SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

One of the old style night safes should still be outside Lloyds bank in Morley, I believe that the bank is older than the Town Hall next to the bank, and is also a grade 2 listed building, so in theory one would think it shouldn’t really be in any real danger of getting removed or replaced.
The image above is not mine and is cropped from Streetview, but next time I am over to visit the family graves in Morley, I will take a camera with me and attempt to get a better picture.

Not located in a Leeds postcode, but I know of two banks in West Yorkshire that still have older style night safes fitted in windows (one just below the main pane and the other in the centre) instead of the normal stone wall fitting location associated with them. With cash machines being ripped out of walls and buildings by gangs of theives, I had wondered just how safe using the old night safe fitted in glass really was, but if it is just a glorified trap door to a chute direct into the main bank vault, I don’t think it will matter much where they are fitted to the bag contents security if the night safe door is fixed in glass or stone, and they are unlikely to ever attract attention to a gang with a stolen JCB or 4x4 and a big chain unlike the cash machines do.

Thanks all for providing more examples. I shall keep my eye open for more. Probably not surprising, I notice that the one at the Lloyds Bank in Morley noted by Happy Valley looks the same as that at the Lloyds Bank on The Headrow. Perhaps each Bank had its own style.

PS. I did at one stage a few years back think of photographing cash machines (ATMs) for a record of them but there were just far too many and they changed fairly often. Also I think I would have looked very suspicious being seen taking photos of them! Anyone wishing to do the project please feel free! .

rikj wrote:Having walked past it earlier there is one on the Barclays opposite the Parkinson steps. Another Chubb, though looks to have had a small plate fixed over the keyhole.

Thanks rikj for bringing that one to my attention .

I took these 2 photos at that site on August 25 2015. The first is a close-up of the old unused wall night safe and the second is a view of the branch of Barclays Bank that has the safe (visible by the entrance). It took me very many minutes to get the wider view without anybody in view using the two cash machines close to the safe .

PS. I would have said the bank is on Woodhouse Lane but I've found that its address is actually 25 Blenheim Terrace, Woodhouse.

These are in the University Union so not strictly on an external wall. Not sure what the difference between the two is though, can anybody help? They are not attached to a branch of a bank but just in the wall. Perhaps a bank had been there previously.

Hello Barnie
In your pictures above, the black horse is, as I'm sure you know, the emblem of Lloyd's bank. The image on the other safe, featuring the three crowns, is the symbol of Coutts private bank (link below).

http://www.coutts.com/about-us/history/

You've just beaten me to this Bruno .

I suspect that the Coutts one may have been used (still used?) by the Natwest Bank as that is part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group which is part of Coutts.

rikj wrote:Not in the centre, but I've got vague memories of one on the bank at the junction of Harrogate Road and Shadwell Lane.

I wonder if a lot got replaced by ATMs?

Cheers for that one rikj .

I pass by it fairly often on a bus so I finally got off a bus today (September 9 2015) and took these photos of the old Midland Bank box at what is now a branch of HSBC Bank. That is an interesting looking building. I wonder how old it is and when HSBC took it over?

The first photo is a close-up of the box that is on the Harrogate Road side of the building. The second shows the box in relation to the building. The third is a view of the building with Harrogate Road just out of view to the left and Shadwell Lane just out of view to the right.

For some reason I seem to think this building became a mobile phone shop for a while , now it might just be time for me and the padded cell to come together. Help.....

Leodian wrote:That is an interesting looking building. I wonder how old it is and when HSBC took it over?

I'm pretty certain it was Midland Bank when I went to school at MCPS just round the corner 69-74. The building style is somewhat art deco but that could male it 30s-60s. Leodis isn't much help but there are a couple of undated aerial photos in which that junction appears. I'm not sure if the resolution is good enough to zoom in and see if the building is there. The photo's could be pinned to a short period in time though as its still pretty rural and the Leeds Outer Ring Road between Shadwell Lane and Harrogate Road is just under construction.

I'm not prepared to commit you to a padded cell yet JCD so the building may have had a period of non use as a bank but HSBC of course took over Midland so it would make sense for continuity to have occured. However the HSBC signage is certainly a lot more recent than the 1992 takeover so its entirely possible HSBC closed the bank for a period while retaining ownership and renting/leasing it out.

Edit Leodis search including the aerial photos http://www.leodis.net/searchResults.asp ... D=&PUBID=0

Thanks tyke bhoy for the Leodis link . It's a pity that the two photos that show the building are undated, though it was at least there while the outer Ring Road was being built in the area.