Leeds, England/leeds500
Previous | Home | NextFrom Meadow Lane Priestley moved to a house on Bassinghall Street. This is the northward view of Lower Bassinghall Street from the vantage point of Mill Hill Chapel (which is to the left, out of sight). Today's appearance is dramatically different from that of Priestley's time, where it was a muddy, rural road with a few scattered houses. The tall building to the left is an office/bank building, built in the 1960s after "Priestley Hall" was torn down; the building faces Park Row and is an integral part of the financial district. Priestley Hall was the parsonage for Mill Hill Chapel at least immediately after the departure of Priestley in May 1773; it is unclear if Priestley ever lived here. He probably lived in more modest accommodations, somewhere in this block of Lower Bassinghall Street. In Leeds this is where he conducted his chemistry experiments after leaving his home on Meadow lane. Also, it was here that Priestley began to invoke the concept of phlogiston {LINK: Halle} into his chemical discussions. Through the years Priestley developed and refined his interpretation of phlogiston, and he espoused this principle to his dying day.
