Burmantofts is an area of 1960s high-rise housing blocks in inner-city east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England adjacent to the city centre and St. James's Hospital. It is a racially diverse area, with sizable Afro-Caribbean and Irish communities, but suffers the social problems typical of similar areas across the country. From 1859 to 1957 Burmantofts was the home of Burmantofts Pottery, a manufacturer of ceramic pipes and construction materials. In the early 20th century, Burmantofts was a large centre of the textile industry. A Burtons textile factory was located in the area; it is still owned by Burtons, but today is being used as a storage facility. Etymology The name Burmantofts is first attested, as le Burmantoftes, in 1427. It seems to have been coined in the Middle English period, from the words burghman ('burgher, town-dweller, burgess', from burgh 'town' and man 'person') and toft ('plot of land'. The name refers to the half-acre parcels of land (or tofts) given to owners of building plots (or burgages) by the River Aire, thus Burgage Men's Tofts. History The burghers from whom Burmantofts takes its name pursued craft businesses in the town, and grew crops on their tofts, such as grain which would be processed at the nearby mill on what is now Miles Hill. It was on the edge of the Yorkshire coalfield and coal mines and clay extraction led to works making bricks and earthenware. Notably in 1842 Lassey and Wilcock acquired 100 acres north of Nippet Lane, and found they were able to extract both coal and clay from the same mine and became coal sellers and brickmakers. In 1870 this became Wilcock and Co also selling drainage pipes, though this only occupied 4 acres, the rest being farmland. Further development of the site and of newer products led to Burmantofts Pottery, which was made there until 1957. In 1878, Burmantofts was the site of Leeds' first municipal waste incinerator, making use of a former industrial chimney. The area was also home to some textile industry and in 1921, Montague Burton began to develop a site on Hudson Road which eventually became the biggest clothing factory in the world. After the Second World War Burmantofts was in a very poor condition, however redevelopment did not occur for sometime. While the area was dilapidated and buildings such as the Pineapple Hotel (no 77 Accommodation Road) stood derelict for many years throughout