Stoney Rock.

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Tue 05 Mar, 2013 8:48 pm

I wonder if anyone knows why the Stoney Rock area of Leeds is so called? Noticing a via "Stoney Rock" on a bus destination it got me wondering. It may simply be that it was once a stoney area or a rocky area (quarry?) but why Stoney Rock? I've tried a search on SL and Google but have not been able to readily find out.

blackprince · Post by **blackprince** » Tue 05 Mar, 2013 9:28 pm

Leodian wrote: I wonder if anyone knows why the Stoney Rock area of Leeds is so called? Noticing a via "Stoney Rock" on a bus destination it got me wondering. It may simply be that it was once a stoney area or a rocky area (quarry?) but why Stoney Rock? I've tried a search on SL and Google but have not been able to readily find out. Hi , I found this comment on a photo in Leodis "Stoney Rock Lane was an ancient trackway along the line of Stoney Rock Beck".As a youngster I must have travelled along Stoney Rock lane hundreds of times on the tram & bus into Leeds from Compton Rd but never thought about the origin of the name.

Phill_dvsn · Post by **Phill_dvsn** » Tue 05 Mar, 2013 9:32 pm

I would have thought it was a reference to the type of land in the area at that time being around Burmantofts pottery. The pottery started in 1859 when fireclay was found in the pit workings in the area. Also in the area was the York Road Iron Works seen below.Leeds from Nowell Mount Park.View from the old spoil heaps of the nineteenth century York Road Colliery and the later Iron WorksI can only guess it was a reference to the scarred landscape at the time??

Linky Oik · Post by **Linky Oik** » Tue 05 Mar, 2013 10:21 pm

Leodian wrote: I wonder if anyone knows why the Stoney Rock area of Leeds is so called? Noticing a via "Stoney Rock" on a bus destination it got me wondering. It may simply be that it was once a stoney area or a rocky area (quarry?) but why Stoney Rock? I've tried a search on SL and Google but have not been able to readily find out. 19th century sources refer to "Rock Colliery" being situated in the area (established in 1842 from memory). Similar sources refer to quarrying and naming the general area as "Stoney Rock in Burmantofts". I haven't seen any specific research on the origin of the name but the quarrying and mining connection seems firm.Here's some speculation on my part...The psalms contain a mention of the term "stoney rock" concerning the abundance of Palestine, where honey can be recovered from bee hives hidden in the rocks. Could some pre-19th century clergyman, observing the raw countryside, strewn with rocky outcrops and buzzing with bees have recognised similar abudance on the borders of Leeds?Ah, I'm just a romantic. Maybe someone just tripped over a boulder and the name was coined in a torrent of swearing.

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Tue 05 Mar, 2013 10:27 pm

Thanks all for your replies, which are appreciated.Your "Maybe someone just tripped over a boulder and the name was coined in a torrent of swearing" made me Linky Oik.