Preston Corner - Great Preston, UK - UK Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

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PRESTON CORNER

1 GREAT PRESTON HALL
The Hall was originally built in the 16th century near the Old Hall Farm which still stands today. In 1656 Sir William Lowther bought Great Preston and Astley for £7000 and rebuilt the hall to make it his home. When William died his eldest son built a tower onto the Hall from which you could see York Minster! A visitor remarked that it is 'pleasantly but very strangely situated; they go upstairs to the cellars and downstairs to the garrets'(attic). Fleakingley Lane was the main road linking the Lowther seats of Great Preston and Swillington. It is now a public bridleway.

In 1809, twenty Yorkshire parishes and townshipsto the south and east of Leeds united and formed the Great Preston Gilbert Union. The workhouse for the union was Great Preston Hall. The union remained in existence until 1869 when all remaining Gilbert Unions were abolished by law. Its member parishes were distributed between Poor Law Unions of Leeds, Pontefract and Wakefield as part of the 'great scheme'. The parish of Great Preston became part of the Pontefract Poor Law Union.

The Old Hall Workhouse, as it had become known, became a Young Men's Institute and later a Mechanics Institute. The fore runners of what we now know as the Working Mens Club and Institute. The Hall eventually fell into disrepair, a map of 1961 shows it as ruins.

2 MUSIC ROW c1930
According to local folklore a resident used to regularly sit on the step and play a penny whistle. Hence the name. The houses were demolished c1956.

3 TOP ROW and SIDE ROW
Built for the local coal miners Top Row used to stand on Whitehouse Lane and Side Row on what is now Whitehouse Crescent.

4 THE ORIGINAL NEW INN AND COTTAGE ON WHITEHOUSE LANE
Demolished in the 1960s, the inn closed as a public house in 1933 whenthe present New Inn on Berry Lane opened. The last landlord Mr Dodsworth became the first landlord of the new premises. Hence the locally known name of "Doddies". One of the best known landlords in recent times was Jim Crossley a member of the 1935 Castleford side that won the Rugby League Challenge Cup at Wembley for the first time. The cottage in the foreground is still occupied today.

5 KIPPAX STATION
The station, now demolished was sited in Great Preston, where Berry Lane chnages to Station Road on the bridge where the photo was taken from. In the 1970s a long row of terraced houses, Waddington Row, was demolished and the Glencoe estate was built. The bridge in the background is Brigshaw Lane. Also in the background can be seen large sheds, these are now rebuilt as the Station Road industrial units. The station won numerous awards for best kept station. The track has been removed and the route is now the popular Linesway, a bridleway between Allerton Bywater and Garforth. Railway cottages can be seen in the far left of the picture are still occupied today.
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On October 22 1965, HRH Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip stayed overnight in the Royal Train. The Queen was on her way to open the new Seacroft Shopping Centre the following day. There have been many claims to where the train actually parked. It has been confirmed by Buckingham Palace that the train arrived at 4:30pm on October 22nd from St. Pancras and departed the following morning at 10:10am from the Kippax branch line sidings you can see in the background.

6 WILDFLOWER MEADOW
This meadow, owned by Great and Little Preston Parish Council was planted in 2014.

Wildflowers are a very important source of nectar for our pollinating insects such as bees and butterflies.