Woodhouse Moor
park in Leeds, UK
Woodhouse Moor is an open space approximately one mile (1.6 km) from Leeds city centre, West Yorkshire, England. Today it consists of 3 parts: a formal park, Woodhouse Moor (often referred to as Hyde Park - see below), of around 26 hectares in area on the west of Woodhouse Lane (the A660), and two other open areas on the east of it. These are known as the Monument More (or Upper) and Cinder More (or Gravel, or Lower) Moors which are used for events such as circuses and sporting matches, and sometimes car parking. Woodhouse Moor is north-west of Leeds city centre and is bounded by Woodhouse, the University of Leeds, Burley, Hyde Park, and Headingley.
As of 2005 the park had just under 3 million visits a year and is the second most popular urban park in Leeds. The park has five main paths which meet in the centre, each is tree-lined and they divide the park into different areas of usage.
In the New Year Honours 2009, Head Gardener John Egan was awarded an MBE for services to the community.
History
The park was once part of a much larger moor of the same name, including land now occupied by the University of Leeds. At a relatively high position above Leeds, it has been a military rallying point, and Rampart Road is named after the ramparts which were once there. During the English Civil War, in 1642, Parliamentary forces led by Thomas Fairfax massed on Woodhouse Moor before taking Leeds from the royalists.
The public source identifies “Woodhouse Moor” as park in Leeds, UK. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Woodhouse, Moor and park.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Woodhouse Moor”, the useful work is to connect “park in Leeds, UK” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8032756. Authority coordinates are 53.811, -1.561. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2005, 2009 and 1642.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Three-step research path
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This entry incorporates text from “Woodhouse Moor” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.