial traffic calming measures including the installation of speed cushions and bumps, chicanes and selective road closures have been introduced to reduce the level of joyriding.[2] To the north of the Halton Moor Estate but forming part of Halton Moor is the Sutton Park Estate, an older housing estate built by the William Sutton Housing Trust and now part of the Affinity Sutton housing association. In 2011, construction of 54 new homes including a number built to the German 'passivhaus' standard for low energy development was completed.[6]

Halton Moor combined with the Wykebecks in Osmondthorpe has a population of around 6,233 people.[7] 5.43% of the population is from a BME background, around half the proportion for Leeds as a whole. The area has higher than average levels of benefit claimants and worklessness, though it compares favourably to Leeds as a whole for indicators around quality of housing and environment, and community safety.[7]

Lakeland Court

Regeneration

The estate was granted Estate Action funding in 1989, which ran into the 2000s. In 2000, the estate was visited by a Parliamentary committee who identified problem with high unemployment, low demand for housing on the estate, high rates of crime; particularly joy riding and arson and low take up of resident property purchases under the right-to-buy scheme (at the time around 3-5 percent of properties had been bought). The committee noted that previous regeneration programmes on the estate had failed and that social problems and dilapidation persisted. Traffic calming measures were introduced around this time to mitigate problems associated with joy riding. The estate's three tower blocks; each containing 60 flats were rationalised due to low demand. Two of these blocks were demolished in the early 2000s and the third; Lakeland Court was refurbished at a cost of £3 million. Residents in the two demolished blocks were rehoused in Lakeland Court and other vacant properties on the estate.[8]

Amenities

The estate has relatively few amenities compared to other 1930s estates in the city such as Belle Isle and Middleton. There was a pub; the Halton Moor but this has been closed several years; there is also a convenience store on the estate. To the edge of the estate there are churches and schools. Besides this all local amenities are on Selby Road in Halton.

Religious sites
Corpus Christi Catholic Church

The whole of the Halton Moor is within the Anglican parish of St Wilfrid, Halton, which is a grade II* listed church built in 1939 at a cost of £11,700 and designed by A. Randall Wells.[9] The church is in the Arts and Crafts style and still has many of the original fittings designed by Wells as well as contemporary art by Eric Gill.[10]

On the Halton Moor estate, the Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church opened in 1962. Until 2008, the church was not part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds, but was under the jurisdiction of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a French Roman Catholic order.[11][12] Corpus Christi has primary and secondary schools operated by the Diocese of Leeds associated with it.

Governance

Halton Moor is within the Temple Newsam Ward of Leeds City Council. Following the council elections of 2018 the ward is represented by three Labour councillors.

The estate is in the Leeds East parliamentary constituency and is represented by Labour MP Richard Burgon.

Notable people

The entrepreneur and philanthropist Jimi Heselden was born and brought up in Halton Moor.[13]

The author and playwright Keith Waterhouse moved to Halton Moor from Hunslet,[13] and attended Osmondthorpe School.[14]

Simon Clifford, the football coach and owner of Garforth Town A.F.C., taught for several years at Corpus Christi Catholic Primary school in Halton Moor.[15]

The former Wales international footballer Aubrey Powell, who also played for Leeds United, Everton and Birmingham City lived for many years in Halton Moor following his retirement from football.[16]

Actress Liz Dawn, known for portraying Vera Duckworth in Coronation Street (as a regular from 1976-2008) grew up on the estate.

In the media

Due to its decline in the 1980s and 1990s, Halton Moor has been the focus of media attention, of which much was negative. In 2008 this culminated in the area being the subject of the television series CCTV Cities in which journalist Donal MacIntyre focused on crime and delinquency, showing arson on Bonfire Night (during which police were attacked with fireworks), car theft and joyriding.[17][18]

Before the United Kingdom general elections of 2001 and 2005, author and journalist Sue Townsend reported for The Observer, looking at the impact of a Labour Government on some of the most deprived areas in Leeds. The second visit identified improvements to the estate brought about by regeneration.[19][20]

The TV films Tina Goes Shopping and Tina Takes a Break, the first parts of a trilogy including Mischief Night directed by Penny Woolcock were partly filmed on Halton Moor[21] using several actors from the area,[22] some of whom subsequently fell foul of the law in real life for activities depicted in the films.[23]

The area received extensive media coverage in April 2014, after a teacher was fatally stabbed by a pupil at Corpus Christi Catholic College in an isolated event.[24]

Location grid
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References
  1. "The working classes". Discovering Leeds. Leeds City Council. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  2. "Proposed Urban White Paper". Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Eleventh Report. House of Commons. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  3. Jones, Huw; Brown, Charlotte. "Halton Moor Housing Market Assessmen" (PDF). re'new.
  4. "Discovering Leeds Poverty and Riches The Working Classes". Leeds City Council. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  5. "From Roundhay to Rothwell The Wyke Beck Way" (PDF). The Wyke Beck Way Community Forum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  6. ""Passivhaus" Pilot Project, Leeds". Ainsley Gommon Architects Ltd. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  7. "E02002401: Halton Moor, Wykebecks" (PDF). Leeds City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  8. "House of Commons - Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs - Eleventh Report". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  9. Historic England. "Church of St Wilfrid (1256092)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  10. "Our history and architecture - Halton: St Wilfrid - A Church Near You". www.achurchnearyou.com. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  11. Minnis, John. "A survey and gazetteer of places of worship 1900-2005" (PDF). Religion in Leeds. English Heritage. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  12. "Together in Hope". Diocese of Leeds. 28 August 2008. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  13. Wainwright, Martin (30 September 2010). "Jimi Heselden Obituary". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  14. "Keith Waterhouse Obituary". The Daily Telegraph. London. 4 September 2009. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  15. "If soccer were a different ball game". Times Educational Supplement. Archived from the original on 6 May 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  16. "Former Leeds United star dies". Yorkshire Evening Post. 30 January 2009. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  17. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. Dowell, Ben (31 March 2008). "MacIntyre to focus on CCTV for Channel Five". The Guardian. London.
  19. Townsend, Sue (20 May 2001). "'Shurrup! Who's the MP for round here?' The people's verdict on four years under a Labour government". The Observer. London. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  20. Townsend, Sue (24 April 2005). "My Heartlands". The Observer. London. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  21. "1 Day: A Film by Penny Woolcock" (PDF). Blast Films. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  22. Woolcock, Penny (28 April 2004). "Stories from the Margins" (PDF). Foreman Lecture. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  23. Robinson, Paul (24 June 2002). "TV joyrider in real life reign of terror". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  24. "Teacher stabbed to death at Leeds school". BBC News. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
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