'I've been uncovering Leeds' history for over 50 years - and it all started with a little trowel'
The Yorkshire Evening Post is shining a spotlight on Heritage Heroes across Leeds. For more than half a century, Steven Burt has been uncovering, preserving and retelling the stories that make Leeds what it is.
A historian, author, speaker and former museum director, his work has shaped how generations of readers, researchers and residents understand the city’s past.
From landmark books that remain essential reading decades after publication, to his role in strengthening Leeds’ historic archives and cultural institutions, Steven’s contribution to local heritage is both deep and wide-ranging.
His latest publication, The Illustrated History of Chapel Allerton, brings together years of research and a lifelong connection to one of Leeds’ most revealing neighbourhoods.
Steven can pinpoint exactly where that lifelong fascination began.
He said: “I was born in Kirkstall in Leeds and I had slightly malformed feet. My poor dad, who was a brilliant sportsman, didn’t have a son who was a brilliant sportsperson at all.
“And so instead of playing football in Kirkstall Abbey grounds, my love was to go round the Abbey House Museum, which I was fascinated by.”
That early curiosity soon became something more tangible. As a child, Steven found himself directly involved in archaeology, working alongside members of the Thoresby Society at Kirkstall Abbey.
He said: “I remember being lifted over the railings and given a little trowel and allowed to excavate with the members of the society. So yes, I can remember exactly.”
More than 50 years on, Steven is widely regarded as one of Leeds’ most respected local historians.
Over the past half century he has written extensively about the city, producing books that combine rigorous academic research with an engaging, accessible style.
His Illustrated History of Leeds, co-written with Kevin Grady, remains a cornerstone text for anyone seeking to understand the city’s development.
He said: “Kevin and I went to a great deal of trouble to make it academically accurate.
“But it was written for the general reader. It isn’t highfalutin and full of academic tables.”
That blend of scholarship and storytelling, he believes, is why the book has stood the test of time.
Steven said Leeds continues to offer endless opportunities for discovery.
“Simply because of the richness, the wealth of historical material that survives,” he explained.
“We are blessed in the city of Leeds in the fact that it’s been a thriving centre and it’s constantly changing.”
Despite that constant change, the flow of new material into archives has never slowed.
That ongoing accumulation means that even well-known places can still reveal surprises.
While researching his new book on Chapel Allerton, Steven uncovered missing elements of an 18th-century family archive - and tracked them down.
He said: “I realised some papers were missing.
“So I managed to track the gentleman down in London who had the other half of the archive.
“He invited me to stay with him for four days, and I was able to go through all his family archive, which was astonishing.”
The discovery transformed his understanding of Meanwood Park and the Oates family who once owned it.
He said: “I can tell you not only what was in every room in the house, down to the candlesticks and the silver in the hallway, I can also tell you the cloth they were selling, where they were exporting it to, to Portugal and Spain, and what wine they were bringing back in exchange.”
For Steven, bringing history to life means helping readers visualise people and places as they once were.
He said: “As soon as you start to look into people’s eyes in a portrait, you get a sense of the person.
“If you put a picture of the house there and then a plan or a map of where that house is located, you get that sense of place.”
His work on Chapel Allerton traces how the area reflects wider changes in Leeds itself.
As the city centre became crowded, polluted and noisy in the 18th century, wealthy merchants began moving north in search of cleaner air and a better quality of life.
He said: “They start what’s called the flight to the northern suburbs.
“Chapel Allerton, Potternewton and Headingley were the perfect places for these rich merchants to go.”
The result was the creation of grand houses and landscaped estates that still shape the area today.
He said: “You get people beautifying places like Gledhow Hall and creating what we now know as Gledhow Valley, with the lake.”
Alongside his writing, Steven’s career has spanned museum curation and leadership.
He was involved in establishing the Thackray Medical Museum and later became museum director of the Royal Armouries in Leeds.
Steven has also devoted decades to the Thoresby Society, the Leeds History Society. A member for 54 years and a past president, he recently helped spearhead the successful application for official archive accreditation.
Despite decades immersed in research, Steven insists his enthusiasm has never waned. And when it comes to legacy, his hopes are firmly focused on the future.
“I hope that what I’ll manage to do is encourage a new generation of people to take an interest in the history of the city,” he said.
“Because if there’s nobody new actually picking up the reins, then it really isn’t worth much, is it?”