SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

Ludgate Hill is a very short stretch of road that runs off Vicar Lane by Leeds City Markets. It quickly becomes George Street, which at its end then becomes the short Dyer Street. For a relatively short length of road from Vicar Lane to St Peter's Street it intrigues me why the road has 3 names. On some new maps Ludgate Hill is not even named and it is all George Street to Dyer Street, though oddly some maps name a part of the road as Ludgate Hill between George Street and Dyer Street!

I wonder if anyone knows any history about Ludgate Hill, such as was at least George Street once called Ludgate Hill? I've tried the Old Maps UK website but that does not allow enough detail to be freely seen and other sources that I've tried (such as Ordnance Survey) also seemed not to help.

Hi Leodian,

I’ve just had a quick look at Ludgate Hill on the Old Maps website. The 1893 map shows Ludgate Hill as a very short street from Vicar Lane, eastwards, towards George Street (about as far east as the Market Tavern@Madhouse at the junction with Harewood Street). On this map the road is not straight, as it is today. In 1893, there was a ‘dog’s leg’ north east, towards the Market Tavern, and then east, towards Dyer Street.

I think that the reason is because in 1893 the markets were split into ‘Covered Market’ and ‘Kirkgate Market’. In 1901, building work commenced on the new ‘Ornate Hall’, which was completed in 1904. The ‘Ornate Hall’ is the part of the market which is on Vicar Lane today. It looks as though, prior to 1901, there was a short narrow street (possibly a cul de sac) from Harewood Street, westwards towards the rear of premises on Vicar Lane, which was in line with the current George Street.

In order to construct ‘Ornate Hall’ the buildings between the cul de sac and Ludgate Hill were demolished and Ludgate Hill was moved a few yards further north, thereby making the road straight from Vicar Lane, eastwards to Dyer Street. This is shown on the 1908 map.

The 'Tracks in Time' Ordnance Survey 1890 map shows clearer details of the premises demolished in order to straighten Ludgate Hill. There are at least two pubs, near to the junction with Vicar Lane.

On Leodis, if you look for 'George Street', there are a number of photographs taken in 1902, just prior to demolition.

It’s a great shame what has happened to the Old Maps website (having to subscribe and pay for detailed maps, as for most people it is not cost effective to subscribe at around £10 per month). Personally, I look for a postcode for the area that I wish to search and enter it. Unfortunately, with the new website changes, a ‘blue rectangle’ is now superimposed on the area and it will only zoom in so far. A way round this is to select a postcode for an area a bit further away than where you wish to search, and then ‘drag’ the map to the actual area where you do wish to search. If you do this, you don’t get the blue rectangle. As an example, I used Meanwood Road (LS7 2LP) when searching for Ludgate Hill. With the new system, you can only ‘zoom’ so far, before the website asks you to subscribe. If you do this as far as you can and then use the zoom features on your computer, you can still get sight of a reasonable map for free but I don’t think that it will print. I have found it best to use the maps with a scale of 1:2,500. Maybe there are other methods without having to subscribe.

Ian

1890 Map showing Ludgate Hill

It still has the Ludgate Hill sign on the market wall also there is Ludgate Chambers, see google street view below

https://goo.gl/maps/hGGmY

Thanks Ian and buffaloskinner for your help which is appreciated.

If the Google map of the area is enlarged at one point it names Ludgate Hill between George Street and Dyer Street but that must be a map labelling error. For some reason I currently at least cannot access maps on the Old Maps UK website.

Leodian wrote:Thanks Ian and buffaloskinner for your help which is appreciated.

If the Google map of the area is enlarged at one point it names Ludgate Hill between George Street and Dyer Street but that must be a map labelling error. For some reason I currently at least cannot access maps on the Old Maps UK website.

Google Maps sometimes do get it wrong.. I think at some point they call Ring Road Moortown, Ring Road Bramley!

You can switch off the Old Maps blue rectangle by clicking the "switch print extent off" button. This is in the bar that says "Use of this map viewer is made available solely for non-commercial purposes" and next to the "full screen" button. Being able to do that makes the maps a lot easier to use.

Ludgate hill is in London and prior to redevelopment several streets on the other side of vicar lane also had London based names. Possible links to markets?

Cardiarms wrote:Ludgate hill is in London and prior to redevelopment several streets on the other side of vicar lane also had London based names. Possible links to markets?

That's an interesting comment Cardiarms.

search for 'leadenhall' and you'll find a previous post. There was also s London tavern on George street iirc b