Leeds Then and Today: Eastgate Fountain

Have you ever wondered what the hexagonal-shaped building at the bottom of the Headrow in Leeds City Centre was for? Andy Hutchinson reveals all.

Transcript

00:00 Hi, it's Andrew Hutchinson with the latest edition of Leeds Then and Today.

00:09 Over the years many of you will have wondered what this curious hexagonal building on East

00:14 Gate roundabout is in Leeds City Centre.

00:20 Why is it there?

00:21 Who built it?

00:22 Did it used to be something?

00:25 Many of you will be surprised to realise that this was once a petrol station dating back

00:29 to the 1930s.

00:33 The building was opened in 1932 having been designed by farmers architect Sir Reginald

00:37 Blomfield who was responsible for the Goldsmiths College building and the layout of Regent

00:42 Street in London.

00:44 The particulars of the listing by Historic England are that the building remains red

00:48 brick with ashlar details, copper and slate roof.

01:02 Apple Yards petrol station opened in 1932 with numerous pumps dotted around the site.

01:08 In many ways it seems strange that a petrol station would be sited in the middle of the

01:12 roundabout but you have to remember that the roads were a lot more quieter back in the

01:17 day.

01:24 This photo was taken in 1967 from the arches at the nearby Quarry Hill flats.

01:31 The flats were the largest social housing site in the country and remained on site until

01:36 demolition in 1978.

01:46 Having been disused for a number of years the former petrol station was the location

01:51 of Leeds' Millennium Fountain in the year 2000.

02:03 Some of the original features of the building remain including these old wooden boards leading

02:08 to the entrances.

02:12 Today on the site alongside the former petrol station is this statue dedicated to the memory

02:17 of Leeds war hero Arthur Arran VC.

02:26 The site was grade 2 listed in 1996 and now stands empty but remains in remarkably good

02:32 condition.

02:33 Despite the constant development surrounding it the building will always be an emblem of

02:38 the spirit of progress the city saw in the first half of the 20th century.

02:43 I think it's fabulous that this building remains today and has a link to the past with

02:50 the city's transport and other links and will be forever remembered by a generation of people

02:58 who fuelled up back in the day.

02:59 Thank you.