Seacroft History
By
Neil
Walker
Neil’s history was written for a day organised by Nicola Greenan of Leeds 14 Trust. Neil used internet and library sources to make a short
version appealing to all. We know that our account is not definitive… but it is pretty good, Neil.
Seacroft has a history dating back beyond the publication of the Domesday Book (1086). However there is evidence of habitation prior to that. During construction of the estate in the 1950s, a stone axe dating from the Neolithic age (3500–2100 BC) was found on Kentmere Avenue, while two silver Roman coins were found on Seacroft Green in the 1850s. The name (originally Saecroft) is of Saxon origin – sae meaning pool or lake and croft meaning enclosure or farm. Seacroft remained largely unchanged for centuries as a small Yorkshire village. However, in the 1930s–50s the area was developed into Leeds’ largest council estate. In the 1960s and 1970s the building of Whinmoor and Swarcliffe integrated Seacroft with other suburbs.
Every source will tell you that the Venerable Bede records the battle of Winwaed between King Oswy’s forces and the, unsuccessful, invading Mercians under King Penda. Bede gives this as taking place near Seacroft on the 15th November 655.
In 1643 a minor battle between Royalists for Charles I and a small group of Roundheads under Thomas Fairfax, who were en-route from Tadcaster to Leeds, took place at Seacroft. Fairfax was obliged to retreat across Bramham Moor.
Seacroft Village is the original part of Seacroft, around the Green and Cricketers Arms. Seacroft Hall was built in the 17th century by the Shiletto family, incorporating extensive landscaping and parkland. Despite being a listed building, the Hall was demolished in the 1950s. The original entrance lodge still stands on York Road.
There is an old non-operating windmill that predates the estate, which has been incorporated into a hotel now known as the Ramada Leeds North.
Seacroft village was surrounded by several farms, the largest being Pigeon Cote Farm which was demolished in 1954 to make way for the building of the estate. The village developed slowly over the centuries, and saw very little change until the post war Celebrating Seacroft 15 years. In 1934, Leeds City Council bought 1,000 acres (4.0 km2 ) for municipal housing, and after World War II the majority of houses and blocks of flats were built. The council had planned for Seacroft to be a ‘satellite town within the city boundary’.
Work on the estate began in the 1950s. Many of the older houses on the estate are more traditional redbrick semis built around the Beechwood area, to the North of the estate. In the 1960s many prefabricated housing and high rise flats were constructed on the estate. Two main roads were built through the estate, these being North Parkway and South Parkway. North Parkway was built as a dual carriageway, in a similar way as had been done to Oak Tree Drive, Coldcotes Drive and Gipton Approach in neighbouring Gipton.
Other areas surrounding Seacroft were built using the same principle. In the 1960s work started on building the Swarcliffe and Stanks areas and in the 1970s work began on building Whinmoor. None of these were as large or ambitious as Seacroft, the intention being that these areas would use many of the amenities built along with the Seacroft Estate such as the Civic Centre. Amenities were at first kept to a minimum in Swarcliffe and Whinmoor, with the estates only having small local shops, public houses Celebrating Seacroft 16 and primary schools. Since then, schools like John Smeaton have been built. Seacroft also has the main central bus interchange for North-East Leeds, although the nearest railway station is in Crossgates.
Whether Seacroft ever achieved being a ‘satellite town within the city boundary’ is debatable. While the estate offered many amenities in the original civic centre and now offers modernised facilities in the Seacroft Green shopping centre, it lacked amenities such as a leisure centre. The area also offered very little in the way of employment, besides that provided by the shops and the few office blocks in the civic centre.
The architecture of Seacroft varied throughout the construction of the estate. The earlier houses dating back to the 1950s are a mixture of concrete houses and red-brick traditional terraces and semis. In the late 1960s and 1970s the prefabricated housing towards the south-west of the estate was constructed. The older council houses were generally built to a higher quality and are still in good condition. The northern parts of the estate were generally built first, leaving undeveloped land between Seacroft and Gipton and Killingbeck.
Much of Seacroft was built twice. High demand for Celebrating Seacroft 17 houses lead to many temporary prefabs being built in Seacroft shortly after the war. These were generally known as the ‘war houses’. In the late 1960s and early 1970s these were replaced by the Cedarwood Corporation Houses. These were a quick and cheap option of replacing the older prefabs. Like their predecessors they were also prefabricated houses, however were intended to last longer. Local people often refer to these as the ‘gas houses’ in comparison with the ‘war houses’ and in note of them having natural gas. The exact same style of building was used around the Coal Road in Whinmoor and Queenswood Drive in Beckett Park.
During the 1960s and 1970s, a variety of styles of high rise flats were built. These were concentrated close to the civic centre, in the Boggart Hill and Ramshead areas of the estate and along the southern edge of the estate. Lower rise flats were also built around the civic centre in the 1960s.
Neil’s history was written for a day organised by Nicola Greenan of Leeds 14 Trust. Neil used internet and library sources to make a short
version appealing to all. We know that our account is not definitive… but it is pretty good, Neil.
Seacroft has a history dating back beyond the publication of the Domesday Book (1086). However there is evidence of habitation prior to that. During construction of the estate in the 1950s, a stone axe dating from the Neolithic age (3500–2100 BC) was found on Kentmere Avenue, while two silver Roman coins were found on Seacroft Green in the 1850s. The name (originally Saecroft) is of Saxon origin – sae meaning pool or lake and croft meaning enclosure or farm. Seacroft remained largely unchanged for centuries as a small Yorkshire village. However, in the 1930s–50s the area was developed into Leeds’ largest council estate. In the 1960s and 1970s the building of Whinmoor and Swarcliffe integrated Seacroft with other suburbs.
Every source will tell you that the Venerable Bede records the battle of Winwaed between King Oswy’s forces and the, unsuccessful, invading Mercians under King Penda. Bede gives this as taking place near Seacroft on the 15th November 655.
In 1643 a minor battle between Royalists for Charles I and a small group of Roundheads under Thomas Fairfax, who were en-route from Tadcaster to Leeds, took place at Seacroft. Fairfax was obliged to retreat across Bramham Moor.
Seacroft Village is the original part of Seacroft, around the Green and Cricketers Arms. Seacroft Hall was built in the 17th century by the Shiletto family, incorporating extensive landscaping and parkland. Despite being a listed building, the Hall was demolished in the 1950s. The original entrance lodge still stands on York Road.
There is an old non-operating windmill that predates the estate, which has been incorporated into a hotel now known as the Ramada Leeds North.
Seacroft village was surrounded by several farms, the largest being Pigeon Cote Farm which was demolished in 1954 to make way for the building of the estate. The village developed slowly over the centuries, and saw very little change until the post war Celebrating Seacroft 15 years. In 1934, Leeds City Council bought 1,000 acres (4.0 km2 ) for municipal housing, and after World War II the majority of houses and blocks of flats were built. The council had planned for Seacroft to be a ‘satellite town within the city boundary’.
Work on the estate began in the 1950s. Many of the older houses on the estate are more traditional redbrick semis built around the Beechwood area, to the North of the estate. In the 1960s many prefabricated housing and high rise flats were constructed on the estate. Two main roads were built through the estate, these being North Parkway and South Parkway. North Parkway was built as a dual carriageway, in a similar way as had been done to Oak Tree Drive, Coldcotes Drive and Gipton Approach in neighbouring Gipton.
Other areas surrounding Seacroft were built using the same principle. In the 1960s work started on building the Swarcliffe and Stanks areas and in the 1970s work began on building Whinmoor. None of these were as large or ambitious as Seacroft, the intention being that these areas would use many of the amenities built along with the Seacroft Estate such as the Civic Centre. Amenities were at first kept to a minimum in Swarcliffe and Whinmoor, with the estates only having small local shops, public houses Celebrating Seacroft 16 and primary schools. Since then, schools like John Smeaton have been built. Seacroft also has the main central bus interchange for North-East Leeds, although the nearest railway station is in Crossgates.
Whether Seacroft ever achieved being a ‘satellite town within the city boundary’ is debatable. While the estate offered many amenities in the original civic centre and now offers modernised facilities in the Seacroft Green shopping centre, it lacked amenities such as a leisure centre. The area also offered very little in the way of employment, besides that provided by the shops and the few office blocks in the civic centre.
The architecture of Seacroft varied throughout the construction of the estate. The earlier houses dating back to the 1950s are a mixture of concrete houses and red-brick traditional terraces and semis. In the late 1960s and 1970s the prefabricated housing towards the south-west of the estate was constructed. The older council houses were generally built to a higher quality and are still in good condition. The northern parts of the estate were generally built first, leaving undeveloped land between Seacroft and Gipton and Killingbeck.
Much of Seacroft was built twice. High demand for Celebrating Seacroft 17 houses lead to many temporary prefabs being built in Seacroft shortly after the war. These were generally known as the ‘war houses’. In the late 1960s and early 1970s these were replaced by the Cedarwood Corporation Houses. These were a quick and cheap option of replacing the older prefabs. Like their predecessors they were also prefabricated houses, however were intended to last longer. Local people often refer to these as the ‘gas houses’ in comparison with the ‘war houses’ and in note of them having natural gas. The exact same style of building was used around the Coal Road in Whinmoor and Queenswood Drive in Beckett Park.
During the 1960s and 1970s, a variety of styles of high rise flats were built. These were concentrated close to the civic centre, in the Boggart Hill and Ramshead areas of the estate and along the southern edge of the estate. Lower rise flats were also built around the civic centre in the 1960s.