Leeds Kirkgate Market, Leeds, West Yorkshire.
Kirkgate Market (pronounced /ˈkɜːrɡət/) is a market complex on Vicar Lane in the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest covered market in Europe and a Grade I listed building. There are currently 800 stalls which attract over 100,000 visitors a week.
The markets are situated with their front facing onto Vicar Lane and the southern face onto Kirkgate. To the east is Leeds City bus station, while to the north is the Victoria Gate development. To the south of the open market is the markets multi-storey car park operated by National Car Parks (NCP). From across Vicar Lane, the markets are connected to Briggate via the Victoria Quarter.
The markets first opened in 1822 as an open-air market, and between 1850 and 1875 the first covered sections of the market had been constructed after the market moved from Briggate. The Central Market hall, built alongside Duncan Street, was surrounded on three sides by shops that were mainly rented to butchers and fishmongers. Inside the hall, stalls were erected for the sale of fruit, vegetables, and dairy produce, with the balcony being used for selling fancy goods. The South Market, bordering Hunslet Lane and Meadow Lane, was used by butchers, various goods shops, open stalls, nine slaughterhouses and eighteen homes.
Plans for a market on the Kirkgate site were first unveiled in 1850 by Borough Commissioner to plans modelled on Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace in London’s Hyde Park. Development began on the current site in 1857. Then in 1875, further land was acquired to the South and East for the expansion of the market.
The Corn Exchange and First and Third White Cloth Halls were all situated in close proximity, creating a market area in the city centre. The Third White Cloth Hall moved to Queen Street in 1865, ending this concentrated area of market trading.