Almondbury is a district 2 miles (3 km) south east of Huddersfield

Huddersfield

Huddersfield is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Leeds and Manchester. It lies north of London, and south of Bradford, the nearest city....

 town centre in West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The population of Almondbury in 2001 was 7,368

Almondbury appears in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 as "Almondeberie". After the Norman Conquest, the land around Almondbury was held by the powerful De Lacy family, who gave their name to De Lacy Avenue in the village.

For 300 years up until the 17th century, the village's Monday market was the most important in the area. Almondbury village was the hub of parish activity and indeed in its early history Almondbury was a more important centre than the town of Huddersfield. The villages of Linthwaite

Linthwaite

Linthwaite is a village in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated 4 miles west of Huddersfield, on the A62 in the Colne Valley...

, Lockwood, Honley

Honley

Honley is a large village in West Yorkshire, England near to Holmfirth and Huddersfield situated on the banks of the River Holme in the Holme Valley. In 2001 it had a population of 5,897 according to the census.-Education:...

, Holmfirth

Holmfirth

Holmfirth is a small town located on the A6024 Woodhead Road in the Holme Valley, within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Centred upon the confluence of the Holme and Ribble rivers, Holmfirth is south of Huddersfield and from Glossop. It mostly consists of...

 and Meltham

Meltham

Meltham is a small town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Holme Valley, below Wessenden Moor, four and a half miles south-west of Huddersfield on the edge of the Peak District National Park...

 were all part of the Almondbury parish area.

The village is close to Castle Hill

Castle Hill, Huddersfield

Taken and adapted from Rumsby, J. 'A Castle Well Guarded: the archaeology and history of Castle Hill, Almondbury' Castle Hill is a Scheduled Ancient Monument situated on a hilltop overlooking Huddersfield, in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees. It has been settled for at least 4,000 years....

, Huddersfield's most prominent landmark. Almondbury has several notable buildings including the 16th century Wormald's Hall, now the village Conservative club

Conservative Club

The Conservative Club was a London gentlemen's club, now dissolved, which was established in 1840. In 1950 it merged with the Bath Club, and was disbanded in 1981...

, and All Hallows Church.

Education

In 1547 the people of Almondbury were faced with the possible dissolution

Dissolution of the Monasteries

The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...

 of its Chantry Chapel. By "concent of the parishe", Arthur Kay of Woodsome and his son John "dyd shifte yt" stone by stone, down St. Helen's Gate, to be reconstructed as a school house. A royal charter

Royal Charter

A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...

 (formally called The Letters Patent) was granted by James I

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

 on 24 November 1608 and the school became a grammar school

Grammar school

A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...

. The school has had various names (Almondbury Grammar School, King James's Grammar School) and today is called King James's School. There is also Almondbury High School and Language College

Almondbury High School and Language College

Almondbury High School and Language College is a mixed, comprehensive, 11–16 school with 828 students on the roll. It is situated a large local authority council estate within the village of Almondbury, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Opened in 1963 as Almondbury County Secondary School, it has more...

 on Fernside Avenue. The Harry Taylor Trust was established in 1987 in memory of Harry Taylor, former headmaster of King James's Grammar School 1952-1974, to benefit pupils at the school and young people in the village of Almondbury.

Former England fast bowler Ryan Sidebottom is a former resident of Almondbury and can often be seen around the Almondbury Area.