Leeds School Board, Calverley Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire, now the Civic Court House.. - Blue Plaques on Waymarking.com

The Leeds School Board was formed after the passing of the 1870 Elementary Education Act and this building, now Grade II* listed, was built between 1878 and 1881 to house offices and examination rooms. It was designed by the Scots born architect George Corson. It is at the junction of Great George Street and Calverley Street. Originally meant to be contiguous with the Municipal Buildings it had to be re-designed because of the opposition to the closure that would have meant of Alexander Street.

The Elementary Education Act was promoted by the Bradford mill owner WE Foster and divided the United Kingdom into school boards which were responsible for providing education for children up to the age of 10. At this time with the huge expansion of city population due to the migration of the general populace from country to town provision of education for the children of workers in the cities was limited and many children went uneducated.

The Leeds School Board was established in November 1870 with its members elected by the public and an assessment of needs showed that out of a total of 58,000 children needing education under the new Act only 12,000 were then receiving it.

The Leeds Mercury in September 1881 stated that '...the poorest school-lad will know, that the head-quarters of his school are to be found in one of the finest buildings in the country.' The School Board was abolished in 1902 and the Education Committee of the Leeds Corporation took over the administration of the 160 schools in the area.

The building is now the Leeds Civic Court House.

The Blue Plaque is on the left front of the building shows the emblem of the Leeds Civic Trust above the wording which states:-

                       LEEDS SCHOOL BOARD
                 erected this fine headquarters
                and examination centre in 1878-81.
               First elected by the ratepayers of
                 Leeds in 1870, the Board built
                sufficient schools to ensure that
                 for the first time every child
                      in Leeds received an
                      elementary education.
                           Architect:
                         George Corson

Blue Plaque managing agency: Leeds Civic Trust Individual Recognized: The Leeds School Board. Physical Address: Civic Court Calverley Street Leeds, West Yorkshire UK LS1 3ED Web Address: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
To log an entry for a "Blue Plaque," please try to include a picture of you next to the plaque!

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   04/15/2015 maeib visited it