Leeds Guide : The Exchange Quarter, Leeds Corn Exchange

Exchange Quarter Leeds is the area around the Corn Exchange building in Leeds.

You can visit the Exchange Quarter as part of your stay in Leeds - Leeds Hotels with last minute and late room booking discounts.

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Exchange Quarter - Leeds City Guide to the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire

The Corn Exchange Building in Leeds, West Yorkshire is one of Britain's finest Victorian buildings and a great architectural heritage of the city of Leeds. The Corn Exchange is a Grade I listed building. Cuthbert Brodrick, a young architect from Hull who won international fame for his design of Leeds Town Hall was responsible for this building.

The first stone of the Corn Exchange was laid on 7 May 1861 and the building was completed three years later in 1864. As time went by following the Corn Exchange closed and the Exchange's condition deteriorated to such a degree that the building itself and the much of the surrounding area became one of Leeds' most run down areas.

Some proposals for the regeneration for this site included turning the Corn Exchange into a concert hall similar to the Royal Albert Hall in London. In 1985, Speciality Shops plc won the contract to re-develop the building as a shopping centre. It opened for trade in 1990. The Corn Exchange now sits in one of Leeds' city centre areas known as The Exchange Quarter.

In November 2007 it was revealed that the Corn Exchange (which had been under refubishment for the past year following being taken over by Zurich Financial Services) was to be converted into a food emporium. The plans brought protests from existing independent traders, who were removed from the Corn Exchange, and their customers.

Following a major restoration project, Leeds Corn Exchange re-opened in November 2008 as a boutique shopping destination for creative independent retail enterprises. The entire 13,200 sq foot ground level is now occupied by a new restaurant venture, the Piazza by Anthony, operated by Leeds-based chef Anthony Flinn. Piazza has been followed by three independent fashion boutiques and creative enterprises, including Hidden Wardrobe Dawn Stretton Dawn Stretton and Outrage. In 2010 they have been joined by Primo's, Russo Italia, Mki and Mummy & Little Me.

Many other old buildings have been restored in this area and, as such, it is now considered a very cosmopolitan part of the city. It is also a congregation point for emo kids and goths. Other buildings in the area have been converted into apartments, plus new developments have added to the variety and vibrancy of the area.

An inhabitant of Leeds is locally known as a Loiner, though such terms are now rarely used or understood. However, the mock-classical adjectives Leodensian and Leodiensian are sometimes used by some local sports clubs harking back to the old name for the City "Leodis".

Leeds - The History of Leeds, Know Leeds
The city was originally an agricultural market town in the Middle Ages, and received its first charter in 1207. In the Tudor period Leeds was mainly a merchant town manufacturing woollen cloths and trading with Europe via the Humber estuary. At one point nearly half of England's total export passed through Leeds. The city's industrial growth was catalysed by the introduction of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1816 and the railway in 1848.

Leeds - Visiting Leeds, Visit Leeds
The vast range of attractions, thriving club scene, and world class sports and leisure venues make Leeds a brilliant place to live or visit. You can take an interactive tour of the city of Leeds courtesy of VR LEEDS.
The city is alive with vibrant, European-style cafes sitting comfortably alongside traditional English pubs.


Photo: The Exchange, Leeds. © ImagesOfLeeds used with permission.

Leeds - Shopping in Leeds, Shop Leeds!
Leeds is also the destination for shopping in the north, with its impressive Victorian shopping arcades, and all the major high street names. Leeds plays host to the largest department store in Yorkshire, and the only Harvey Nichols outside London. Leeds is particularly good for shopping as the centre is predominantly a pedestrian-only area.
You can view hundreds of images and photos of Leeds courtesy of IMAGES OF LEEDS.

Leeds - Eating in Leeds, Love Leeds!.
The range of restaurants is superb, with Indian, Chinese, Thai, Spanish, French, American, Italian and Mexican to choose from, in addition to the traditional English food served both in the City Centre and the quaint country pubs on the way to the Yorkshire Dales.

Leeds - Living in Leeds, Live in Leeds!.
The City of Leeds continues to regenerate itself with a booming property market, hundreds of new city centre apartments have added to the diversity of the housing stock within the city, yet even in the city centre you are still only a few miles of open countryside, and living in one of the greenest cities in the country with open spaces and parkland available to all. A listing of Leeds Estate Agents and Property companies can be found at LIVING IN LEEDS.