United Kingdom · England · Leeds
Whinmoor, Leeds — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Whinmoor is a residential area of east Leeds in West Yorkshire, England, on moorland where two battles were fought a thousand years apart.
Hotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
Where to stay in Whinmoor
The practical side of choosing where to sleep.
Whinmoor is housing on the north-eastern edge of Leeds, five miles out from the centre and running straight into Swarcliffe and Seacroft, so the three read as one area on the ground. It is a base rather than a destination. The city centre is a short run in, and Penda's Way to the south is the road that carries the name of the older of the two battles.
About Whinmoor
What are the main landmarks in Whinmoor?
St Paul's is the parish church and the area's own building of note. The rest of what marks Whinmoor is ground rather than architecture: the moor itself, Cock Beck running through the country where the Winwaed was fought, and Penda's Way named for the king who lost that battle. Bramham Moor lies out to the east.
What is the history of Whinmoor?
The Battle of the Winwaed was fought around Whinmoor, Cock Beck, and Swarcliffe in November 655, when the Christian king Oswiu of Bernicia defeated the pagan army of Penda of Mercia, though little detail survives. Penda's Way still carries his name. Nearly a thousand years later, on the thirtieth of March 1643, the Battle of Seacroft Moor was fought across Winn Moor and Bramham Moor, when Lord George Goring's horse broke Sir Thomas Fairfax's mostly untrained force and drove it back over the moor.
Where is Whinmoor?
Whinmoor lies about five miles north-east of the centre of Leeds, next to Swarcliffe and Seacroft. It sat in the Tadcaster Rural District until 1974. Since then it has belonged to Leeds, in the Cross Gates and Whinmoor ward, with the old moorland running east towards Bramham Moor.
More areas in Leeds
Updated September 2026