Church Lane

Here we follow Church Lane from its starting point near the bottom of Main Street until it meets Ninelands Lane at the top end. Running East-West through what was historically known as Church Garforth, Church Lane contains a mixture of newer houses as well older houses and of course two churches.

Sadly many older and grand houses such as The Grange and Rose Villa as can be seen below were demolished years ago to make way for the Grange estate which went up around the 1960s.

The Parochial School
Church Lane Corner
Church Lane General
The Grange
The Hollies
Rose Villa
St. Mary’s Church
The Rectory
Wesleyan Chapel (Methodist Church)

The Parochial School

These images show the Parochial School which stood at the end of Church Lane opposite the Library. The school was closed in 1990 and demolished in 1994 where the medical centre was built in its place. I remember the school standing empty when I was younger, I never went inside as I was at Barleyhill Infants School and then West Garforth Junior School and I don't think I've ever seen a photo of the interior either.

Date: c1910
Copyright: Phototype Co.
Full Res: 1358 x 838px | 618.2K |
Postcard: Phototype 1867

Date: 1910
Copyright: Bramley
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Postcard: Bramley NN20

Date: 1972
Copyright: Unknown
Full Res: 790 x 475px | 254.3K |

Church Lane Corner

The bottom of Church Lane with the Parochial School on the left hand side.

Date: Unknown
Copyright: Lilywhite
Full Res: 1704 x 1054px | 1.0M |
Postcard: Lilywhite GFH9

Date: 5th August 2007
Copyright: Ian Atkinson
Full Res: 2000 x 1265px | 1.3M

Date: Unknown
Copyright: Laycocks
Full Res: 829 x 549px | 298.6K
Postcard: Laycocks 706

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Date: c1900
Copyright: Unknown
Full Res: 500 x 264px | 42.3K |

Date: Unknown
Copyright: Unknown
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This parade of shops stood where the Library now stands and included Varley’s Hairdressers, Laycock’s newsagents and Shackleton’s bakery [3].

Date: Unknown
Copyright: Unknown
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Shackleton's Bakery which was situated where Garforth Library now stands.

Church Lane General

Date: Unknown
Copyright: Bramley
Full Res: 500 x 305px | 36.1K |
Postcard: Bramley NN16

Date: 30th March 2019
Copyright: Ian Atkinson
Full Res: 2000 x 1270px | 1.6M

Date: c1969
Copyright: The Francis Frith Collection
Full Res: 2000 x 1273px | 2.2M |
Postcard: Frith GFH42

Date: 19th April 2019
Copyright: Ian Atkinson
Full Res: 2000 x 1353px | 2.1M

Near Station Fields showing the tradesmans’ entrance to The Grange in the right of the frame [2].

Date: Unknown
Copyright: Unknown
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Date: 27th August 2007
Copyright: Ian Atkinson
Full Res: 2000 x 1373px | 1.4M

Date: c.1912
Copyright: Bramley
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Postcard: Bramley B29

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St. Mary’s church hall, which burnt down in the 1990s. The huts used by the Scouts and the Girl Guides can be seen in the background amongst the trees.

This whole area was flattened in order to build The Mead cul-de-sac.

Date: c.1980s
Copyright: Unknown
Full Res: 789 x 498px | 231.1K |

Date: 29th March 2019
Copyright: Ian Atkinson
Full Res: 2000 x 1239px | 1.4M

A view from the 1930s with St Mary’s behind the trees.

Date: 1930s
Copyright: Richards
Full Res: 788 x 453px | 234.1K |
Postcard: Richards 8

Date: 27th August 2007
Copyright: Ian Atkinson
Full Res: 2000 x 1360px | 1.4M

The church grounds are on the right hand side and the cottages on the left were demolished in order to make way for Oak Crescent [3].

Date: Unknown
Copyright: Bramley
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Postcard: Bramley NN05

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Date: Unknown
Copyright: Unknown
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Looking towards the top of Church Lane from within the end of Oak Cresent. In the left quarter of the frame is Atkinson’s Farm which stood where The Podger now stands [3].

Date: Unknown
Copyright: Unknown
Full Res: 780 x 473px | 212.7K |

Date: 29th March 2019
Copyright: Ian Atkinson
Full Res: 2000 x 1232px | 1.6M

Date: c1924
Copyright: Hoult
Full Res: 2000 x 1240px | 1.3M
Postcard: Hoult NN02

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The cricket ground is on the left hand side behind the hedge

Date: c1905
Copyright: Parkinson & Roy
Full Res: 500 x 304px | 34.3K |
Postcard: Parkinson & Roy NN12

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Date: c1910
Copyright: Bramley
Full Res: 500 x 314px | 27.2K |
Postcard: Bramley NN13

A view of Church Lane and St Mary’s from the Bar Lane railway bridge before the Oak Estate was built.

Date: Unknown
Copyright: Laycocks
Full Res: 2000 x 1228px | 1.5M
Postcard: Laycocks 632

The Grange

The Grange was a large house which stood on Church Lane. The house was demolished in order to make way for the Grange estate, which was of course named after the house [3].

Date: Unknown
Copyright: Laycocks
Full Res: 500 x 330px | 59.9K |
Postcard: Laycocks NN04

The Hollies

The Hollies was built in Church Lane by a man named Jabez Wooley who owned a brickworks in Leeds [3]. The Hollies is now a home for the elderly but still retains its original name.

Date: Unknown
Copyright: Unknown
Full Res: 710 x 498px | 222.6K |

Date: 19th April 2019
Copyright: Ian Atkinson
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Rose Villa

Rose Villa stood on Church Lane but was demolished to make way for Rose Court [3].

Date: Unknown
Copyright: Unknown
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Date: Unknown
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The back of Rose Villa looking past Atkinson’s farm, with St. Mary’s in the background [3].

St. Mary’s Church

St. Mary’s was built in 1844 and was mostly funded by the Gascoigne family. This is probably the third church to be built on this site [2]. Every postcard series seems to have photos of the church so there are many different images to enjoy.

From Church Lane

It's not possible to take quite the same image of the front of the church now as there are houses in the way so I have taken the best view that I can as a general comparison.

Date: c1930s
Copyright: Milton
Full Res: 2000 x 1254px | 1.3M
Postcard: Milton NN06