4, 5 and 6, Mill Hill

Shops, manufactory and warehouse, now shops, offices and club premises. The building probably dates from the mid to late 18th century, using 18th-century materials, and was refronted around 1870, with further alterations in the 20th century.

Exterior

The frontage is constructed of red brick with stone details and a cement tile roof. The rear ranges feature rendered brick with slate roofs. The building rises 3 storeys with a 9-window frontage. A central archway, flanked by pilasters, provides passage through to a rear yard. The archway has a cambered arch with a keyblock. The original pilasters that divide the frontage are now obscured by 20th-century shop facades.

The first floor features paired round-headed windows, while upper floors have segmental-headed windows. Stone keyblocks, sill and impost bands articulate the facade. Ground-floor pilasters rise to a modillion eaves cornice.

The building encloses a yard by means of parallel wings at right angles to the front and a range closing the yard at its eastern end. The inner yard facades contain 19th and 20th-century doors and windows, though small windows positioned under the eaves suggest possibly original openings. These details are partly obscured by rendering.

Interior

The roof structure contains king-post trusses of three distinct types. The first type features a recut king post with the feet of principal rafters set inside the wall line and curved to meet the king post below the ridge; splayed braces run from the cross beam to the principals, with longitudinal bracing from king post to ridge and one set of purlins. Carpenters' marks are cut into the timbers. The second type has a king post with braces rising from close to its base and splayed to support the underside of the principal rafters, with both cut and stamped carpenters' marks visible. The third type features a shaped king post thickened at base and head for jointing with splayed braces and principal rafters.

Historical Development

The north and south wings, at right angles to the front range, were originally 3 bays deep. They were extended in the later 18th century by 3 and 4 bays respectively and closed off by a 2-bay range to the east. The 19th-century frontage probably replaced a merchant's house, with the rear yard housing workshops and warehouses. The site lies within the oldest part of Leeds, close to the Coloured Cloth Hall (built 1756) and the King's Mill (corn).

In 1826 the three properties were occupied by J.S. Darby (butcher), Benjamin Blackburn and Sons (woollen cloth merchants and manufacturers of Holbeck Moor Mills), and Mary Walker (grocer and flour dealer). By 1847 the yard was called Bower's Court, named after its then-owner Joshua Bower. The refronting was undertaken when the south side of Boar Lane was rebuilt between 1869 and 1873. In 1875 the occupants included a hairdresser, butcher, cotton yarn agent, glass bottle manufacturer, woollen manufacturer, and John Brown, a corn dealer operating from Bower's Court.

This is a rare surviving example of 18th-century Leeds city centre buildings, comparable to similar groups at Blayd's Yard and Queen's Court on Briggate.