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Crown Point Bridge (1842)
Historically, Crown Point was an area between the eastern end of The Calls and the north bank of the river, and was home to various industrial premises such as a timber yard, malt kiln and an oil mill.
A bridge was first proposed here as early as 1835, when comments were made in the local press that the recently built South Accommodation Road bridge was too far to the east and served little purpose at the time. Various surveys and calculations were made that supported the proposal that placing a bridge at Crown Point would be a far more useful endeavour.
The railways were coming to Leeds, firstly with a station at Marsh Lane, built by the Leeds and Selby Railway, quickly followed by the North Midland Railway with its terminus just south of the river, a site occupied today by the Crown Point Retail Park. A new road and bridge would directly connect these two locations and support much better routes around the eastern end of the town.
Before the bridge was built, an attempt was made by local businessmen to make the bridge toll-free by pledging sums of cash to purchase the ‘freedom of the bridge’. This was ultimately unsuccessful and Crown Point Bridge would open as a toll bridge, along with the newly constructed Crown Point Road and Black Bull Street. A whole network of roads would quickly spring up south of the river, taking advantage of the new bridge.
A map of Crown Point Bridge with its toll gate shortly after opening
Just off the north side of the bridge, William Turton built his splendid-looking warehouse on the corner of The Calls and Crown Point Road. It was used to store corn and hay as feed for working horses. William Turton would eventually expand his interests to become a pioneer of horse-drawn trams in Leeds and further afield.
As industry expanded north and south of the river, the Crown Point crossing became increasingly important over the years.
In the late 1980s, after being assessed as unsuitable for heavy traffic, Leeds City Council commissioned a project to upgrade the structure to modern standards. The innovative design replaced the original span with a much wider steel structure whilst retaining the original outer cast iron arches to maintain the aesthetic appearance of the original bridge. The work was completed in 1995, allowing much heavier vehicles to cross the bridge and widening it to 2 lanes in each direction.
In 2023, the Crown Point Bridge Gateway scheme further reconfigured the bridge to accommodate a protected two-way cycle track, reducing southbound vehicle traffic to a single lane.
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