Shopping Leeds City Market Kirkgate
Market History Photographs About the market Opening times
Leeds City Market Kirkgate is a large indoor & outdoor market selling food, clothing, furniture, house furnishings, cookers, fridges, computer equipment and many other types of goods. The market has several cafes.
Leeds City Market History
1450 The commercial importance of Leeds is developed, with markets and cloth halls, the start of a period of urban growth and industrial development.
1720 ish A description by Daniel Defoe. Mentions that "Leeds is a large,wealthy and populous town" and a market took part on the very wide stone Bridge, as the market increased in size it moved into Briggate.
17th-century The market in Briggate was the biggest in Yorkshire and really took off in 1864 when the Tuesday and Saturday Cloth markets moved into it's lower end. The wool trade is big business and Leeds becomes a very wealthy town.
18th-century Briggate the main road was wide below Kirkgate, this was where the market was held, and also a pillory and stocks used until 1837. Above Kirkgate there used to be buildings in the centre of the present road.
1893 Market in Briggate burnt down. The city council decided to relocate the market, to Vicar lane, an area that was then not much more than a cart track, surrounded by shambles, slaughterhouses and slums.
The current building in Kirkgate is Edwardian, opened in 1904. The market is known locally as Kirkgate Market. It is one of the largest markets in Europe, it's 600 stalls attracting a million people every 5 weeks.
About Leeds City Market
Besides a large selection of Fruit and Vegetable stalls you can find stalls and shops selling a vast array of goods, clothing, household, DIY, electrical including computer supplies. There are several cafes and take away food stalls, in the building, which I would say have the lowest prices in Leeds.
Leeds City Market Photographs
After a fire the lower end of the market was rebuilt
Click on a thumbnail for a larger size photograph
Boots the Chemists
A branch of Boots the chemist are located in Leeds City Markets in Vicar Lane
Use our links below for a great Leeds Shopping trip
Market Opening times
Mon, Tues, Thus, Fri,Sat 9am 5pm
Wed (Half day) 9am 1pm
Sunday except for a monthly 'Farmers market' Closed
The outdoor market located at the lower end of the main market building near Leeds Bus and coach station, is closed on Sundays and Mondays, closes at 4:30pm.
You can often find some fabulous bargains late on a Saturday afternoon when the market traders are selling off perishable fruit and vegetables before closing for the weekend
.
