Highbury Works

Details

LEEDS

SE23NE GREEN ROAD, Meanwood
714-1/6/1307 (South West side)
07/09/94 Highbury Works

GV II

Formerly known as: Meanwood Tannery GREEN ROAD.
Tannery, fellmonger's works (closed 1994), now vacant. 1857,
with later alterations. Built for Samuel Smith. Dressed stone
with ashlar dressings. Corrugated sheet roofs with roof-lights
and a single ashlar stack. Quoins, plinth, paired wooden eaves
brackets and second-floor sill band. 21 x 27 bays, L-plan with
6 single-storey tanning sheds to east.
Main, north-west front has large round-headed cart entrance
with flanking segment-headed doorways, each with a 4-panel
door and blocked overlight. To the left 9 blocked windows, and
to the right 5 casement windows, an inserted door, 2 windows
and a further inserted door. Above a central plaque inscribed
S.1857.S. Flanked by 10 blocked windows to the left and 9
casement windows and a loading door to the right. Above again
21 openings, originally with louvred shutters, now with the
lower portions blocked and 4-light casements inserted.
South-west front has a segmental-arched cart entrance with
sliding door to left, then 6 irregularly spaced, blocked
windows and a door with 8 blocked windows beyond to right.
Beneath the windows to left the top of the segmental arch over
the mill race is visible. Above an off-centre loading door
with 11 boarded casements and a door now obscured by bridge to
the left, and 14 boarded casements to the right. Above again
27 openings, originally louvred shutters, now with lower
portions blocked and 4-light casements inserted. At the
south-west corner a tall circular stack rising from a square
base, with a moulded cap, painted brick with iron banding.
North-east front has to left a 3-storey, 4-bay block with 4
blocked windows on the ground floor, 4 blocked and boarded
windows above and 4 openings on the top floor partly blocked
with 3-light upper casements. To the right 6 gables each with
4 windows and above 2 shuttered openings, the windows are
mostly obscured by later lean-to additions. The mill race runs
under the fourth gable through an ashlar segmental arch.
INTERIOR: retains wooden floors and staircases. At S corner
the sunken wheel pit survives. Tanning sheds have iron columns
supporting wooden roofs, and 2 rows of 10 deep tanning pits
with stone sides, the remainder survive though mostly filled.
This tannery was built on the site of a medieval corn mill
belonging to Kirkstall Abbey. In the late C18 it became a



paper mill, until it was burnt in 1852. The present building
was built as a tannery for Samuel Smith, and it became a
fellmongers in 1914; closed 1994.
This is the best preserved large scale mid C19 tannery in
Leeds, one of the leading tanning towns in England at the
time.

Listing NGR: SE2838637063

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

465143

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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