Hunslet - History

History

Hunslet is first mentioned as Hunslet in the Domesday Book of 1086, though twelfth-century spellings of the name such as Hunsflete seem to be more conservative: the name appears originally to have meant 'Hūn's inlet', from an Anglo-Saxon personal name Hūn and the Old English word flēot 'creek, inlet', probably referring to an inlet from the River Aire. At the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, the manor belonged to the Lacys, from whom it passed to various families including the Gascoignes and the Neviles.

Its population grew rapidly in the first half of the 19th century becoming an important manufacturing centre. Several large mills were built for spinning of flax including Hunslet Mill, and there were chemical works, works for the manufacture of crown and flint glass, extensive potteries for coarse earthenware and the Leeds Pottery.

By 1906, Hunslet was home to Leeds’ second largest gas works, the city’s main rail goods yards, known at the time as ‘Midland Goods Station’ (now the site of Crown Point Retail Park), as well as a large number of factories.

The area was redeveloped in the 1960s, the main feature of this being the Hunslet Grange (Leek Street flats). In the 1980s it was again redeveloped, and in the 2000s, the area around the River Aire and Clarence Dock was redeveloped.

The brewers Joshua Tetley and Son set up business in Hunslet in 1822 producing beer and bitter today as part of Carlsberg Tetley group. However, in 2011 the brewery closed.