Stourton, Leeds

Coordinates: 53°46′12″N 1°30′29″W / 53.770°N 1.508°W

Stourton war memorial

Stourton is a mainly industrial area of the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The area falls within the City and Hunslet ward of Leeds Metropolitan Council.

Location

The area is 2 miles (3 km) to the south east of Leeds city centre and lies between Hunslet, the M1 motorway and Cross Green in the LS10 postcode area.

History

Until the local boundary changes in the 1970s, Stourton was a village in the Rothwell Urban District attached to the southernmost border of Leeds, and governed by the old West Riding County Council. Stourton dated from the Industrial Revolution and was a community of some 2,500 people with its own churches and pubs, but from the 1970s the housing was demolished to make way for motorways and industrial developments until by 1990 little remained of the village except its war memorial.^[1][2] This memorial to "the men of Stourton and Thwaitegate" lists 75 names from World War I and 25 from World War II and was moved in about 1973 from St Andrew's church, Pontefract Road, when this was demolished; the new site was donated by Waddingtons, who also defrayed the costs of removal and re-erection.^[3] One of the men named on the Stourton cenotaph is CQMS Denis Gill MM and Bar, York and Lancaster Regiment. He was killed in action on 5 January 1944 at Cassino, Italy. He is buried in the Cassino War Cemetery.

Industry

A power station providing electricity for Leeds and the surrounding areas used to be located at Stourton. However, this was closed and demolished in the early 1990s. The associated substation remains in use however.

It was the home of some significant industry. John Waddingtons, Yorkshire Copperworks, Camerons Iron Works, Concrete Northern (Bison) being among the larger companies, as well as the afore mentioned Power Station and a not insignificant railway shunting yard.

Freightliner terminal

There is a substantial railfreight intermodal terminal at Stourton which is operated by Freightliner (UK). It has 6 departures and arrivals on most days going to and from Southampton, Felixstowe and London Gateway. There is also a thrice-weekly feeder service to Tees Dock which conveys containers from Southampton services.^[4] Intermodal trains to and from Stourton are often used to bring locomotives to the Freightliner Group's Depot at Nearby Midland Road in Hunslet for maintenance and repair.^[5]

References

1. "Reunion for Stourton: the village that disappeared". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
2. "War memorials in Leeds". Leeds City Council. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
3. "Leeds: Stourton and Thwaitegate Memorial". Roll of Honour. 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
4. Rawlinson, Mark (2015). Freightmaster 78. Swindon: Freightmaster Publishing. pp. 58, 107, 114.
5. "Leeds Terminal - Freightliner". Freightliner. Retrieved 8 October 2015.

External links

• The ancient parish of Rothwell: historical and genealogical information at GENUKI (Stourton was in this parish)