SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Hi Folks!No doubt this has been mentioned on here before, but what is this strange tower by the northside of Crown Point Bridge all about? Its the narrow brick built structure with a spiral staircase that leads up to a window and is topped by ornate iron railings all around? The entrance is closed off by a gate I believe but its been a while since I last was there and there has been a lot of development down there since. I think its right at the bottom of the calls. I found the following description on the british listed buildings website:'...a tower reputed to contain a spiral stair and withan ornate iron railing to viewing platform, possibly a formerchimney flue, against the Crown Point block. INTERIOR: not inspected.'Someone told me that it was built by someone so they could spy on their neighbour, but I have heard the same story said about that Wainhouse Tower on the outskirts of Halifax. I wasnt able to find anything else on t'internet about it, any ideas?Johnny            

jonleeds wrote: Hi Folks!No doubt this has been mentioned on here before, but what is that tower by the northside of Crown Point Bridge all about? Its the narrow brick built structure with a spiral staircase that leads up to a window and is topped by iron railings all about? The entrance is closed off by a gate I believe but its been a while since I last was there and there has been a lot of development down there since. I think its right at the bottom of the calls. I found the following description on the british listed buildings website:'...a tower reputed to contain a spiral stair and withan ornate iron railing to viewing platform, possibly a formerchimney flue, against the Crown Point block. INTERIOR: not inspected.'Someone told me that it was built by someone so they could spy on their neighbour, but I have heard the same story said about that Wainhouse Tower on the outskirts of Halifax. I wasnt able to find anything else on t'internet about it, any ideas?Johnny I'm pretty sure it was a chimney that was just converted into a folly when it became oh so groovy to build flats there. You have to go through the Chandlers to get to it.. or along the tow path.. pardon me, water front..

Looks like a firewatch tower to me. You can just see it on Google earth between Crown Pont Road and the Chandlers.These were constructed over industrial and warehouse areas to house fire wardens with an excellent view of the whole area to see a fire early in its life before it was able to spread. I understand the idea was to summon help with a bell, whistles or bugles and direct the fire fighters to the incipient blaze. I think there are similar structures at the Tower Works in Holbeck.Must have been marvellous on a warm summer night watching the rosy fingers of dawn reach into the sky, but in a stiff Yorkshire blizzard...

Taxiarch wrote: Looks like a firewatch tower to me. You can just see it on Google earth between Crown Pont Road and the Chandlers.These were constructed over industrial and warehouse areas to house fire wardens with an excellent view of the whole area to see a fire early in its life before it was able to spread. I understand the idea was to summon help with a bell, whistles or bugles and direct the fire fighters to the incipient blaze. I think there are similar structures at the Tower Works in Holbeck. I have also always understood that it was a fire watch tower and, if you looked across the old large "Parish Church Roundabout" there existed behind the Lloyds Arms, under the railway viaduct, a very big complex of tenement type flats which I believe were built as Firemen's "tied" dwellings.

Hmm, could be, but surely there would be similar structures in other places and this is the first of its kind I have ever seen. It wasnt as Nosirrah suggested turned into a folly when they started converting the old waterside mills into posh 'loft' apartments as its stood there for a lot longer than the waterfront property boom. As I mentioned I havent been there in a while, but I think there might be a plaque at the bottom where the doorway is that gives some details about it, and I'm not sure if its an iron gate that you can see through and up the spiral staircase. I'm gonna go have a look this week when I am in town, and its an excuse to go have a drink in The Palace as the tower in question is right behind!

Having had a look on Leodis it seems it had windows in 1907... So it could have been a chimney built by a window lover...Honest.Incidentally in 1897 a Tramways power station was built very close to where that tower is, lending credibility to the fire watch tower suggestion..But they're wrong, it was a chimney, with windows, curtains.... and a pelmet.

Heh heh! I think you might be right Nosirrah! I cant remember if there is just one or a few windows in it but they are definetely glazed. God I wonder when the last time anyone went up there was? Probably the key to the gate at the bottom has been lost long ago, its most likely a health and safety nightmare and doubtful that whoever owns it would allow people to go tramping up it to have a gander... I'd love to know who it belongs to, it would be a great little city centre bolt-hole, especially with its proximity to The Palace! Imagine coming out of there after 12 pints of Landlord and having to climb 200 stairs that ascend in a very tight spiral.... yikes, I'm feeling dizzy thinking about it! You'd most likely get to the top and not be able to stop so you'd topple straight through the window and with a bit of luck plummet into the Aire below where you might get swept downstream only to be fished out in Goole the next day.... something to think about eh?

Johnny - I've moved the text from your other posting into here, they are one and the same very fascination subject. When a topic becomes fragmented between threads much can be missed by readers and things become messy and confusing; I'm sure you will agree it is better to keep bits all together - waiting for the next enlightening snippet on this one I knocked up this collage of pictures of the tower from various pictures I found online. The following text I found on several websites including Flickr, it details a bit about the man and his building - but sadly no mention of the tower which is a bit unusual as it seems to be quite a unique structure. I mean there is an ornate bit of ironwork on the top, several glazed windows - and a TV aerial!!! Surely it hasnt been turned into a 'character' waterside luxury apartment? Its only about 10 foot in diameter and I imagine most of that space is occupied by the spiral staircase!"Built in 1876 by William Turton this building was originally known as Turton’s Wharf and Warehouse but is now known as The Chandlers. William Turton had his business as a Corn & Hay Merchant here. In 1987 these buildings were converted to 120 apartments. A mascaron of a horse’s head is situated above the entrance to The Chandlers from the Calls.William Turton was the man who first introduced trams to Leeds. Initially he operated horse-drawn trams not only in Leeds but across Northern England. From 1866 he ran omnibuses in Leeds, becoming a founding director, then chairman, of Leeds Tramways Company 1872-1895.Mr Turton was born in 1825 and established his corn and hay dealership in Leeds when he was 19. He soon expanded his business to include coal and cattle feed, particularly horse corn, hay and straw. In 1866 he went into partnership with Atkinson Brothers running horse-drawn omnibuses in Leeds and took over the firm in the following year. In 1871, a year after the Tramways Act, William Turton was appointed one of the founding directors of The Leeds Tramway Company which, for 25 years ran the first horse-drawn tramway system in England.William Turton's activities went well beyond Leeds. For 30 years he worked with others to introduce and develop horse drawn tramway systems in towns and cities throughout northern England and at the time of his death he was either chairman, deputy chairman or director of several of these undertakings.Some of the trams used by the Leeds Tramways Company were supplied by Thomas Green & Son Ltd of Leeds. In a letter written in 1936 by Mr C.V.Clark of Thomas Green, he explains how the tram locomotives were constructed and transported. “Do you remember me showing you the engine shop down that back street? Well, the engine boiler, motion and wheels were put together on the ground floor. The body of mild steel-plate was completed on the top floor of the building, say 50 feet or more up, Then two large trap-doors were opened, and the job was lowered onto the business end of the affair and it only remained to be bolted to the frames and get steamed up. If Leeds were taking delivery, a lot of flat plates were laid down the street during the night, and by brute force and cuss words the engine was run up under it’s own steam, then slewed round and dropped in the tram-lines.”Horse-drawn trams operated in Leeds until 1900, the year of William Turton’s death, and the Leeds tram system closed in 1959."So if anyone knows anything about this place please contribute, I am dying to have a look around the place if possible. I'm surprised its never been mentioned on here before except by myself the other day.Johnny        

    I bet you could sell tickets to go to the top of it, I know I would pay up to £1 ANYTIME!

Johhny - maybe all the clues as to the towers original purpose is in this one sentence jonleeds wrote: William Turton had his business as a Corn & Hay Merchant here.          After all, if you had a warehouse full of hay and straw etc you would want to be able to spot a developing fire quickly Just a thought