Editing Seacroft (section)

==History==
{{See also|History of Seacroft}}

===Seacroft village===
[[File:Seacroft Village1.jpg|thumb|right|Areas of the original Seacroft village]]
Seacroft village is mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]] (1086).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://opendomesday.org/place/SE3535/seacroft/|title=Seacroft {{!}} Domesday Book|website=opendomesday.org|access-date=2020-02-20}}</ref>  Evidence of much earlier inhabitation was found during construction of the estate in the 1950s. A stone axe dating from the [[Neolithic]] age (3500–2100&nbsp;[[Before Christ|BC]]) was found on Kentmere Avenue.  In addition, two silver Roman coins were found on The Green in the 1850s.<ref name=Weldrake>{{cite web|last=Weldrake |first=David |url=http://www.seacrofttoday.co.uk/yourseacroft/Seacroft-History.1794815.jp |title=Seacroft History – Seacroft Today |publisher=Seacrofttoday.co.uk |access-date=28 December 2008}}</ref>
[[File:Seacroft Grange 11 Sep 2017.jpg|right|thumb|Seacroft Grange in 2017]]
Seacroft village is the original part of Seacroft, around The Green and Cricketers Arms (pictured above), and is often referred to today.  Seacroft Hall was built in the 17th century by the Shiletto family incorporating extensive landscaping and parkland. Despite being a [[listed building]], the hall was demolished in the 1950s. The original entrance lodge still stands on York Road, with Parklands School on South Parkway now occupying the location of the hall.<ref name="SCPC"/>  There is one shop in the area that was originally Seacroft Village, a small village off licence, which has been built since the building of the estate.

Seacroft Grange was built in 1627 for the Tottie family and is also known as '''Tottie Hall'''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.freeuk.com/seacroft/sctop.htm|title=History of the Village: Photographs (surviving buildings)|work=Seacroft Village Preservation Society|access-date=24 September 2009}}</ref> It is a grade II listed building, along with its service buildings.<ref name=ioe>{{NHLE |num=1255897 |desc=The Grange, The Green, Leeds |access-date=24 September 2009}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE |num=1255898 |desc=Coach house and service range to The Grange, The Green, Leeds |access-date=24 September 2009}}</ref> Although the English Heritage record says it was rebuilt in 1837<ref name=ioe /> other sources record the building as original, noting that in 1837 the new tenant John Wilson renamed it to Seacroft Grange and set his coat of arms over the door.<ref name=lhj>{{cite journal|title=Seacroft Grange: Built in the 17th century for the Tottie family – what does the future hold?|journal=Leeds History Journal|volume=13|issn=1740-5696|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/phill_dvsn/3349072537/sizes/o/in/set-72157605819485965/}}</ref> The building included a celebrated late 17th century staircase thought to have been brought from [[Austhorpe Hall]].<ref name=ioe /> It is now part of Seacroft Grange Care Village.<ref name=SGCV>{{cite web |url=https://seacroftgrange.com/ |title=Seacroft Grange Care Village |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=seacroftgrange.com |publisher=Care Homes Leeds |access-date=4 October 2017 }}</ref>

See also The Seacroft Village Preservation Society.<ref name=SCPC>{{cite web|url=http://home.freeuk.com/seacroft/sctop.htm |title=Seacroft Village |publisher=Home.freeuk.com |access-date=28 December 2008}}</ref>

There is an old non-operating windmill, that pre-dates the estate, which has been incorporated into a hotel (now known as the [[Britannia Hotels|Britannia Hotel]] Leeds).
[[File:SeacroftWindmill.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Seacroft Windmill]]

===Satellite town within the city boundary===
The village developed slowly over the centuries and saw very little change until the post-war years.  Work on the estate began in the 1950s.  Many of the older houses on the estate are more traditional red-brick semis built around the Beechwood area, to the North of the estate.  In the 1960s many [[prefabricated housing|prefabricated houses]] and high-rise flats were constructed on the estate.  Two main roads were built through the estate, these being North Parkway and South Parkway.  North Parkway was built with a dual carriageway, in a similar way as Oak Tree Drive, Coldcotes Drive and Gipton Approach in neighbouring Gipton.

In 1934, Leeds City Council bought {{convert|1000|acre|km2}} for municipal housing, and after World War II the majority of houses and blocks of flats were built. The council had planned for Seacroft to be a "satellite town within the city boundary"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.any-village.com/UK/England/West-Yorkshire/Seacroft/home.aspx |title=Seacroft, West Yorkshire &#124; England &#124; United Kingdom (UK) &#124; Parish &#124; Village &#124; Community &#124; Seacroft |publisher=Any-village.com |access-date=22 June 2010}}</ref>

In addition to this vision, other areas surrounding Seacroft were built using the same principle. In the 1960s building work in the [[Swarcliffe]] and Stanks areas started, and in the 1970s in [[Whinmoor]]. However, none of these were as large or ambitious as Seacroft, with the intention that these areas use many of the amenities built along with the Seacroft Estate such as the Civic Centre and Seacroft's secondary schools.  As such amenities were kept to a minimum in Swarcliffe and Whinmoor, with the estates only having small local shops, public houses and primary schools.  Seacroft also has the main central bus interchange for North East Leeds, although the nearest railway station is in [[Cross Gates]].

===Seacroft Civic Centre===
[[File:Seacroft Town Centre 1967.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The former Seacroft Civic Centre in 1967]]
The 1960s also saw the construction of the Seacroft Civic Centre, which was at the time a novel way of building an outdoor purpose built town centre.  The Civic Centre had a [[Grandways]] supermarket and a [[Woolworths (United Kingdom)|Woolworths]] as well as many other smaller shops, banks, pubs and a library.  In the 1990s it had become apparent that the condition of the Civic Centre had deteriorated significantly in the 30 years since its construction.  Talks were held with [[Leeds City Council]], and [[Tesco]] were found as the preferred bidder to rebuild the Seacroft Civic Centre.

===Seacroft Green Shopping Centre===
In 1999, work began clearing the site and in 2000 the new Seacroft Green Shopping Centre opened.  The [[Tesco]] supermarket was cited at the time to be the largest in Europe, a claim which may not have been true.  It is, however, still an enormous supermarket spread over two levels (the second being a large mezzanine level, which was built a few years after the Tesco store had opened to give more space within the store). The car park was also enlarged and other shop units were built along the side of the supermarket, making the centre a crescent shape.  The huge supermarket as well as the other shops promised to create hundreds more jobs then would be lost through the loss of trade in the Civic Centre, which among other factors made the redevelopment favourable with many Seacroft residents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lmu.ac.uk/lbs/pri/research/projects/Reports/01136.pdf |title=Microsoft Word - 01136-TESCOJobGuarantee-Report.doc |access-date=28 December 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070307085754/http://www.lmu.ac.uk/lbs/pri/research/projects/Reports/01136.pdf |archive-date=7 March 2007 }}</ref>
[[File:SeacroftSCentre.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Tesco at The Seacroft Green Shopping Centre]]

The Seacroft Green Shopping Centre is also the main transport interchange in Seacroft, with the main bus station for Seacroft and the surrounding areas being centred there.  From here buses run out through the estate as well as to the [[Leeds city centre|city centre]], [[Wetherby]] and [[Harrogate]].  Seacroft bus station has five stands and an average daily footfall of 2,687.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wymetro.com/BusTravel/BusStationsAndStops/SeacroftBusStation.htm|title=West Yorkshire Metro &#124; Bus Stations & Stops &#124; Seacroft Bus Station|publisher=West Yorkshire Metro|access-date=28 December 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130105131849/http://www.wymetro.com/BusTravel/BusStationsAndStops/SeacroftBusStation.htm|archive-date=5 January 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref>  (See Transport)

The centre was not entirely popular with many local residents who said they had lost their town centre to a Tesco supermarket and to an extent, this may be true. Although there are shops besides Tesco, they are far fewer than there were, the precinct area has been lost, the pubs in the centre have been lost, and there are no offices.  Until the building of the new centre, and since the closure of [[Grandways]], it was said that Seacroft suffered from 'food poverty' and fresh produce could not be bought on the estate.  This was probably not true as there was a [[Co-op]] (now [[McColl's|McColls]] in 2018) on South Parkway.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Urban Regeneration, Social Inclusion and Large Store Development: The Seacroft Development in Context |journal= Urban Studies}}</ref>

The rebuilding of the Civic Centre did not alter the deprivation on the estate.  Throughout the 2000s (decade), the condition of many of the houses on the estate deteriorated, particularly amongst the prefabricated housing to the South West of the estate.  Many houses were vacated and either their condition or lack of demand dictated that the council boarded them up.  The estate's high rise flats are seen as a refuge as they are harder to break into and in better condition than the houses, as such they have largely been allocated to older residents.  Some (including Queensview) have become sheltered housing.

===Amenities elsewhere===
Regular bus services allow residents to use amenities in [[Leeds city centre]], [[Cross Gates]] and [[Wetherby]]. The Cross Gates Centre (formerly Arndale Centre) provides many high street shops which Seacroft lacks, while Wetherby's many pubs make it an alternative destination for evening entertainment.