The Leeds Diocesan Archives are based at Hinsley Hall in Leeds, along with the other administrative and pastoral departments of the Diocese of Leeds.

The Diocese of Leeds was established in 1878. In that year the Diocese of Beverley, which had been created in 1850 and comprised the whole of Yorkshire, was divided into the Dioceses of Middlesbrough (the North and East Ridings) and Leeds (the West Riding of Yorkshire). In 1980 fifty parishes in South Yorkshire were transferred from Leeds to form the greater part of the new Diocese of Hallam.

The Diocesan Archives were established in 1958 as a department of the Leeds Diocesan Curia.

The Archives have three main functions:

• To preserve the records of the Diocese

• To provide services to the central administration, parishes and agencies of the Diocese

• To make the archives of the Diocese available to researchers

Opposite: Saint Anne's Church, which opened in 1838, became the Cathedral Church of the new Diocese of Leeds in 1878.