Wortley (West Yorkshire)

Wortley
	High rise buildings in New Wortley
Coordinates	53 ° 47 ′ N , 1 ° 35 ′ W Coordinates: 53 ° 47 ′ N , 1 ° 35 ′ W
	Wortley
	Wortley
administration
Post town	LEEDS
ZIP code section	LS12
prefix	0113
Part of the country	England
region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Shire county	West Yorkshire
District	Leeds
British Parliament	Leeds West
Website: http://www.leeds.gov.uk/

Wortley (pronounced Wurt-lee) is a borough of Leeds , West Yorkshire , England . It begins a good 1500 meters west of the city center.

Until around 1700 the place was known under the name Wirkelay . Originally a weavers' quarter within the parish of Leeds, it developed in the course of industrialization through the construction of coal mines , brickworks and a marshalling yard along with a large locomotive shed on Wellington Road. The listed rotunda, originally built to house 12 steam locomotives , is now used by a commercial vehicle rental company . In the 1880s, Wortley was incorporated into the expanding city of Leeds.

The district is divided into three sections: New Wortley, Upper Wortley and Lower Wortley. New Wortley is closest to downtown Leeds and the wider Armley and Holbeck neighborhoods . It was mostly built during the 1960s and is characterized by high-rise buildings. Upper Wortley, located between Armley and Lower Wortley, consists of a variety of Victorian townhouses, semi-detached houses from the 1950s and modern apartment buildings. The furthest from the city center is Lower Wortley. Due to its convenient location on Leeds Outer Ring Road and the M621 motorway, numerous car dealerships, as well as other companies, have settled in the district, which is predominantly interspersed with semi-detached houses from the 1950s .

history

Wortley grew, like those around him, during the industrial revolution . Initially only the location of a few smaller plants, it increasingly benefited from its proximity to the industrial centers of Armley and Holbeck. From the early days of this development, Wortley deserves special mention as a railway junction and the two gas works. The smaller of these was in Lower Wortley and the second, also the largest gas works in Leeds, in New Wortley.

After the Second World War , economic life changed and, as a result, the appearance of the village in Wortley. The Leeds Corporation and private investors redeveloped the Victorian working-class neighborhoods that were previously so characteristic of Wortley. New Wortley presented itself essentially as a resettlement of social housing, in particular by building high-rise buildings typical of the time. Despite the nearby gas works, the apartments were initially heated electrically and only switched to gas in 2009 as a result of the increasing cost of energy. The large gas tanks are also among the sights of the district.

Lower and Upper Wortley lag behind New Wortley in their development. In both districts there are even larger terraced houses in the Victorian style . Most of them are being rehabilitated by private investors.

Townscape

Wortley presents itself largely as a comparatively densely populated residential area. Although it is close to downtown Leeds and Armley, which offer a wider range of shopping options, it also has a greater number of smaller local shops.

Three parks are maintained for local recreation: Wortley Recreation Ground , Cliffe Park and West Flats Park . Wortley Recreation Ground is the closest to the city center and has good views of the surrounding areas, including downtown Leeds. Often referred to as the New Worley Recreation Ground , it contains a children's playground, a skate park , three bowling areas . Several areas are designated as football and rugby fields. Cliffe Park and West Flats Park now form a large park on the former land of two mansions, Cliffe House and Western Flats House . The latter was demolished many years ago. In the 1930s, the other facility was converted into a home for difficult-to-educate boys, but this has also been in decline for a long time.

View from Wortley Recreation Ground including Bridgewater Place, Beeston and Elland Road

schools

Wortley has a high school, Swallow Hill Community College . It emerged from West Leeds High School , which closed in 2009 , a technical high school that had existed in Armley since 1907. In the neighboring Old Farnley there is also the Farnley Academy and in Pudsey to the west the Crawshaw School , both high schools with academy status. The former Wortley High School also closed in 2009. While their buildings are still under renovation, the Grade I listed former West Leeds Boys' High School has now been converted into apartments. There are also four elementary schools, namely Cobden , Five Lanes , Lower Wortley and Whingate .