The Leeds arch made out of bread. This curious structure made entirely out of bread loaves could be seen on Commercial Street in 1894. The bread archway was the idea of Henry Child, who ran the Mitre Hotel, to which the temporary structure was attached. The brown and spiced loaves were built into this arch to mark the visit to Leeds by the Duke and Duchess of York in 1894. Bread was so plentiful at the time that traders and business people who frequented the hotel came up with the idea of creating an archway built from the stuff. It was constructed by a firm of builders, Craven and Umpleby and was overseen by an architect, Thomas Winn. Another firm, William Silbeck and Sons, of Swan Yard, created a wooden frame structure on which the bread arch was built. William Morris, who owned a bakery in Pack Horse Yard, was charged with baking the bread, which amounted to hundreds of loaves, the flour for which cost 20 and was paid for by one Henry Child, of the Mitre Hotel. The bulk of the bread was in sandwhich loaves, which because of their shape, made suitable bricks, while one Robert Wray, who had a confectionery business in Commercial Street, provided the huge keystone loaf of the central arch. There appears to be some argument about whether the bread was, in fact, fit for consumption after the event but most seem to agree it was not. When the arch was complete, it was further decorated with sheaves of corn and bunting. The idea was to distribute the loaves to the poor after the visit but a shower of rain put paid to that plan, spoiling many of the loaves. It is also doubted if the Duke and Duchess of York even saw the arch. Another bread arch was made with two arches spanning Woodhouse Lane (formerly the Leeds and Otley Road turnpike), joining to the Pack Horse Pub, to commemorate the visit of Queen Victoria to Leeds Town Hall in 1858. Ive yet to see a photo of the Woodhouse bread arch, but Leeds did build other elaborate arches for Royal visits and special occasions in its past history. I thought we could have a post dedicated to these unusual arches and celebrations of yesteryear here. Many thanks to Caron for letting me know about this :) **See all the comments below for more photos and info**
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 19:01:37 +0000
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