Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post clock tower: Time to clean up famous Leeds landmark
Calls are being made to clean up one of Leeds’ most famous landmarks which has fallen into a state of disrepair.
The Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post clock tower head has increasingly deteriorated in recent years as the site where it is located has been awaiting a £400m redevelopment.
The newspapers no longer have any control over the tower or the Wellington Street plot following its sale after they moved to new offices in 2012 but are today jointly calling for urgent improvements to be made for the good of Leeds.
Before winning planning permission in 2023 for three tower blocks, developers had indicated the top of the structure would be “removed and stored/refurbished” if their application was approved.
But new pictures show how the clock tower head, which is passed by countless people travelling through Leeds on a daily basis, has substantially deteriorated with a combination of lichen, dirt, rust, a missing corner panel and fallen-off letters visible.
James Mitchinson, editor of The Yorkshire Post, said: “This year marks for me a decade as editor of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper. It will not surprise those I’ve come to know, as friends, colleagues, associates, clients and more that I care deeply about the reputation of The Yorkshire Post and of the county itself.
“It isn’t just another local paper. It is a piece of national heritage and pride; one that strives to bring prestige to the region for the betterment of the communities it serves. It therefore pains me greatly to see the tower that was once a beacon of trust, truth and integrity left to reflect so badly upon the city of Leeds and the county of Yorkshire.
“And so today, I beg of those charged with its care: do the right thing.”
Laura Collins, editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post, said: “The clock tower is much more than a landmark - it’s a symbol for the city of Leeds.
“I remember the first day my parents dropped me off in Leeds, catching my first glimpse of the Yorkshire Evening Post clock tower and knowing I would one day work there.
“That landmark has been a constant witness to the city’s stories and transformations, a symbol of home and ambition that shaped my life and career. I’m sure I’m not alone as many of you will no doubt have used it as a landmark to say “we’re finally back home”.
“Now, as it falls into disrepair, I hope those who care for it will give it the respect and dignity it has long deserved.”
Alex Sobel, Labour MP for Leeds Central and Headingley, said: “It’s high time that this iconic landmark of news gathering in Leeds was restored to its former glory.
“The Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post are our city’s papers of record.
“We cannot allow the home of this venerable institution to fall into disrepair and decay.
“The people of Leeds deserve better.
“It’s vital that the property developers get their act together and sort out any misunderstandings so that the Yorkshire Post and YEP clock tower is returned to its rightful place as a source of pride for our city.”
Councillor Paul Wray, who represents the Hunslet and Riverside Ward, said it should not be allowed to stay in its current condition.
“It’s a piece of iconic Leeds heritage and I think cleaning it up would put a lot of smiles on people’s faces and bring back a lot of nostalgia.
“I remember going past that every day as a kid coming into town so seeing it all spick and span again would cheer up a lot of people.
“You’ve got these iconic pieces of Leeds’s history all over the place, for example the ‘Welcome To Leeds’ sign, and people generally have a lot of love for these things so bringing them back up to spec really does put smiles on faces. People will probably say that they should have done it sooner.”
The clock tower was retained when the rest of the former newspaper offices were knocked down in 2014.
While some of the wider office site has since been redeveloped to include an apartment building called The Headline, other plans have yet to come to fruition.
Developer Urbanite, which is backed by private equity firm Prescient, got planning permission to build multi-storey student flats in September 2023. The scheme is based on one 42-storey tower and one 32-storey tower for students, with a further 25-storey building offering build to rent apartments.
The £400m scheme was approved on the basis that the existing clock tower structure would be demolished but the top section with the newspaper branding would be “relocated and reimagined within the proposed public realm as a new public art feature”. It was suggested it could be added onto a newly-created wind mitigation column on the site.
A report to councillors said: “The applicant has advised that on completion of the planning process, the existing clock tower head will be removed and stored/refurbished.
“It is likely that the clock tower will be introduced to the top of one of the semi-porous landscaping screens/towers… or elsewhere within the site as desired by officers/members, and adding further design interest as a piece of new public art.”
But wider work is yet to begin on the site, with planning permission due to expire in September if it does not do so in the coming months. A full strategy for re-using the tower head clock - which was a condition of planning permission - has yet been lodged with the council.
A section of the land not including the clock tower was sold earlier this year to a different firm called Bluecastle Capital.
Bluecastle purchased the section of land which has planning permission for the 25-storey building offering build to rent apartments from Prescient Capital.
Martin Hamilton, director of Leeds Civic Trust, called the clock tower a “landmark” for Leeds. He said: “It’s something people from the city are really familiar with particularly as you come onto Wellington Street. It’s a gateway into the city and is the first thing you see when you’re driving in or on the bus.
“It’s not just about being part of the former Yorkshire Post/ Yorkshire Evening Post building. It is a landmark in its own right and is important. I think any redevelopment should retain it or make something of it. It would be a real shame for it to be demolished.”
He said that the state of the clocktower was mentioned at a recent Heritage Watch meeting and said the Trust would be approaching the developers to discuss their proposals.
Prescient and Urbanite did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Additional reporting by Ralph Blackburn, Alex Grant and Laura Collins