far Headingley Village
Character of the area
The centre of Far Headingley owes its pattern of development to the piecemeal way in which Headingley Moor was divided and developed during the nineteenth century. The curvilinear older northern part of Moor Road contrasts with the straight southern part, which itself is set at an angle to Otley Road and Cottage Road. This configuration, together with the original mix of development plots, has led to a varied orientation of buildings in parts and some delightful vistas, particularly 23-35 Cottage Road and Ellis Terrace. It has also resulted in the distinctive character of the east side of Otley Road itself with its wide variety of building sizes, types and orientations and positions. To the north, along the east side of Otley Road, large terraces and villas are set back from the road with a generous but regular building line. Many of the original gardens have been converted to car parking but there are a number of mature trees along the front boundaries. Development between the main roads is located around short streets and courts and culs-de-sac, creating small and distinctive groups.
St Chad’s Church, west of Otley Road, dominates the whole area and together with its spacious and attractive grounds creates a focus for the village centre of Far Headingley. As a counterpoint, at the junction of Otley Road and Weetwood Lane, the Three Horseshoes pub marks the commercial centre of the village. Local shops and other small businesses extend from Cottage Road to Glen Road offering a broad mix of goods and services including two further pubs, in a variety of premises which reflect the past development of different sized plots.
In spite of some modern intrusion, buildings in this area are predominately 18th and 19th century residential properties, ranging from large houses (mainly in the southern part) to terraces (large and small) and small cottages. Typically these are two-storey, of coursed sawn or chisel-faced millstone grit, with pitched slate roofs, terracotta chimneys and timber-framed sash windows. The later, larger houses often have a wealth of detail, in the stonework, chimneys, windows and timberwork.
With the exception of St Chad’s Church grounds and the former car park in Cottage Road, open space is only provided by a permissive route through the grounds of Tetley Hall between Moor Road and Burton Crescent (which should be maintained as part of the proposed development there) and by the private gardens in the area. These (often generous) plots, along with their many superb mature trees, and the setting-back from the road of south-facing properties (e.g. on the north side of Cottage Road) combine to offer spacious vistas and wellproportioned silhouettes. These make a valuable contribution to the sense of spaciousness and the village ‘feel’ of the area.
The stone boundary walls edging streets and ginnels (e.g. Cottage Road to Mansfield Place and Heathfield Terrace to Burton Crescent) are characteristic of the area, as are the Yorkshire stone paving and setts.
Key positive characteristics
• Stone buildings of historic interest
• Variety of size and orientation of buildings and gardens providing a village atmosphere
• Provision of local shops and facilities
• Stone boundary walls and stone pavings
• Mature trees and garden planting
Extracted from Far Headingley, Weetwood & West Park Neighbourhood Design Statement, Leeds City Council, 2ed, 2014. The whole document is available online at <http://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/FH%20NDS%20Adoption%20Version.pdf>
See also, Listed Buildings. For views of the area now, go to Far Headingley. For historic photos, go to Historic Far Headingley. For the shops in the Far Headingley Local Centre, go to the Shopping Centres page. And to explore the area, take A Walk around Far Headingley.
