Cross Gates is a suburb of Leeds, but unlike many it isn’t an ancient village. Instead, it seems to have largely been a cross roads marking a parish boundary until a handful of cottages sprang up and then gave way to more and more houses for workers in the local coal pits during the nineteenth century. The pits closed relatively early, in 1882, and as other local industry fizzled out in the early twentieth century it became a commuter village and eventually became the suburb of Leeds that it is today. Historically perhaps not the most salubrious of suburbs, it is gaining a reputation as a desirable (and affordable) place to live, thanks to the growing provision of local amenities centred around Cross Gates Shopping Centre, which was built in the nineteen sixties but continues to thrive. Nevertheless, it is likely not the sort of place that tourists visit for its own sake, but it has the distinct advantage of being walking distance from Temple Newsam, a rather more popular tourist destination, as we shall see. The walk also passes through the adjacent suburbs of Whitkirk and Colton, both once separate villages that have been absorbed into the larger Leeds conurbation.
Cross Gates Railway Station, which was opened by the Leeds and Selby Railway in 1834; it closed in 1840, reopened in 1850, and was rebuilt in 1870. A separate line to Wetherby once terminated at the station but closed in 1964. Most of the original buildings have been demolished, but the street-level ticket office survives and the rear part of the building currently houses a café; the two platforms are located at the bottom of a deep cutting, one side of which is lined with red brick, somehow giving the impression that the station is much bigger than it actually is. The signage at the station has varied over the years with some signs reading Cross Gates and others Crossgates; clearly, nobody was entirely sure of the spelling. From the station, we cross the Ring Road then turn left, and at a junction, we bear slightly right along Hollyshaw Lane and follow it until it ends at Selby Road, passing the Brown Cow public house on the right, which is every inch the modern, purpose-built gastropub. We are now in Whitkirk, and as we cross over the road the Church of St. Mary is directly opposite; Grade I-listed, the church dates from the fifteenth century and was restored in the nineteenth. It is the only known medieval church in the area.
Turn left and then right along Colton Road, continuing straight ahead at a mini roundabout and shortly passing Whitkirk Manor House on the left. This Grade II-listed building dates from the early seventeenth century and a Leeds Civic Trust plaque affixed to the wall reveals that John Wesley is reputed to have preached in the garden. Shortly after this, the road curves right; here, bear left along a footpath running alongside Temple Newsam Millennium Wood, which as the name suggests was planted in the year 2000. When the path ends at Meynell Road, turn right and then take the next left along Park Road, following this until it ends at a gated entrance to the grounds of Temple Newsam. Suddenly, we have left suburbia behind and find ourselves surrounded by trees and grassland, as we climb over a stile to enter the park, where an interpretation board reveals that this area is the location of the Shrunken Medieval Village of Colton.
Temple Newsam is one of many examples of a former stately home and grounds now open to the public; in this case, it is owned by Leeds City Council and the grounds are now a popular and expansive public park.
Temple Newsam
As we continue straight ahead along the path, we soon enter another wood to reach Menagerie Ponds, part of the design for the grounds laid out by famous landscape architect Capability Brown, who was employed to re-landscape the estate in the 1790s; much of his landscape at Temple Newsam was later obliterated by twentieth century open-cast mining, but happily the damage this caused has itself been mitigated by subsequent re-landscaping. Take a detour to the right to visit the Walled Garden; otherwise, turn left and follow a path through the trees, which eventually turns sharp right and crosses a bridge over the end of the bottom pond. Turn left and walk to the end of the pond, then take a sharp right over a small bridge and follow a path uphill to the Little Temple, an eye-catcher built in the 1760s. Continue past this, walking downhill to a metal gate, then turn right and right again to follow a path to a crossroads.
Continue straight ahead, then take the next right turn over a wooden stile to follow a path uphill between two hedgerows. At the end of the path, turn right and at the next crossroads continue straight ahead, following the path as it curves right to reach Temple Newsam house. The Grade I-listed building dates from the early sixteenth century and is steeped in history, having been (amongst other things) seized by Henry VIII in 1544 and given to his niece; it was later the birthplace of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, the father of King James VI of Scotland and I of England, and later still seized by Elizabeth I. Walk past the house to the Stables, where toilets and refreshments are available, as well as admission tickets to the house.
From the stables, walk to Elm Tree Walk and follow the path running parallel with the drive to a small car park. Just before this, turn left and follow a path to the edge of a band of trees. Take the next junction on the right, then the next left and walk through the wood to another junction. Turn right and follow this to a path between houses, continuing straight ahead to reach Templegate Avenue. We have now left the grounds of Temple Newsam, and return to suburban walking as we had back towards Cross gates. Follow the avenue as it curves round to the left, then take the third right turn along Templegate Green. Follow this until it ends at Selby Road, then turn right, to where Temple Newsam Cross (a war memorial) can be seen.
Turn left past the cross and follow Queensway to Woodland Hill. Turn left and follow this to Cross Green Lane and cross straight over, passing the Leodis public house on the left, and following a path across a triangular green to Primrose Lane. Follow this, then take the second right along Valley Drive. At the end of this, bear left along an alleyway, then at the end turn right and follow a footpath over a footbridge over the railway line. On the other side, turn right and then at a Y-junction bear left, follow a path between a line of trees on the right and a housing development currently being built on the left to reach Maryfield Avenue.
Turn right and then turn left along Maryfield Crescent to reach Crossgates Road. Follow this to a large roundabout, in the middle of which the Cross Gates sculpture can be seen. This was designed in 2009 by architect John Thorp and consists of three metal gates, painted red, blue and silver; reception to it has reportedly been mixed!
Cross Gates sculpture
Turn right along the Ring Road (the red-brick Catholic Church of St. Theresa can be seen just ahead on the right), then cross over and turn left along Austhorpe Road, passing Crossgates Methodist Church on the left. Continue to the Charles Henry Roe public house (a Wetherspoons, inevitably popular) on the left, then turn right and follow Marshall Street until it ends. Turn right again and follow a footpath, passing Cross Gates Gas Holder (all that remains of the Cross Gates Gasworks, which closed in the nineteen sixties) on the right, and finally turn left in front of the Station Hotel (opened in 1902) to return to Cross Gates station.
From Cross Gates, we continue along the Selby Line towards York for our next walk, which boasts not one railway station but two, as we reach the town of Garforth.
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