Statue of James Watt is a Grade II listed building in the Leeds local planning authority area, England. Statue.
Statue of James Watt
- WRENN ID
- burning-tin-aspen
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Leeds
- Constituency
- Leeds Central and Headingley MP: Alex Sobel (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Type
- Statue
- Address
- Statue of James Watt, City Square
- OS grid reference
- SE 298 334
- Coordinates
- 53.79651, -1.5481
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Statue of James Watt, located in City Square, Leeds, was created in 1898 by the sculptor HC Fehr. It features a polished granite plinth with a bronze plaque that has raised lettering stating 'JAMES/ WATT/ 1736-1819'. The life-size bronze statue stands on a square base, which also has raised lettering that reads: 'THE GIFT OF/ RICHARD WAINWRIGHT 1898/ ERECTED 1903'. On the back of the base, it notes 'J W SINGER & SONS LTD FOUNDERS'. This statue is one of four that commemorate notable figures in Leeds' history and is part of the City Square design by William Bakewell, completed in 1903. Historically, the firm of Boulton and Watt provided machinery for some of the earliest steam-powered mills in the town at the end of the 18th century. However, some historians have argued that a statue of the local engineer Matthew Murray, known for his Round Foundry Complex on Foundry Street, would have been a more fitting tribute.
Local climate
Statue of James Watt receives an average of 820 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 51% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 71% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 39 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 76% of listed buildings. Of these, 20 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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