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West Point (building)

Buildings and structures in LeedsYorkshire building and structure stubs
West Point 16 August 2018
West Point 16 August 2018

West Point, formerly known as Royal Mail House, is a 65 metres (213 ft) tall 17-floor residential tower block located at number 29 of Wellington Street in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was conceived as a landmark building in the skyline and a key gateway building to the city, and the start of redevelopment of the west part of the city.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article West Point (building) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

West Point (building)
Whitehall Road, Leeds Holbeck Urban Village

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Latitude Longitude
N 53.79598 ° E -1.553707 °
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Address

Leeds Postal Service

Whitehall Road
LS1 4JY Leeds, Holbeck Urban Village
England, United Kingdom
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West Point 16 August 2018
West Point 16 August 2018
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Tower Works
Tower Works

Tower Works is a former factory notable for its three listed towers. It is located on Globe Road in Holbeck, Leeds, West Yorkshire, next to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The Italianate towers of the factory are a distinctive landmark on the Leeds skyline. The factory was founded by T.R. Harding to make steel pins for carding and combing in the textile industry, and the original buildings, by Thomas Shaw, were erected in 1864–66. Harding's son, Colonel Thomas Walter Harding, employed William Bakewell to extend the works in 1899. The design of the extension was heavily influenced by Harding's love of Italian architecture and art. The most notable features of Tower Works are the three towers that give it its name and served for dust extraction from the factory. The largest and most ornate tower (1899, by Bakewell) is based on Giotto's Campanile in Florence. The smaller ornate tower (1866, by Shaw) is styled after the Torre dei Lamberti in Verona. A third plain tower, built as part of Harding's final phase of expansion in 1919, is thought to represent a Tuscan tower house such as can be seen in San Gimignano. All three towers are listed structures, the two ornate towers being Grade II* and the plain tower Grade II.The design for the Giotto Tower included ventilation systems that were way ahead of their time in terms of minimising pollution from the steel works. The chimney incorporated a filter to remove the excess steel dust. In 1895 T. W. Harding & Son amalgamated with two other companies to become Harding, Rhodes & Co. The factory sustained damage in World War II when neighbouring buildings were bombed during the air raids on the nearby Leeds railway station. It closed in 1981 after 117 years of operating on the site.

Marshall's Mill
Marshall's Mill

Marshall's Mill is a former flax spinning mill on Marshall Street in Holbeck, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Marshall's Mill was part of a complex begun in 1791–92 by English industrial pioneer John Marshall. It was originally a four-storey mill, drawing water from the nearby Hol Beck. A Boulton & Watt steam engine was installed to assist water power. Rapid expansion followed with the addition of Mill 'B' (1794) adjacent to a warehouse built to service the original mill (all now demolished.)It was to eventually supplant Yorkshire's previous cottage industry of hand driven spindles. As the business continued to expand further mills, warehouses, engine houses, and reservoirs were added on the south side of Hol Beck. The six storey Mill 'C' was added in 1815–16, Mill 'D' followed in 1826–27, and Mill 'E' (which is aligned to the roadside and joined Mill 'C' to Mill 'D') in 1829–31.Temple Mill, in the form of an Egyptian Temple, was built between 1838 and 1841. Later, the complex employed over 2,000 factory workers. When it was completed it was considered to be one of the largest factories in the world, with 7,000 steam-powered spindles. The addition of the Temple Mill completed development of mills by Marshall & Sons on this site. All of the mill buildings added from 1815 still exist. In the early years, child labour was employed. In 1832 Marshall's political opponents alleged that: 'In Mr Marshall's mill, a boy of 9 years of age was stripped to the skin, bound to an iron pillar, and mercilessly beaten with straps, until he fainted.' But other reports claim that Marshall treated his workers better than most factory owners: overseers were forbidden to use corporal punishment to control the workers, and Marshall installed fans and attempted to regulate the temperature of the mill. In 1844, Marshall and a neighbouring engineering firm, Taylor, Wordsworth and Co broke new ground by organising an away weekend in Liverpool for their workers, a novelty which caused even the editor of the normally liberal Leeds Mercury some concern: 'Entirely approving of excursions for the working class, and with the kindest feelings towards the workmen of Messrs Marshall and Messrs Taylor and Wordsworth, we would express our earnest hope that the Sunday spent in Liverpool may not in any respect be spent in a manner unbecoming the day ... There are many excellent men among the above bodies of workmen, and great responsibility will rest upon them for the issue of this new and somewhat doubtful experiment, of a large body of people being away from home on the Sabbath, and on two whole nights.' Marshall & Sons ceased production in 1886. The site was taken over by other textile producers. Marshall's Mill is now a grade II* listed building. The site was comprehensively redeveloped in the late 1990s. It is now used as office space for several companies. There are plans to further redevelop the site as part of Holbeck Urban Village.