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Leeds Live
Leeds Live
National
Lucy Marshall

The Leeds suburb that visitors always pronounce wrong

Yorkshire is full of many quirky place with unusual names which can often trip people up.

And one Leeds village which is commonly mispronounced is Stourton. A lot of people would think the village name is pronounced as 'stour-ton' but in fact it is 'stur-tun'.

When people think of Leeds they often forget about this industrial area. We are here to tell you everything you need to know about the LS10 village.

Read more: Heartbreak as Leeds steakhouse Chophaus loved by Leeds United stars closes

The area is just two miles to the south of Leeds city centre. It is between Hunslet, the M1 motorway, and Cross Green in the LS10 postcode area. Supermarkets near LS10 include Aldi, Asda, Co-Operative Food, Iceland, Lidl, M&S Simply Food, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco.

Stourton dates back to the Industrial Revolution and was a community of about 2,500 people with its own churches and pubs. During the '70s the housing was demolished in the area to make way for motorways and industrial developments.

Sourton Park and Ride area (Leeds City Council)

Until the 1990s little was known of the village apart from its war memorial. The memorial stands at the junction of Wakefield Road, Pontefract Road, and Thwaitegate in Stourton. It was moved about 1973 from St Andrew's Church in Pontefract Road, when the church was closed and eventually demolished.

The village was also home to Skelton Grange power station before being demolished in 1995. Stourton is filled with businesses and has been a home to John Waddingtons, Yorkshire Copperworks, Camerons Iron Works, and more.

Stourton is home to The Queens pub in Wakefield Road, as well as a Park and Ride area which was built in 2022. It is a fully solar powered, zero-emission electric bus scheme. Stourton Park and Ride is situated at Junction 7 on the M621 and can be accessed directly from the M621 Motorway, A61 Wakefield Road and A639 Leeds Road to Pontefract Road, catering for trips from the south and south west of the city.

The £38.5m project forms part of Connecting Leeds’ ambition to improve the bus network, provide better connectivity and reduce carbon emissions in the city. Stourton is also home to tourist attraction Thwaite Watermill.

Thwaite Watermill is museum of the Leeds milling industry set in a former mill on an island in the River Aire. Visitors can explore inside and learn about the importance of water power to our industrial heritage from 1700s to present day. It has become a popular venue for weddings.

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