Whinmoor

Coordinates: 53°49′55″N 1°26′46″W / 53.832°N 1.446°W / 53.832; -1.446

Whinmoor is residential area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The area is 5 miles (8 km) to the north east of the city centre, adjacent to Swarcliffe and Seacroft in the LS14 Leeds postcode area. Historically the area was not part of the Leeds Country Borough but part of the Tadcaster Rural District, both of which at the time were in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

History

In November 655 AD (or perhaps in 654, according to one interpretation of the chronology), the Battle of the Winwaed took place around the Whinmoor/Cock Beck/Swarcliffe area, with the Christian King Oswiu of Bernicia's army defeating the pagan army of King Penda of Mercia, although historians admit that few details are available. A road to the south of Whinmoor was later named Penda's Way.

In addition, during the First English Civil War, the Battle of Seacroft Moor, 30 March 1643, was fought over the two moors of Winn Moor and Bramham Moor, near Leeds. There is no exact records of Army positions, due to the amount of movement during the battle. As Sir Thomas Fairfax was instructed to capture Tadcaster, the Royalist Northern major-general, Sir William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne planned to intercept the smaller opposition. He sent his Lieutenant-General, Lord George Goring to do so; leading a large force of Horse. Fairfax had a problem, due to having a force made up of mainly clubmen (Locally recruited soldiers) and only three troops of Cavalry; this was going to be a 'wake-up-call' for the Parliamentary forces in the North. He was literally 'thrashed' by Goring, beaten back over the moor, with many casualties. Fairfax escaped with just some of his surviving Horse to Leeds, mainly because of bad communication in the ranks. Fairfax quoted that it was "the greatest loss we ever received".