Feature - March 2007, Leeds Town Hall

jane666 · Post by **jane666** » Fri 30 Nov, 2007 8:31 am

great photos phill, how many people fit into those cells at once, cos they look quite spacious ?

Si · Post by Si » Fri 30 Nov, 2007 9:27 am

Great pics Phill, as usual.Who were they thinking of locking up in there? The Incredible Hulk? Look how thick those walls are. And the size of the stones.

Post by **cnosni** » Fri 30 Nov, 2007 11:54 am

tyke bhoy wrote: Is it? The border is at Lofthouse golf club at present. Including Outwood would move the border a mile nearer Wakefield and would almost certainly put it within or very close to a mile from the Cathederal as t'crow flies and not much over the mile by road (5 minutes on a bus last night) With regards to Outwood i have since learnt that my friend has changed his tune,there will be something to do with voting where they are included in Leeds,having said that as he was completely off the mark with what he told me before then i will wait and see what will actually happen,if anything.

Post by **cnosni** » Fri 30 Nov, 2007 12:03 pm

Phill_d wrote: I went round the old cells tonight with a guy from the t.v.. It was Eric Ambler who should us around munki... He said he knew you mate & gave his regards I'll post a couple of shots i got. There's still the shackles & chain hooks on the walls and slop buckets in the corner! Nice touch! This arch is directly under the town hall steps with 3 cell doors on the left. Do we know what was on the site of the Town Hall before it was built?I say this because as i am looking at this picture i can see no real reason for the steps into the cells.As you can see the curved roof,which is below the stairs,seems impractical for its purpose.It looks like head height is restricted and therefore it seems odd that they would place the cells two steps above the floor.Now im no Archaeologist but i have seen similar things on time team,not cells/Bridewells,but where an older buildings lower levels have been incorporated into a new structure and have been utilised for a newer purpose,cellars etc.Having not visited it myself i cant really comment on its relationship to the modern street level but do you think the floor is on roughly the same level of the front of the Town Hall ,that is the carpark on the raised platform above the Level of Westgate, or is it below this level,closer to that of Westgate?Anyway Phil once again you and your box browny have come up trumps,top pics!!

LS1 · Post by **LS1** » Fri 30 Nov, 2007 1:24 pm

That is a really interesting comment that you have made there about the site before the town hall.I had heared that there are/ were more cells there making a total of six in all, but if my memory serves me correctly when the steps were altered to their present state they were lost.

Phill_d · Post by **Phill_d** » Fri 30 Nov, 2007 3:00 pm

Ok lads (and Jane) of course Thanks for all the compliments, The walls are so thick there Si as i think directly above are the huge columns at the top of the stairs, they'd have to be substantial to carry those beasts. i was thinking why were there stairs there the same as you csnosi. There were only 3 cells in this section with one more on the way in.. we had a damn good look about as well including having a look through the little door at the end and finding the smallest tunnel you have ever seen seen, i might not be 20 anymore but i'm still as agile as a chimpanzee so we proceded to sort of shuffle along in a crouched fashion. (it must have looked funny) for quite a distance around these corners & poked our head up under a big iron grate in Calverley street. I've no idea what that was for and we didn't find anything spectacular but we did come out filthy. oops The only place i can think were the missing cells are is in the middle cell as that has a smaller arch at the very end that looks to me as it's been bricked up at sometime & leads further in. I'll post some more pics i got to see whats what.

Phill_d · Post by **Phill_d** » Fri 30 Nov, 2007 3:08 pm

This is the middle cell with the arch at the end..There's no reason for the arch as far as i can see & the brickwork looks a bit suspect to me. I reckon that goes deeper under the town hall myself.

munki · Post by **munki** » Fri 30 Nov, 2007 3:09 pm

In the interests of Historical Research, & because I was getting a bit bored working at my desk on a Friday afternoon... I have just been 'downstairs' with a camera to shed some light on your interesting questions...

Phill_d · Post by **Phill_d** » Fri 30 Nov, 2007 3:11 pm

This is the first cell just past the charge desk leading into the section under the main stairs. I've put this pic on for Jane so she can see how many bums they can get on seats.

Phill_d · Post by **Phill_d** » Fri 30 Nov, 2007 3:14 pm

Hey great find munki.. It's a pity it's so small. Can you host it on an image hosting site to view it large size or can you send it to me & i'll put it on photobucket to show it full scale. I'd like to find out were that arch in cell 2 goes!