3 Whitfield Place
Hunslet
Leeds
West Yorkshire
LS10 2QB
0113 473 2606
The Garden Gate is the star of the small collection of gin palaces in Leeds. It’s pretty much unchanged since it was built in 1903 with multiple rooms, high quality wooden fittings, cut and etched glass and rich tiling.
In the Vaults there is an exquisite ceramic bar counter, one of only 14 left in the country (photo 3). A corridor with a mosaic tiled floor, tiled walls and etched glass screens leads to the other rooms. These are the tap room, the smoke room, and two saloon bars with original fixed seating, impressive fireplaces and stained glass windows (photo 4).
The outside of the pub is equally impressive with high quality brown tiling covering the lower floor (photo 1). The art-nouveau design on the cut glass entrance doors is repeated throughout the pub (photo 5).
The pub is in Hunslet, a working class area of Leeds and despite the grandeur, this is still very much a locals pub and a big supporter of Hunslet rugby league club. The pub was closed for about two years and reopened in February 2024. It now sells two cask beers.
The Garden Gate appears in the 2012 BBC TV adaptation of John Braine’s Room at the Top, starring Matthew McNulty and Maxine Peake. The entrance doors in photo 5 can be seen and the characters meet in one of the pub rooms.
