Symbols of industrial past face uncertain future as decay takes hold

THEY STAND as symbols of the West Riding’s industrial past, yet their future might be built on sand.

Some 120 of the listed buildings in Leeds are in danger of falling into disrepair, according to the city council. They include Holbeck’s Temple Mill and Tower Works Engine House, along with Centenary House in North Street and the former Majestic Cinema in City Square.

Others at risk include the First White Cloth Hall, High Royds Hospital and parts of the former Kirkstall Forge ironworks.

Another 23 Grade I or II-listed buildings have been added to the “at-risk” register since the last tally. Fifteen of the overall total are owned by the council, but officials say increase can be put down to better recording, rather than any sudden decline in the buildings themselves.

Nearly a third of the new entries are grave slabs in the church yard of St Mary on The Hill in Morley.

The council says money is available to rescue buildings from disrepair, with about £6m allocated over three years towards the repair of its own heritage buildings.

The council has also produced a “heritage action plan” to agree priorities with granting bodies such as the Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic England, which, its report says, “should improve the chances of success with bids for external funding for repair and adaptation”.

The Grade II-listed First White Cloth Hall is already the recipient of lottery funding for repairs. The building, on Kirkgate in the city centre, dates back to 1711 and was put up in response to a rival cloth hall built in Wakefield the previous year.

The building has deteriorated over the years and has been home to an amusement arcade in its eastern wing, but developers have recently been granted planning consent to bring it back into use.

The council says work is under way to convert the landmark Hunslet and Victoria Mills, which were recently taken off the at-risk list, into about 300 residential flats.

Other buildings under threat are several at Kirkstall Forge, which is also the site of a major development.