SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

STOP PRESS!I was passing the North Bar Stone site at 13.50 this afternoon - and the wooden cladding is being removed and the Stone is now visible once more!Who will be first with a photo?    

Well that is interesting news. I may even have to have a trip into 'town' tomorrow!

jim wrote: STOP PRESS!I was passing the North Bar Stone site at 13.50 this afternoon - and the wooden cladding is being removed and the Stone is now visible once more!Who will be first with a photo?     That's excellent news. I was passing at 11:30 today (July 23 2014) and noticing that demolition work was going on inside the premises I went in and had a chat with one of the men working. He had not been informed that the stone could be there and had not heard of the stone. He seemed quite interested when I gave him information. He said work on the outside was likely to start tomorrow so he would look to see if the stone was still there. He also said that some unexpected steps had been met to the rear, which I said were probably part of those leading down from Vicar Lane to the old bus station and that they may come across some more steps to the Vicar Lane end, which again interested him. I would like to thank him for his willingness to listen to me as it must have been a surprise for someone to just walk in and start talking about Bar Stones of Leeds!

Did you tell him to look on the website, Leo? That would be an education for him, lol.There are a couple of photos on FB SL2 now from Mark Sturdy.

Hi Croggy1. Sadly I did not mention Secret Leeds in my chat. I assume though that I aroused his interest in the possibility (then) that the stone was there and that he thankfully then had a check.PS. I wonder what will happen to the North Bar stone now?

Well here is a chance for Secret Leeds to contact the Yorkshire Evening Post etc. to suggest a campaign to get it shifted into Leeds Museum before it gets damaged or defaced.It would also serve as a way to mention the new site<LOL>.

Steve Jones wrote: Well here is a chance for Secret Leeds to contact the Yorkshire Evening Post etc. to suggest a campaign to get it shifted into Leeds Museum before it gets damaged or defaced.It would also serve as a way to mention the new site<LOL>. Surely it's better of being preserved and then put back in situ once the work has been completed much in the same way that the Burly Bar Stone has?

LS1 wrote: Steve Jones wrote: Well here is a chance for Secret Leeds to contact the Yorkshire Evening Post etc. to suggest a campaign to get it shifted into Leeds Museum before it gets damaged or defaced.It would also serve as a way to mention the new site<LOL>. Surely it's better of being preserved and then put back in situ once the work has been completed much in the same way that the Burly Bar Stone has? Hi LS1. To the best of my knowledge the Burley Bar Stone is kept at the Leeds Building Society on The Headrow. Apart from the North Bar Stone the only other one that I know of that is still in existence (I would love to be wrong on that) is the East Bar one at Leeds Minster (Leeds Parish Church that was!).

This is a photo of the 'North Bar' Stone that I took late this a.m. today (July 25 2014). Sadly it does seems to have been drilled through at some stage, possibly to support the cladding that has now been removed. It is easy to imagine shapes in the stone that may or may not be there, but there does seem to be a triangle (possibly part of a downward arrow?) to the left of the N in the North and even possibly (but even more tentative here) that there is a very faint large B to the left of the B in Bar. If so then I wonder if there are the remains of any other old lettering on the stone?I had a chat with the same helpful young man that I did a couple of days back and he said he removed the cladding after I spoke to him then and was very interested in what he found. Demolition work is still ongoing inside the premises.    

Hi Leo,I had a close look yesterday, I also think it has been overwritten at some stage in the past, probably when it was positioned in its current location, I stated earlier in this thread that I thought the stone had been redressed.