- Gipton
Gipton is an early twentieth-century
council estate betweenHarehills andSeacroft in north-eastLeeds ,West Yorkshire ,England .The estate has a long-term reputation for having serious social problems, and is sometimes ranked as one of the most troubled areas in the whole country.
Housing
Gipton is comprised of semi-detached houses, with some terraced houses and some
high-rise flat s: these are common around this area of Leeds, as they are inSeacroft .Etymology of place-name
Gipton derives from Old English: the first element is a
personal name : in this case, it is Gippa (same as inIpswich , although almost certainly not the same man) and "tun" "village, settlement, farm" (here, it refers to a village).The town's name was recorded as "Cepetun", suggesting village with a market, suggesting a trading-town, or residence of the traders, as withMarket Weighton . The first element of the name in theDomesday Book record wrongly suggests Old English" ceap" "market, trading-place", but it was a corruption of the personal name, Gippa. However, a record from 1018 as "Gipentune" proves that the first element is apersonal name , not anoun .General information
In local parlance, those that live in or originate from Gipton are known as "Giptoners", or more recently, youths have adopted the term "Giptonites" ["rhymes with
Kryptonite "] .The large Church of the Epiphany located on Beech Lane was constructed in 1936-1938 by N.F. Cachemaille-Day, and is a Grade I
listed building .St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Primary School on St Wilfrid's Circus was opened in 1975 after the old school off Harehills Road ran into a dilapidated state. The first Headteacher at the new school was Mrs. Fleming. The school was once again re-built in 1993 after a fire destroyed the whole building early one morning in 1990.
Some people call the area "Mother Shipton" ("rhymes with Gipton") or "Corned Beef Island" - relating to a corned beef robbery that took place in the area during
World War 2 . It is also home to the Harehills rugby team - playing out of the Gipton WMC.External links
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