building at back of old Wellesley Hotel

Post by **chameleon** » Wed 15 Feb, 2012 5:37 pm

Tasa wrote: Leodian wrote: The talk of the now bricked up archway has helped me because on passing it recently I only really saw it for the first time and I wondered what it might have been. I was even going to take a photo at some stage and ask the SL folk. That's one of the things I love about this forum - we can take the most (seemingly) innocuous thing and discover through joint effort what its place in history was, and there's often a very interesting story behind it! That's what it's all about and what most folk come here for and of course expect Tasa

Steve Jones · Post by **Steve Jones** » Wed 15 Feb, 2012 8:40 pm

Thanks for all the help folks and you have nailed what the building was.I'm now still wondering where the old holy well was,In Bonsers survey of Spa's,wells and springs of leeds published in the Thoresby Society Miscellany volume 16 part 1 ,she mentions it as being at the junction of Wellington street and Aire street which would mean it was in this area at one time prior to the building of the great northern Hotel i think unles it was on the other side of the road.

String o' beads · Post by **String o' beads** » Wed 15 Feb, 2012 9:00 pm

Just musing - was it around the early 70s that the Great Northern Hotel became the Wellesley?

Tasa · Post by **Tasa** » Wed 15 Feb, 2012 9:27 pm

Steve Jones wrote: Thanks for all the help folks and you have nailed what the building was.I'm now still wondering where the old holy well was,In Bonsers survey of Spa's,wells and springs of leeds published in the Thoresby Society Miscellany volume 16 part 1 ,she mentions it as being at the junction of Wellington street and Aire street which would mean it was in this area at one time prior to the building of the great northern Hotel i think unles it was on the other side of the road. This 1850s map (click on the cross to view) shows Eye Bright Place, which suggests that the well was around the site mentioned in the Thoresby Society volume. Geordie-exile wrote: Just musing - was it around the early 70s that the Great Northern Hotel became the Wellesley? I think you're correct but I can't remember the exact year it changed. I remember it as the Great Northern around 1972, but I'm sure it was the Wellesley by 1976/77 as I had a Saturday job in William Hill's admin offices in Wellington Street then and we occasionally went to the Wellesley for lunch (that sounds a bit posh - usually it was a Steak Canadian sandwich from the American Bar on Wellington Street!).

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Wed 15 Feb, 2012 9:56 pm

That is a very interesting map Tasa. I did not know that there was a Queen's Hotel there in at least 1850 (the modern one was built in 1937 according to information I've found). In those reportedly unsanitary times in 1850 I wonder where the urinals on the map drained into (the well ?). I also wonder what the 'Site of the Park Stile' was that is right on the edge of the map? My mind has also been thinking about the name Wellington Street. If asked I would have probably guessed it is to do with the Duke of Wellington. My wandering mind though is wondering if it could be derived from people talking about the well in town.

uncle mick · Post by **uncle mick** » Wed 15 Feb, 2012 9:57 pm

Geordie-exile wrote: Just musing - was it around the early 70s that the Great Northern Hotel became the Wellesley? Info Phone BooksGreat Northern Hotel 1973Wellesley Hotel 1975

Steve Jones · Post by **Steve Jones** » Wed 15 Feb, 2012 10:15 pm

Thanks Tasa,that is it.I have been unable to get my CD-Rom of the 1850 maps to load.I need to clean it!

String o' beads · Post by **String o' beads** » Wed 15 Feb, 2012 10:21 pm

uncle mick wrote: Geordie-exile wrote: Just musing - was it around the early 70s that the Great Northern Hotel became the Wellesley? Info Phone BooksGreat Northern Hotel 1973Wellesley Hotel 1975 Thanks! And well done Tasa.

biofichompinc · Post by **biofichompinc** » Wed 15 Feb, 2012 10:32 pm

Leodian wrote: My mind has also been thinking about the name Wellington Street. If asked I would have probably guessed it is to do with the Duke of Wellington. My wandering mind though is wondering if it could be derived from people talking about the well in town. The 1st Duke of Wellington was Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley in real life.

Tasa · Post by **Tasa** » Wed 15 Feb, 2012 11:18 pm

salt 'n pepper wrote: Leodian wrote: My mind has also been thinking about the name Wellington Street. If asked I would have probably guessed it is to do with the Duke of Wellington. My wandering mind though is wondering if it could be derived from people talking about the well in town. The 1st Duke of Wellington was Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley in real life. Thanks for shedding light on that, salt 'n pepper - I always wondered why it was named the Wellesley.Leodian, I was pleased to see the 1850s map of this area. The online maps I can access through my work login are available from the 1840s to the 1990s, but not all sections of the map can be seen for each decade and not all at the same scale, so it was lucky that this section of the 1850s map was viewable at that magnification.