Using the Goad Plans to Research Leeds' Fire History

Shane Ewen, Professor of History at Leeds Beckett University, is taking a look at the city's fire history at Leeds City Library on Wednesday 25 November, from 1.00 to 2.00pm. The talk centres on the fire insurance plans produced by Charles E. Goad Ltd, which are among the most detailed but under-used maps for studying the urban, commercial and industrial development of British towns and cities in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The surviving Goad plans for Leeds, with successive surveys and revisions dating from 1886 to 1971, offer a unique record of changing buildings, occupancies, fire risks and patterns of urban development. They're far more specific than a standard street map, designed to show insurance companies exactly what a building was made of and what was happening inside it. Ewen draws on research across multiple archives and libraries to show how these plans can be used to reconstruct the built environment and identify fire hazards.

He uses two historic city-centre fires as case studies: the destructive fire beneath Leeds Station in 1892 and the Wellington Street warehouse and hotel fire of 1906. By working through the Goad plans, he demonstrates how you can piece together the layout of the buildings involved and trace the risks that led to the blazes. The session is part of Leeds Libraries' programme for Leeds 400, the city's 400th anniversary celebrations.

It runs from 1.00 to 2.00pm at Leeds City Library, Calverley Street, LS1 3AB. Entry is free, but you have to book in advance.