SE2632 : Path alongside Green Hill Lane, Wortley
taken 5 years ago, near to New Farnley, Leeds, England
Cliff House in Wortley, also known as Western Flatts House, is a grade II listed villa built in 1846 for Joseph Cliff, proprietor of a fireclay works in Wortley as well as the Burmantofts Pottery Company. In 1902 the company donated the land east of the house to the City of Leeds to become Lower Wortley recreation ground, now known as Western Flatts Cliff Park (earlier maps show it as 'Western Flats'; it is unclear when the spelling was changed to 'Flatts'). The park covers 14 hectares and includes two football pitches, tennis and basketball courts, bowling green, a children's play area on the site of a former bandstand, and a rose garden.
Stephen Cliff donated the house itself, and its grounds, to the City in 1929. From 1966 to 1998 it housed Newcliff House Community Special School. The house is now back in private ownership but was damaged by an arson attack in 2017. The rose garden remains part of the public park.