The Lord of the Manor of Leeds has run out of Money! What Does He Do?

A later map of Leeds, dated 1726 and created by John Cossins, show where Kirkgate meets Briggate

After the Norman conquest in 1066, Leeds and the surrounding area fell under the stewardship of Ilbert De Lacy. By 1086, Leeds was a bustling Medieval settlement centred around Kirkgate, with details of some 36 households logged in the Domesday book of that year.

Ilbert de Lacy in turn granted the manor to Ralph Paynel, who then gifted the parish church and land to the Holy Trinity of York Priory. This, however, created a cashflow problem for his great, great grandson, Maurice Paynel (also known as Maurice de Gant), who found himself short on manorial income because money was going to the priory.

How does a Manorial Lord deal with a money problem like this? Well, he simply builds a new town, or borough of Leeds. In 1207, using land to the west of Kirkgate, Maurice oversaw the creation of a new long street that ran from the River Aire crossing point, then North. Plots of land either side of the street were divided up, and these were then rented out to craftspeople to live and work. These ‘burgage’ plots cost 16p per year (around £282 per year in today’s money) in rent and included not just the new space here, but plots of land away from the town too.

The street was left deliberately wide enough to hold markets, and Maurice hoped that the competitively priced rent, along with the generous amount of land included, would entice craftspeople from elsewhere to move here. It worked.

We know this street as Briggate! A thriving retail street today just as it always has been. An interesting fact about Briggate is that many of the shops and arcades on the street still occupy those same divided plots of land today, including Thornton’s Arcade.

If you’re interested in the early history of Leeds, check out my Leeds City Centre Tour.