Description and History of Site:-
The site is currently (2019) in the process of complete clearance pending residential development. On corner of Kirkstall Road, forty yards from the River Aire, to the north of Burley Vale Dyeworks. Built 1890 by William Beckworth, formerly managing partner at Joppa Tannery. The land area was 7,020 sq. yards. By 1909 the premises were valued at £17,321, which included a 100 h.p. horizontal steam engine, and the main building of three storeys. Beckworth went bankrupt in 1915, having become a limited liability company only in 1914. The works were sold for £43,000. (Ward).

From the West Yorkshire Historic Environment Record (WYHER/6198) "When the site was inspected by Helen Gomersal (WYAAS) in the mid 1990s it was noted that the majority of the tannery buildings had been demolished, and only a main multi storey block survived. This surviving building comprises of three storeys, with a full basement, and is twenty seven bays in length. The structure has a gritstone façade on a superstructure of brick. There is a central line of cast iron columns on the ground and first floors and a central line of brick piers in the basement. There is no indication of powered working in the building, which housed the offices, sample rooms and currying department of the tannery (Gomersal 1996)."

The last industrial use for the site was by ThyssenKrupp Woodhead, to manufacture automotive coil springs (from 1999). The site was seriously flooded in December 2015 after which the factory closed.

An aerial view showing the Woodhead Spring and Axle Works. The buildings along the right-hand edge of the site are those which originally formed part of the tannery:- https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW057177

Further Reading and References:-
Ward M F, Industrial development and Location in Leeds North of the River Aire, 1775 to 1914. Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD, Department of Geography, University of Leeds, September 1972
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-36167675
https://www.catalogue.wyjs.org.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=HER%2f25%2f55&pos=1

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Key Words :- tannery

Viewing the Site :- Site only

Address :- Kirkstall Road / Viaduct Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS4 2AP
Grid Ref :- SE 28015 34194
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.803295 , Long -1.576109
Local Authority :- Leeds Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Site demolished or no longer extant
Site Condition :- Site derelict - some buildings remaining
Site Dates :- 1890 - 2016
Record Date :- 14 December 2017

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