A three-year heritage, cultural and engagement programme exploring the past, present and future of New Briggate, Leeds.
Hidden Histories of New Briggate ran from 2021 to 2024, as part of the National High Street Heritage Action Zone programme, taking place in 60 towns and cities across England. A partnership between Leeds City Council and Historic England, the New Briggate High Street Heritage Action Zone project delivered heritage-led regeneration through the use of government-funded grants for improvements to buildings and public spaces.
We worked with a cultural consortium of seven organisations to deliver a complementary three-year programme of culture that showcased New Briggate’s rich and diverse story with the help of specially commissioned artists and a wide-ranging process of community engagement. The New Briggate cultural consortium included Leeds City Council, Leeds Heritage Theatres, Opera North, Age UK, North Bar & Brewery, Leeds Civic Trust and the Churches Conservation Trust.
Why New Briggate?
New Briggate is the gateway to the city centre of Leeds – the start of the busy and bustling commercial and cultural high street. With the oldest church in Leeds, St John’s, bordering the high street, New Briggate was a development of Briggate and became the home of Leeds Grand Theatre in 1878. Since then it has housed other world-renowned cultural organisations such as Opera North and the Howard Assembly Room, as well as a fascinating mix of shops, bars, infamous nightclubs, takeaways, cinemas, afro-hairdressers, and tram and bus routes.
What makes this street special is the range of people who use it each day. It is home to a transient community – commuters, shoppers, diners, night owls, lovers of live theatre, opera and music, sex workers, people seeking shelter, and many more. All of this brings together a unique mix of people that you won’t find on any other street in Leeds.
Our primary aim was to celebrate the past, present and future of one of the most unique high streets in Leeds. We wanted to ensure, despite the changing landscape and regeneration of the street, that the stories and footprints of those who have used it over the last century are not lost or forgotten.
The artists: Yaku Stapleton and Harry Clayton-Wright
Two artists were commissioned, from the beginning, to collaborate with us in celebrating the past, present and future of New Briggate. Through their creative lens, we were able to further showcase the rich history of the street, and the area, in exciting, provocative and engaging ways that complemented their practices and likewise gave the project a sense of integrity and depth.
We were delighted, after many applications, to appoint Yaku Stapleton and Harry Clayton-Wright as our chosen artists. Both artists used research and community co-creation to devise new art pieces which uncovered untold stories and brought people’s focus back to a place in the city which could easily be overlooked.
Find out more
Find out more about our approach to delivering the cultural programme for the New Briggate High Street Heritage Action Zone project with our Hidden Histories of New Briggate publication.
