Adel | |
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Adel Church |
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Adel shown within West Yorkshire | |
Population | 19,430 (ward. Adel and Wharfedale) |
Metropolitan borough | |
Metropolitan county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | LEEDS |
Postcode district | LS16 |
Dialling code | 0113 |
Police | West Yorkshire |
Fire | West Yorkshire |
Ambulance | Yorkshire |
EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
UK Parliament | |
Adel is a suburb in North Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is situated between Cookridge, Holt Park, Weetwood and Alwoodley. To the north are the villages of Arthington and Bramhope and the market town of Otley. The appropriate City of Leeds Ward is called Adel and Wharefedale. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 19,430. In common with many areas of Leeds it is not easy to define the boundaries of Adel, but Adel Church and the two schools are well to the east of Otley Road, the A660, although the post office is on that road. There is one public house in Adel, the Lawnswood Arms, and there is a restaurant/pub on the Otley Road around the corner from Gainsborough Avenue.
Adel is situated near the site of a Roman fort, the ancient road from Tadcaster to Ilkley passing nearby. (The footpath by the side of Long Causeway was said to be made from the original Roman stones, until they were removed by the council in the 1960s because they were unsafe. Some of the footpath has been replaced, starting at the junction between Long Causeway and Stairfoot Lane, and continuing up to the entrance of Bedquilts playing fields.) Several inscribed stones from the Romano-British period were discovered in Adel, also a number of Anglo-Saxon stones were discovered in the church foundations during restoration work in 1864. Some of these items are on display in the Leeds City Museum, Cookridge Street.
The Roman name for the area was Burgodunum. It is probable that a Saxon village sprang up around the fort and that a church was built in the village. Adel is mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book as Adele. Another spelling used until 1816 is Addle. Most recent authorities derive the name from the Old English adela ‘dirty, muddy place’, but arguments have also been made for a personal name Ada (or similar Anglo-Saxon names such as Eadda, Eada or Ædda) + Old English lēah 'open ground, lea' (compare the terminus spelling of nearby Headingley DB: Hedingelei & hedingeleia).