English Heritage maintains county registers of Historic Parks & Gardens and Historic Battlefields. The terms historic park and historic garden are drawn widely to include features such as historic cemeteries and they can include the grounds of historic hospitals as well as historic houses.
In Leeds, English Heritage has designated thirteen historic landscapes on the Parks & Gardens register. Each has been given a grade analogous to that for listed buildings, that is Grade I for the most outstanding, through Grade II* to Grade II.
Whilst inclusion in the West Yorkshire Register provides the sites with no statutory protection, it does identify the need for careful conservation. Where developments are proposed in or near such registered sites the City Council is required consult with the appropriate bodies.
The Garden History Society must be notified for all sites. In addition, development affecting grade I and II* sites must be notified to English Heritage. Their views will be taken into consideration by the City Council when deciding planning applications in these cases.
A separate register is held by English Heritage of historic battlefield sites. The system is similar to that for historic parks and gardens. There is currently only one such site in Leeds at Adwalton Moor near Drighlington.
Only part of the registered site falls within the Leeds district, the rest lying in both the Bradford and Kirklees districts. Adwalton Moor is the site of an important battle in the English Civil War where royal and parliamentary forces clashed in 1643.
The designated sites on the Parks and Gardens register are
- Armley House (Gotts Park) Grade II
- Beckett Street Cemetery Grade II
- Bramham Park Grade I
- Harewood House Grade I
- High Royds Hospital Grade II
- Hunslet Cemetery Grade II
- Lawnswood Cemetery Grade II
- Ledston Hall Park Grade II*
- Lotherton Hall Grade II
- Oulton Hall Grade II
- Pudsey Cemetery Grade II*
- Roundhay Park Grade II
- Temple Newsam Grade II
Detailed descriptions of the parks and gardens and of the Adwalton Moor Battlefield are available on the Parks & Gardens UK website and on the Battlefields Trust website - please visit the links on the right.