This self-guided walk takes you around Bradford’s historic and fascinating city centre, highlighting some of its remarkable architecture and other features of interest. Your walk will take in landmarks of all ages and styles – from medieval to modern – to show how Bradford has developed over the ages.
Table of Contents
The Route
- what3words for start point: ///groups.moves.cave
- Start Point: City Park Mirror Pool and Fountain, Peel Centre, Bradford BD1 1SD
- Finish Point: Bradford Cathedral, 1 Stott Hill, Bradford BD1 4EH
- Distance: 2.7 Miles
GPX Route Map
Download file for GPSWalk Description
We recommend beginning the walk at City Park, but it can be picked up and followed at any point on the route. The first part of the walk should take approximately two hours, although may be a little longer if you choose to include the Little Germany and Cathedral parts of the route.
Bradford gets its name from a large stream, probably where it was once crossed by an ancient Roman road. This “Broad ford” of water was probably located near to the site of the current Cathedral.
Highlights along the route: Bradford City Hall is one of Bradford’s most distinctive buildings. The original building, with its ‘Italianate’ clocktower, was opened in 1873 and was designed by Bradford architects Lockwood and Mawson.
The Wool Exchange symbolises the great wealth and importance which Bradford had gained from the wool trade by the mid-19th century.
St. George’s Hall built in 1851–53 and the first major public building by Lockwood and Mawson. It is a truly grand building, designed as a classical temple on a podium.
Little Germany – a compact area of late Victorian warehouses and offices built on a steep slope and having a highly distinctive character of its own.
The Cathedral Close provides a fine vantage point from which to appreciate the townscape and terrain of the ever-changing city and to conclude this walk.
