Inside Leeds’ oldest suburb mentioned in 1086 Domesday Book and once home to Lord of the Rings author
Watch a brief history of Headingley, the oldest suburb in Leeds, with reflections from locals and visitors on what makes this part of the city special to them.
Headingley is the oldest suburb in Leeds. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and was originally a small village with just a few farms and cottages. Headingley became the first Leeds suburb in the 1830s.
Following the Norman Conquest, Headingley Village was devastated by the Harrying of the North and was given to one of William the Conqueror’s barons. It was then managed by Kirkstall Abbey until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539.
Headingley was known for a Shire Oak tree, the centre of the Skyrack wapentake, which was used as a meeting point for settling Anglo-Saxon disputes, before being felled by strong winds in 1941 - giving its name to The Original Oak and the Skyrack pubs of today.
Demand for housing in the area arose from business owners escaping the industrialised centre of Leeds, and alongside villas and mansions, stone terraces were built for working families.
In the 1801 census, Headingley’s population was 300, and by 1911 it had risen to an excess of 46,000 people. The 2021 census found around 31,000 people call the Headingley and Hyde Park area home, and the suburb has a large student population and a range of amenities - including the world famous Headingley Stadium, home to The Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the Leeds Rhinos.
Headingley is also home to a wide range of shops, restaurants and cultural venues, including the Headingley Enterprise and Arts Centre, the Otley Run pub crawl and the old Arndale Centre which is now known as Headingley Central.
Writers Arthur Ransome, J.R.R. Tolkien and Alan Bennett all have links to Headingley.
When J.R.R. Tolkien came to Leeds
Arthur Ransome, famous for the Swallows and Amazons books, was born at 6 Ash Grove, Hyde Park, situated between the University of Leeds and Headingley.
J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, came to Leeds as Reader in English at the University of Leeds in 1920, and moved to 2 Darnley Road in 1924 when he was appointed Professor, before leaving the following year for Oxford.
Alan Bennett, writer of TV series Talking Heads, lived in Far Headingley where his dad had a shop.
Have you got a video you want to share with our readers? You can now send it to us online via YourWorld at https://www.yourworld.net/submit/ It's free to use and, once checked, your footage will appear on our website.