Trinity Leeds & Equus Altus

Jake Davies

Leeds, the largest city in West Yorkshire in Northern England, grew with the growth of the wool trade, and became a major merchant center.

Shopping centers still abound, with the Victorian Quarter having some wonderful examples of ornate, covered arcades, and the Kirkgate Market from the same period continuing to be very popular.

The nearby Corn Exchange no longer serves its original function but has also been turned into a unique shopping center.

Trinity

As well as these shopping centers from a former era, the 21st century has seen new shopping centers created, the most recent being Trinity, opened in 2013.

Formed by combining and redeveloping two smaller shopping districts, a huge glass roof covers the whole shopping complex that has more 120 establishments including shops, restaurants, and bars, as well as a multiplex cinema.

A number of the eateries in the area known as Trinity Kitchen are temporary vendors like stalls, vans, or small trucks, and these change every month ensuring an ever varied range of cuisines.

Covering the central atrium of Trinity Leeds is a huge dome with almost 2,000 glass panels covering 40,000 square feet and rising 100 feet above the street.

Equus Altus

In the central atrium stands a monumental sculpture, Equus Altus, by Glasgow-born artist Andy Scott.

Standing 15 feet tall and weighing in at 2 tons, the statue depicts a pack horse laden down with rolls of cloth, remembering a time when horses were the primary transportation system.

Scott is most famous for The Kelpies, the giant horse statues near Falkirk. Also at the entrance to Trinity Leeds is another Scott piece, the Briggate Minerva, Minerva being the Roman Goddess of commerce and weaving.

A massive glass roof covers the Trinity Shopping Center in Leeds. — A massive glass roof covers the Trinity Shopping Center in Leeds

Access

Albion Street, Leeds, LS1 5AT
Tel: 0113 394 2415

Albion Street is a 6 or 7 minute walk from Leeds Station (aka Leeds City Station).

Access - Getting to Leeds

Leeds City Station is the city's main station and one of the busiest stations in England outside London with intercity and local Metro trains. Leeds Station is located just south of City Square.

There are First TransPennine Express trains to Newcastle, Manchester Piccadilly Station in Manchester, as well as Manchester Airport and Liverpool Lime Street. Other connections include trains to Hull and Middlesbrough.

Northern has trains to York Station in York, Blackpool North, Bradford, Manchester Victoria, Huddersfield, Selby, Sheffield, Carlisle and Ilkley.

East Coast has trains to King's Cross Station in London, Waverley Station in Edinburgh, Glasgow Central in Glasgow, Peterborough, Hull and Darlington.

There are CrossCountry connections to Nottingham, Birmingham New Street Station in Birmingham, and from there to Cardiff in Wales, and Exeter in Devon.

The National Express bus station in Leeds is behind Kirkgate Market.

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