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Clarence Dock (Leeds)
Encyclopedia
Leeds City Centre
Leeds city centre is the central business district of Leeds, England. It is within the Leeds Central parliamentary constituency, represented by Hilary Benn as MP since a by-election in 1999...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It also hosts a large residential population in waterside apartments, as well as a significant office presence.
Clarence Dock was developed as a £250 million mixed-use development between 2001 and 2007 and is located by the River Aire
River Aire
The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England of length . Part of the river is canalised, and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation....
next to the Royal Armouries Museum which faces onto Armouries Square. Clarence Dock's main shopping street radiates southbound off Armouries Square and is called 'The Boulevard'. Another important focal point is 'The Anchorage' at the top of the dock itself. The whole development opened officially to the public in late 2007. The retail and leisure sector of the development was launched on Saturday 11 October 2008 with fashion shows from celebrity fashion consultant and TV presenter Gok Wan
Gok Wan
Gok Wan is a British fashion consultant, author and television presenter of British Chinese heritage. He is known for his appearances on many television programmes , for providing fashion advice to celebrities and for contributing his views to fashion magazines published internationally.-Early...
. Upon completion, Clarence Dock now attracts around 1.5 million visitors a year.
The Clarence Dock development scheme features Clarence House, a 218 feet (66.4 m) tower consisting of 227 apartments and six retail units. Upon completion in April 2007, it became the eighth tallest building in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, it has however now been pushed to being the twelfth tallest building.
New for 2012
A new attraction for is the U-8047 Replica SubmarineU-8047 Replica Submarine
U-8047 Replica Submarine is a floating museum that has travelled along the Leeds Liverpool Canal, to facilitate historical education to children. Currently moored at Clarence Dock UK, the 45 foot narrowboat has been converted, both inside and out, in to a replica submarine, which opens its doors...
, now moored in Clarence Dock outside the Royal Armouries. The 45 foot narrowboat has been converted, both inside and out, in to a Submarine Museum, which opens its doors to teach historical education to children.
History
Originally Clarence Dock was constructed for the transportation of goods and commodities on barges to and from Leeds city centreLeeds City Centre
Leeds city centre is the central business district of Leeds, England. It is within the Leeds Central parliamentary constituency, represented by Hilary Benn as MP since a by-election in 1999...
, using the Leeds and Liverpool Canal
Leeds and Liverpool Canal
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , it crosses the Pennines, and includes 91 locks on the main line...
and the Aire and Calder Navigation
Aire and Calder Navigation
The Aire and Calder Navigation is a river and canal system of the River Aire and the River Calder in the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. The first improvements to the rivers above Knottingley were completed in 1704 when the Aire was made navigable to Leeds and the Calder to...
. Like the Middleton Steam Railway
Middleton Railway
The Middleton Railway is the world's oldest continuously working railway. It was founded in 1758 and is now a heritage railway run by volunteers from The Middleton Railway Trust Ltd...
it was primarily used to bring coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
from the collieries
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
around Rothwell
Rothwell, West Yorkshire
Rothwell is a market town on the River Dolphin in the south east of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, situated between Oulton to the east, Belle Isle to the west, Woodlesford to the north east and Robin Hood to the south west. Swillington, Methley and Kippax are located...
and Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
to supply the heavy industry in Hunslet
Hunslet
Hunslet is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is south east of the city centre and has an industrial past.Hunslet had many engineering companies based in the district, such as John Fowler & Co...
and business and commerce in Leeds city centre. The Western side of the dock (the side of Livingstone House) formerly sited a large crane which was on movable tracks along the side of the dock. This was used for the loading and unloading of goods from the canal barges. Until recently the surrounding area was made up of Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
industrial buildings, albeit throughout the 1990s most were derelict.
Decline
Throughout the second half of the 20th century the area suffered steady industrial decline. The mills and many of the heavier engineering works began to either close, move further out of town or scale down. The docks managed to survive the Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
canal decline, after the introduction of rail freight, however the move to road freight in the twentieth century killed trade at the docks. By the 1990s, the docks were barely used for the movement of any freight and most of the industrial buildings around the dock lay derelict. The building of the Royal Armouries Museum marked the start of the redevelopment of the area, however the museum opened in 1996 and no further development was made until 2004 with the opening of a multi-storey car park
Multi-storey car park
A multi-storey car-park is a building designed specifically to be for car parking and where there are a number of floors or levels on which parking takes place...
, followed by the opening of a hotel in 2006. The regeneration of Clarence Dock was a slow process and for The Royal Armouries first five years of opening it was located in a run down derelict area, making it difficult for the museum to attract visitors and for the first few years of opening it nearly closed on several occasions. The original car park for the museum has since been paved and converted into a pedestrianised square, with car parking for the museum now within the new multi-storey car park.
Shops and restaurants
Clarence Dock comprises the following: of retail space including hotels, shops and cafés.- U-8047 TRUST Submarine Museum
- A hotel occupied by Holiday Inn ExpressHoliday Inn ExpressHoliday Inn Express is a mid-priced hotel chain within the InterContinental Hotels Group family of brands. As an "express" hotel, their focus is on offering limited services and a reasonable price. Standard amenities lean toward the convenient and practical which cater to business travelers and...
- Serviced Apartments from Leedslet
- Tesco MetroTescoTesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
- Alea Casino
- Mumtaz Restaurant
- Pizza ExpressPizza ExpressPizzaExpress is a restaurant group with over 400 restaurants across the United Kingdom and 40 overseas in China, Europe, Hong Kong, Japan and the Middle East. It was founded in 1965 by Peter Boizot.In Ireland, PizzaExpress trades under the name Milano....
- Royal Armouries Museum
- G-star (closed in 2010)
- All Saints
- Replay (closed in 2010)
- Hob (closed in 2011)
- Joy (closed in 2010)
- Daniel Footwear (closed in 2010) of modern office space.
- 1,100 apartments.
- A covered car park for approximately 1,650 vehicles.
- Public Spaces including The Boulevard and Armouries Square.
- There are six stunning buildings located around moorings overlooking water, an absolutely attractive proposition near gorgeous cities.
There is also a conference and exhibition centre and a variety of leisure facilities on site, including a major Alea Casino 'Italic text