Description

LEEDS

SE3033SW BRIGGATE
714-1/78/59 (West side)
22/03/74 Nos.24, 25 AND 26
Time Ball Buildings

GV II*

Houses and shops, now restaurant. Early C19 with elaborate
decoration added c1872 (Nos 25 & 26) and c1900 (No.24 and
ground floor), restored 1993. Alterations for the firm of J
Dyson, watchmaker. Stucco facade, probably slate roof.
3 storeys, 4 windows. Quoins. Nos 25 and 26: 4-pane sashes, in
canted bays to first floor; architraves, moulded cornice on
console brackets; moulded panels below eaves with raised
lettering: 'TIME BALL BUILDINGS'; modillion cornice between
large console brackets and surmounted by scrolled finials. Bay
windows flank a large pedimented clock case, the face carrying
the lettering, 'JOHN DYSON 25 & 26'; elaborate wrought-iron
cresting rises above eaves line and includes spiral and
palmette motifs as decoration to the overthrow which
terminates in a weather vane and frames the shaft and time
ball.
No.24: added elaborate wooden bay window rises through upper
storeys and retains fine curved glass panes at first floor,
moulded cornice and small pediment surmounted by small dome
topped by a sphere; cantilevered from front of bay is a large
clock in frame with ironwork spandrels, letters D & S, TEMPUS
FUGIT, and the date, 1865, all surmounted by a figure of
Father Time. Ground floor: continuous pilastered shop front,
entrances centre and far left.
INTERIOR: contains important fittings including ornate
panelling, etched missors, counters and shelving plus a
mechanism (now relocated) which formerly raised and lowered
the window displays, allowing safe storage in the
cellar/vaults each night.
HISTORICAL NOTE: used by a distiller, saddler and trunk maker,
a haircutter and perfumier and a stationer through the C19
until c1869-71 when Boar Lane was being rebuilt and the
premises were uninhabited. In 1872 J Dyson, watchmaker, was at
No.26; by 1890 the firm occupied the whole of the building.
The gilded time ball mechanism was linked to Greenwich and
dropped at exactly 1pm each day; this feature, together with
the window mechanism, makes Dyson's a rare survival of
elaborate Victorian/Edwardian shop innovation and design.
(Lingard S, University of Leeds: Index of buildings in
Briggate (unpublished thesis)).

Listing NGR: SE3021333361

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Time Ball Buildings at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17533567

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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