Leeds
WYAS, Leeds
2 Chapeltown Road
Sheepscar
Leeds
LS7 3AP
Tel: +44 (0)113 214 5814
Email: leeds@wyjs.org.uk
We are members of the County Archive Research Network (CARN) readers? ticket scheme. Please bring your CARN readers? ticket with you when you visit. If you do not have a ticket please bring official proof of ID which includes your name, address and signature.
Click here for more information.
Update on Leeds Visitor Services
Due to reduced staffing levels at WYAS, Leeds from November 2009
we have regretfully had to make the following changes to Visitor Services:
Retrieval of archives.
We will be unable to retrieve documents from the stores between 12noon and 2pm.
Reduction in visitors we can accommodate in the search room.
We will be restricting the number of visitors in the search room in line with staffing levels.
Appointments recommended. Some archives are held offsite and our search room may be subject to unplanned closure because of staffing difficulties.
Opening Hours
Monday 9.30am to 5pm
Tuesday 9.30am to 5pm
Thursday 9.30am to 5pm
Facilities: A rest area is available for the consumption of your own refreshments on the ground floor.
Toilets are available.
How to find WYAS, Leeds... (External website)
| We are approximately 2.5km from Leeds City Centre situated on the corner of Chapeltown Road and Roundhay Road. | |
| Car | If heading North on the A61 there is no right turn onto Roundhay Road. Access is via Chapeltown Road. If using Sat Nav to locate this office you are advised to enter Roscoe Street not the postcode. |
| Car Parking | On street parking is available locally |
| Train | We are approximately 2.5km from the Leeds Railway Station |
| Bus | Bus numbers 12 13 13A all from New Market Street (opposite the Corn Exchange) and New Briggate. In the city centre. Also number 36 travelling from Harrogate. |
The office was established in 1938 in Leeds City Reference Library. It moved to its present premises in 1965, and became part of the West Yorkshire Archive Service in 1982. As one of the few record offices established in the West Riding before 1974, its collections derive from a much wider geographical area than might be expected, including Craven, Ripon and Harrogate as well as the heartland of the present West Yorkshire.
Records at Leeds Archives
The records of Leeds Corporation itself form the backbone of the collections. They include minutes from 1662, Quarter Sessions orders from 1698 and Overseers' minutes from 1726 as well as records from the modern departments of Leeds City Council. To these have been added the records of the boroughs of Morley and Pudsey, the urban districts of Aireborough, Garforth, Horsforth, Otley and Rothwell, and the rural districts of Wetherby and Wharfedale, all of which were incorporated into Leeds Metropolitan District in 1974. In some cases these authorities had themselves inherited archives from their predecessors, such as the Yeadon Township Records dating from 1668 which were discovered in the offices of Aireborough UDC. Other official records of bodies absorbed by Leeds City Council include the Leeds Board of Guardians and Public Assistance Committee (1844-1948) and the Leeds School Board (1870-1903). The office also holds certain classes of Public Records including those received from the British Coal Corporation, the Health Authorities and the Territorial Army Association.
The Office holds the records of the Diocese of Ripon, most Anglical parishes in the Archdeaconry of Leeds and some in the Diocese of Bradford. The Diocese of Ripon was formed in 1836 but inherited the archives of the Archdeaconry of Richmond. These together with wills and records of the associated probate jurisdiction, date from the fifteenth century. They include bishop's transcripts of parish registers from the late seventeenth century, faculty papers and many tithe awards. Until the formation of the Diocese of Wakefield in 1888 and the Diocese of Bradford in 1920, the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Ripon extended over much of the West Riding and the western part of the North Riding.
Records held from nonconformist churches include those of the Yorkshire Congregational Union (1813-1968), several United Reformed Churches, Mill Hill Unitarian Chapel, Leeds and numerous Methodist circuits and other organisations.
Deposits from private sources contain all the usual classes of records of local and estate administration including a wealth of medieval material. Particularly notable are the records of Fountains Abbey, Studley Royal, Ripley Castle and Nostell Priory. There are manorial court rolls of Hatfield (1324-1818), Methley (1339-1935), Pollington (1333-1935), Thorner (1345-1879) and Sherburn in Elmet (1346-1922). Material of interest to art historians includes plans and accounts for building and furnishing such houses as Temple Newsam, Newby Hall and Harewood. There are political and administrative papers of national significance including the correspondence of Sir John Reresby (1639-88), George Canning (1780-1827), Lord Canning's Indian papers (1856-62) and records relating to the Council of the North (1585-1636), English and Irish customs accounts (1604-45), London port books (1717-20) and the administration of Minorca (1735-55). Such family archives reflect the territorial and other interests of their owners throughout Yorkshire, neighbouring counties and occasionally abroad.
Most aspects of the commercial life of the area are represented, particularly in the traditional textile, clothing, engineering and mining sectors. The archives of some firms such as Kirkstall Forge, Middleton Colliery and Tetley's Brewery date from the eighteenth century. They are supplemented by those deposited by a number of local solicitors and estate agents, some of whose practices have continuous histories covering the past two centuries. Their archives include medieval court rolls, the records of local charities, title deeds, estate papers, plans and rentals arising from the interests of clients past and present.
The collections also contain deposits from numerous local, voluntary, political, social, cultural, philanthropic, convivial and educational bodies. To name but a few, they include records of the local constituency organisations of the major political parties, the minutes of the Leeds Trades Council from 1882, the archives of the Arthington Trust for supporting Christian missions abroad (1900-1937), the Leeds Babies' Welcome (1914-1974), the Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland from 1876, the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union from 1849, the Leeds Rifles, the yorkshire Ladies Council for Education from 1871 and records of the Temperance movement, sports clubs, bell ringers and boy scouts.
Collections Team
As part of the WYAS Mission Statement, the Collections Team actively seeks to strengthen its holdings and establish links with communities, individuals and specialist groups with a view to preserving their written histories.
The focus of the Collections Team is to preserve these unique collections and make them accessible to the public for future generations.
If you are an individual, part of a community group, local business or society and would like to receive more information about donating records, please contact us and one of our team will be happy to talk to you
Contact: Collections Team
PO Box 5
Nepshaw Lane South
Morley
LS27 0QP
Tel: 0113 2898 285
For the contact details
of our offices click here
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