It's a mystery that's baffled generations of Leeds school pupils and parents alike at Garforth Academy in Leeds.
It was my school, I was there from 2009 until 2016, I went through from Year 7 until the end of sixth form. Now the school may be known for being one of the best in the area, having a competitive catchment area and namely being on the doorstep.
However, there is one part of the school that’s synonymous with everyone who went there. The sunken playground.
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The sunken playground is exactly what it sounds like, it’s a playground, sunk. The playground sits on the edge of the school entrance.
It’s a concrete square like any other but with large sloping sides and a sort of ramped path down to the playground itself. Why is it sunken? Well to be honest, we don’t know.
There is a big rumour that appeared when I was a kid and quite a few other people seem to know but at this point, it could just be a legend.
My dad told me that Garforth Academy was due to receive a swimming pool during an Olympic season of days gone by. The pool was ready to start construction, hence the sunken playground to accommodate.
However, allegedly, the Olympic commission came along and found that it was measured too small to be officially used so it was instead sent to a different school. Even writing that down it sounded ridiculous but having spoken to a few other ex-students, we all seem to share this story as if it is gospel.
It’s a mystery, a genuine mystery. We reached out to Garforth Academy and the Delta Academy Trust, we even asked Leeds City Council if there were any archived records of the elusive school, we heard nothing back.
So I suppose this is a call out, does anyone know why the playground is what it is? Google helped in no way, archived records of the school’s construction didn’t solve it.
Why is it sunken? There are a great number of mysteries across Leeds, old tunnels, former air raid shelters etc, these are all known – we want to know what the Sunken Playground means.
Every teacher referred to it as the sunken playground, every student, even the maps and official signage at school were calling it that. It must have a reason.
Maybe it was just built different, a creative choice but then again maybe not. If anyone knows any reason why it is sunken, please get in touch with LeedsLive.
Even if it is just to say, “it was built that way” – all we are asking for is an answer.
Both Garforth Academy and the Delta Academies Trust were contacted for comment. Neither replied.
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