Alwoodley

Geography

The area comprises a large part of the postcode LS17, which contains most of north Leeds and the surrounding countryside. On either side of Alwoodley is Adel, to the west, and Shadwell, to the east. Most of the housing is between Nursery Lane and Alwoodley Lane. To the south are Moor Allerton and Moortown. The area to the north is mainly countryside, including the Eccup Reservoir, two golf courses, and the Harewood Estate.

The Harewood Estate comprises approximately 4,000 acres of land in total including Harewood House, an 18th Century country house designed by architects John Carr and Robert Adam, built for Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood. The landscape was designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown and spans 1,000 acres (400 ha). The house is the family seat of the Lascelles family, and home of David Lascelles, the Eighth Earl of Harewood.

History

The name Alwoodley is thought to derive from Old English Æthelwald-lēah, meaning 'the woodland clearing (lēah), at Æthelwald's farm'. It appears as Aluuoldelei in the 1086 Domesday Book.

The route of the Roman road between Ilkley and Tadcaster, road 72b in Margary's numbering, passes through Alwoodley. Part of it was excavated along Lakeland Crescent in 1994.

Alwoodley became part of the County Borough of Leeds on 1 April 1928 as a consequence of the passage of the Leeds Corporation Act 1927.

Civil Parish

The civil parish boundaries are from Nursery Lane on the south, following the Meanwood Valley Trail on the west, the A61 Harrogate Road on the east. The northern boundaries are in countryside between Harewood to the northeast and Arthington to the northwest. Note that Alwoodley Gates is an area to the east of the A61 inside the Harewood civil parish.

Electoral Ward

Main article: Alwoodley (ward)

The Electoral Ward includes the above area, but also Alwoodley Gates to the east and southwards part of Moortown as far as the Leeds Outer Ring Road. This article will include this larger area, which includes certain institutions associated with the area but just outside the civil parish boundary.

As of 2023 the councillors for this ward (all Conservatives) are Neil Buckley, Dan Cohen and Lyn Buckley.

Church of England Parish

The Church of England parish of Alwoodley is based upon the church of St Barnabas, in the Diocese of Leeds. The parish boundaries extend from King Lane in the West to the A58 Wetherby Road to the East, thus including Shadwell. They also include part of Moortown south of the Ring Road around Moortown Corner.

Housing

The former mansion, Alwoodley Old Hall, was close to the south side of Eccup Reservoir: it was demolished in 1969, and the grounds were used for Sandmoor Golf Club, north of Alwoodley Lane.

The centre is a large open area, including Moortown Golf Club and Rugby Club and former farmland known as Alwoodley Moss. Around it are 4 regions of housing, nearly all low-rise, semi-detached or detached. In the northwest corner (junction bounded by King Lane to the west and Alwoodley Lane to the North) is housing called Alwoodley Park and includes street names such as "The Avenue", "The Lane", "The Drive" etc. reflecting the former more isolated nature of the original village. In the northeast corner (junction bounded by Alwoodley Lane on the north and Harrogate Road on the east) is the Sandmoor Estate. In the southeast corner (bounded by Nursery Lane on the south and Harrogate Road on the east) is the Primley Park area. Where Sandmoor and Primley Park join is Sandmoor Court, a block of flats. The southwest corner (bounded by Nursery Lane to the south and King Lane to the west) consists of housing on streets such as the Sunningdales, the Birkdales and the Turnberrys.

The residential areas on and around the Sandmoors, Alwoodley Lane and Wigton Lane are amongst the most exclusive in Leeds, with many large detached family homes, imposing mansions and exclusive flat developments.

Education

The two largest schools in the area are Allerton High School and The Grammar School at Leeds Junior & Senior site. Alwoodley is served by two Jewish Faith Schools, both on the Henry Cohen Campus, Brodetsky Primary School, and a high school, Leeds Jewish Free School, which was founded in 2013 by local city councillor, Dan Cohen.

Sport

There are three golf clubs within the area, namely Alwoodley, Moortown and Sand Moor. Moortown hosted the 1929 Ryder Cup. Alwoodley Cricket Club dates back to 1935. There are two Rugby Union clubs in the area: Leodiensian RUFC and Moortown Rugby Club.

Alwoodley is also home to Alwoodley FC, a football team that compete in the top tier of the Yorkshire Amateur League.

Gallery

File:Alwoodley Community Association 2010.jpg|Alwoodley Community Association File:Alwoodley Park Methodist Church 2010.jpg|Alwoodley Park Methodist Church File:Alwoodley St Paul's RC Church 2016.jpg|St Paul's Roman Catholic Church File:Alwoodley The Avenue shops 2016.jpg|Shops on The Avenue File:Alwoodley Primley Park Grove 2016.jpg|Primley Park Grove File:Alwoodley Royal Mail Nursery Lane 2016.jpg|Royal Mail Delivery Office, Nursery Lane

Location grid

References

References

1. "Area: Alwoodley Parish". Office for National Statistics.
2. BBC. "BBC – Leeds – Places – What's in a name?".
3. Eilert Ekwall, ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names'', 2nd edn (Oxford: Clarendon, 1940), p. 8.
4. Ambramson, P. and Fraser, R. (1993 or 1994), ''Lakeland Crescent, Alwoodley: An Archaeological Evaluation'', Northern Archaeological Associates report (see reference to both dates at Haken, M. and Roman Roads Research Association, [http://www.romanroads.org/rrragazetteer/rr72b/rr72b.html Ilkley-Adel-Newton Kyme-Tadcaster], accessed 14 November 2018)
5. {{London Gazette. (26 November 1926)
6. [http://www.leeds.gov.uk/files/Internet2007/2010/28/50k%20parish%20map.pdf Leeds City Council: Parish/Town Councils] {{webarchive. link. (10 June 2011)
7. [http://www.leeds.gov.uk/files/Internet2007/2010/28/50k%20parish_ward%20map.pdf Leeds Council: Wards Map 2010] {{webarchive. link. (15 May 2011)
8. (1 October 2023). "Your Councillors".
9. "Alwoodley: St Barnabas".
10. [http://www.leodis.net/display.aspx?resourceIdentifier=20021010_98472232 Leodis – a photographic archive] Alwoodley Old Hall
11. "Take a look inside this £4 million Alwoodley mansion - complete with indoor pool and a cinema". Yorkshire Evening Post.
12. . ["Brodetsky Primary School"](https://brodetsky.org/).
13. . ["Leeds Jewish Free School"](http://www.LJFS.org).
14. "Alwoodley Cricket Club".
15. [http://www.moortownrugby.co.uk/contacts.html www.moortownrugby.co.uk] {{webarchive. link. (7 January 2010)
16. [http://www.leedsnandemethodist.org.uk/alwoodley.php Alwoodley Park Methodist Church]