Birstall, West Yorkshire
Encyclopedia
Birstall is a large village in the metropolitan borough
of Kirklees
, West Yorkshire
, England
and situated roughly 6 miles south-west of Leeds
. It features a quaint triangular Victorian
marketplace
, which replaced an earlier market on High Street in the Georgian area of the village further up the hill. There is still a market on Thursdays.
Situated centrally between Leeds, Bradford
, Huddersfield
and Wakefield
close to the M62 motorway
, Birstall has always benefited from good transport links but more recently has seen massive growth because of the expansion of Leeds resulting in a growth of commuters wishing to live in more rural surroundings. At its outskirts, there is also a retail park featuring an IKEA
store, Habitat
, Next and Showcase Cinemas
complex.
Birstall does not feature in the Domesday Book
but is alluded to as one of two main settlements within Gomersal
, and was listed in 'Pigot's National Commercial Directory for 1828-29' as one of the four villages which make up the township of Gomersal.
Prior to 1937, Birstall had its own Urban District Council
when financial discrepancies forced an unpopular merger with the UDC of neighbouring Batley
. Just over 30 years later, this, in turn was merged into Kirklees when the metropolitan councils were formed.
The Yorkshire Dictionary stated that there was once a common phrase cahr quiet li' the' do i' Birstall. However, no reason was given for why Birstall was associated with keeping quiet, although locals insist that it is because no Birstall Luddite
s were ever arrested. A more recent version of this phrase is tha bess says nowt lahk fowk in Birstall do.
The hill fort itself would have been situated high above the village, to one side of the present-day Raikes Lane, which heads towards Gildersome, and onto Leeds. In prehistoric days, trackways ran in various directions from one British settlement to another, one such settlement being on the top of Birstall Hill. This site was chosen for its central location amongst the nearby waterways and its accessibility to and from other nearby hill forts, such as Castle Hill at Almondbury in Huddersfield and Barwick-in Elmet, near Leeds. Following the course of Fieldhead Lane towards Drighlington is the Roman Road of Tong Street. This location would give Birstall a great geographical advantage, making it within easy reach of the main thoroughfares of ancient Yorkshire.
A Roman tiled mosaic was unearthed at Birstall Smithies, a former early industrial slag smelting site, during excavations in 1965. This and a hoard of Roman coins discovered at the foot of Carr Lane, on what was then Birstall Recreation ground indicate quite succinctly as to the prehistoric origins of Birstall. These coins, which were discovered in the 18th century, dated from 192 to 268 AD.
A quarter of a mile up the hill from Birstal on Leeds Road, there was once a Roman Watch Tower. This observation point was built on the Ridge or "Brae" of the hill. One side overlooked the Birstall area, while the other looked downwards from Howden Clough and the Valley towards upland Morley. This Watchtower was known in the early 20th century to the local inhabitants as the Brass Castle, a corruption of Brae Castle. It followed the line of other such structures built in West Yorkshire, atop prominent projecting ridges.
Moving further forward in time, but only a few hundred yards in location, there is the site of Moat Hill. This also just off Leeds Road was once the site of an important meeting place. An Anglo-Saxon parliament would meet here several times a year to discuss laws and "mete" out punishment. For the word moat (meet?) is a corruption of an ancient word, pronounced "mute", meaning a meeting place for official decisions. There were only a handful of these places in Anglo-Saxon Britain, with Birstall having been host to one of them. Others were in Scotland and at Tynwald Hill, on the Isle of Man, which still meets annually to this day, and forms the historic place of Parliament for that independent island.
Birstall is most famously the birthplace of Joseph Priestley
, the discoverer of Oxygen
amongst many other things. Priestley was tutored extensively by the then Vicar of Birstall, a highly educated Edinburgh man with a keen interest in science. He was also a pupil at Batley Grammar School for Boys, founded in 1612 by the Rev. William Lee, and the school still remains on Carlinghow Hill (approximately one mile from Birstall).
Also born here was John Nelson, a stonemason who was converted by John Wesley
to Methodism
whilst working in London
and who returned to Birstall and became one of Wesley's most important preachers.
Birstall enjoyed prosperity even before the Industrial Revolution
, being within a small area that was a centre of excellence for the English white cloth industry. However, the Industrial Revolution saw massive growth, and the architecture of the period still dominates today. The wider area became known as the Heavy Woollen District
, although the decline in textile production has led to a decline in its usage; it is still used in local sport however. Most notable of the features of this period is the cobbled
market place sporting a statue of Priestley, which was erected in 1912 by public subscription and sculpted by Frances Darlington. It is one of very few pieces of her work on public display.
The local council's area committee has recently invested £900,000 in refurbishing the Birstall marketplace and "regenerating" the village after a long, hard campaign by locals. The refurbishments are now complete with most of the original cobbles being taken away and only the odd few remaining. The statue of Joseph Priestley wasn't moved and is still in its original place. (See below, Town Centre Upgrade.)
Birstall features the picturesque St Peter's church dating to the time of Henry VIII
, although the original tower is much earlier and may have been part of the original "Burgh Stall" or "Fortified Place". A family reconstitution of the parish registers of St Peter's Birstall (1595–1812) was undertaken by Harvey Thwaite, and is one of the group of twenty-six family reconstitution studies that have been extensively used by the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure.
Nearby, sits Oakwell Hall
, an Elizabethan
manor house
romanticised by Charlotte Brontë
as 'Fieldhead' in her novel "Shirley".
Also of interest is an 18th-century windmill
which stands in the grounds of St Saviour's Junior School and has provided local names such as 'Windmill Estate' and 'Millers Croft'.
Anyone interested in the history of Birstall should pay a visit to the Black Bull Inn, situated directly behind St Peter's church on Kirkgate. The pub has dozens of photographs of the village, most dating from around the 1900 to 1930 period, and its upstairs room once housed a debtors' Court room for Birstall and Batley.
Birstall is known for its large retail areas adjacent to Junction 27 of the M62
, Birstall Shopping Park (also referred to as West Yorkshire Retail Park), although most of the business' on the park (including Ikea
and the Showcase Cinema) claim to be trading in Leeds. The town at one stage contained a large night club called 'Barcelona', however this closed down and is now a DW Sports shop and fitness club. In addition to Birstall Shopping Park there is the Junction 27 Retail Park, which specialises in bulky goods and electronics and is under different ownership to Birstall Shopping Park.
The local chamber of trade actively seeks to improve the local knowledge on the independent traders operating their businesses in and around Birstall, to keep the village thriving, with a florist, bakers, butchers, travel agent, pet shop, hair dressers, nail bar, fish shop, garment alterations, nail bar, bistro, hot sandwich bar, to name just a few of the services available.
Metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts, however all of them have been granted or regranted...
of Kirklees
Kirklees
The Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 401,000 and includes the settlements of Batley, Birstall, Cleckheaton, Denby Dale, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Kirkburton, Marsden, Meltham, Mirfield and Slaithwaite...
, 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...
and situated roughly 6 miles south-west of Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
. It features a quaint triangular Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
marketplace
Marketplace
A marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...
, which replaced an earlier market on High Street in the Georgian area of the village further up the hill. There is still a market on Thursdays.
Situated centrally between Leeds, Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
, 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....
and Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
close to the M62 motorway
M62 motorway
The M62 motorway is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting the cities of Liverpool and Hull via Manchester and Leeds. The road also forms part of the unsigned Euroroutes E20 and E22...
, Birstall has always benefited from good transport links but more recently has seen massive growth because of the expansion of Leeds resulting in a growth of commuters wishing to live in more rural surroundings. At its outskirts, there is also a retail park featuring an IKEA
IKEA
IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer...
store, Habitat
Habitat (retailer)
Habitat Retail Ltd. is a retailer of household furnishings in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, and has franchised outlets in other countries. Founded in 1964 by Terence Conran, it was sold by the IKANO Group, owned by the Kamprad family, in December 2009 to Hilco, a restructuring...
, Next and Showcase Cinemas
Showcase Cinemas
Showcase Cinemas is a movie theater chain owned and operated by National Amusements. Operating more than 1,354 indoor screens in the United States, United Kingdom and Latin America.-USA:* Connecticut* Massachusetts* Ohio* New Jersey* Rhode Island...
complex.
Birstall does not feature 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...
but is alluded to as one of two main settlements within Gomersal
Gomersal
Gomersal is a village in the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. It is south of Bradford, east of Cleckheaton, and north of Heckmondwike and close to the River Spen....
, and was listed in 'Pigot's National Commercial Directory for 1828-29' as one of the four villages which make up the township of Gomersal.
Prior to 1937, Birstall had its own Urban District Council
Urban district
In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
when financial discrepancies forced an unpopular merger with the UDC of neighbouring Batley
Batley
Batley is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies southeast of Bradford, southwest of Leeds and north of Dewsbury, near the M62 motorway. It has a population of 49,448 . Other nearby towns include Morley to the northeast, Ossett to the southeast...
. Just over 30 years later, this, in turn was merged into Kirklees when the metropolitan councils were formed.
The Yorkshire Dictionary stated that there was once a common phrase cahr quiet li' the' do i' Birstall. However, no reason was given for why Birstall was associated with keeping quiet, although locals insist that it is because no Birstall Luddite
Luddite
The Luddites were a social movement of 19th-century English textile artisans who protested – often by destroying mechanised looms – against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt were leaving them without work and changing their way of life...
s were ever arrested. A more recent version of this phrase is tha bess says nowt lahk fowk in Birstall do.
History
Birstall's name means either "the fortified place" or "the place where the fort is". It is popularly thought that the original location of the Burgh-Stall (Burgh meaning a fortification and Stall meaning place) is where the St Peters Church is located. However it is more probable that the Church was built at the bottom of an ancient hill fort site. The church site was, in fact, built above a sharp bend on the Birstall Beck, known as Guthmers Hahl or Guthmners nook or corner of land. This area is also thought to be an Anglo-Saxon burial ground.The hill fort itself would have been situated high above the village, to one side of the present-day Raikes Lane, which heads towards Gildersome, and onto Leeds. In prehistoric days, trackways ran in various directions from one British settlement to another, one such settlement being on the top of Birstall Hill. This site was chosen for its central location amongst the nearby waterways and its accessibility to and from other nearby hill forts, such as Castle Hill at Almondbury in Huddersfield and Barwick-in Elmet, near Leeds. Following the course of Fieldhead Lane towards Drighlington is the Roman Road of Tong Street. This location would give Birstall a great geographical advantage, making it within easy reach of the main thoroughfares of ancient Yorkshire.
A Roman tiled mosaic was unearthed at Birstall Smithies, a former early industrial slag smelting site, during excavations in 1965. This and a hoard of Roman coins discovered at the foot of Carr Lane, on what was then Birstall Recreation ground indicate quite succinctly as to the prehistoric origins of Birstall. These coins, which were discovered in the 18th century, dated from 192 to 268 AD.
A quarter of a mile up the hill from Birstal on Leeds Road, there was once a Roman Watch Tower. This observation point was built on the Ridge or "Brae" of the hill. One side overlooked the Birstall area, while the other looked downwards from Howden Clough and the Valley towards upland Morley. This Watchtower was known in the early 20th century to the local inhabitants as the Brass Castle, a corruption of Brae Castle. It followed the line of other such structures built in West Yorkshire, atop prominent projecting ridges.
Moving further forward in time, but only a few hundred yards in location, there is the site of Moat Hill. This also just off Leeds Road was once the site of an important meeting place. An Anglo-Saxon parliament would meet here several times a year to discuss laws and "mete" out punishment. For the word moat (meet?) is a corruption of an ancient word, pronounced "mute", meaning a meeting place for official decisions. There were only a handful of these places in Anglo-Saxon Britain, with Birstall having been host to one of them. Others were in Scotland and at Tynwald Hill, on the Isle of Man, which still meets annually to this day, and forms the historic place of Parliament for that independent island.
Birstall is most famously the birthplace of Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley, FRS was an 18th-century English theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works...
, the discoverer of Oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
amongst many other things. Priestley was tutored extensively by the then Vicar of Birstall, a highly educated Edinburgh man with a keen interest in science. He was also a pupil at Batley Grammar School for Boys, founded in 1612 by the Rev. William Lee, and the school still remains on Carlinghow Hill (approximately one mile from Birstall).
Also born here was John Nelson, a stonemason who was converted by John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
to Methodism
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
whilst working in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and who returned to Birstall and became one of Wesley's most important preachers.
Birstall enjoyed prosperity even before the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, being within a small area that was a centre of excellence for the English white cloth industry. However, the Industrial Revolution saw massive growth, and the architecture of the period still dominates today. The wider area became known as the Heavy Woollen District
Heavy Woollen District
The Heavy Woollen District is named because of the heavyweight cloth manufactured in an area of West Yorkshire, England. Dewsbury, Batley, Heckmondwike and Ossett are the core of the area. Liversedge, Gomersal, Gildersome, Birkenshaw, Mirfield, Cleckheaton, Morley, Tingley, East Ardsley, Birstall...
, although the decline in textile production has led to a decline in its usage; it is still used in local sport however. Most notable of the features of this period is the cobbled
Cobblestone
Cobblestones are stones that were frequently used in the pavement of early streets. "Cobblestone" is derived from the very old English word "cob", which had a wide range of meanings, one of which was "rounded lump" with overtones of large size...
market place sporting a statue of Priestley, which was erected in 1912 by public subscription and sculpted by Frances Darlington. It is one of very few pieces of her work on public display.
The local council's area committee has recently invested £900,000 in refurbishing the Birstall marketplace and "regenerating" the village after a long, hard campaign by locals. The refurbishments are now complete with most of the original cobbles being taken away and only the odd few remaining. The statue of Joseph Priestley wasn't moved and is still in its original place. (See below, Town Centre Upgrade.)
Birstall features the picturesque St Peter's church dating to the time of Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, although the original tower is much earlier and may have been part of the original "Burgh Stall" or "Fortified Place". A family reconstitution of the parish registers of St Peter's Birstall (1595–1812) was undertaken by Harvey Thwaite, and is one of the group of twenty-six family reconstitution studies that have been extensively used by the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure.
Nearby, sits Oakwell Hall
Oakwell Hall
Oakwell Hall is an Elizabethan Manor House located in the village of Birstall, West Yorkshire, England and set in period gardens surrounded by of country park....
, an Elizabethan
Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
romanticised by Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards...
as 'Fieldhead' in her novel "Shirley".
Windmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
which stands in the grounds of St Saviour's Junior School and has provided local names such as 'Windmill Estate' and 'Millers Croft'.
Anyone interested in the history of Birstall should pay a visit to the Black Bull Inn, situated directly behind St Peter's church on Kirkgate. The pub has dozens of photographs of the village, most dating from around the 1900 to 1930 period, and its upstairs room once housed a debtors' Court room for Birstall and Batley.
Birstall is known for its large retail areas adjacent to Junction 27 of the M62
M62 motorway
The M62 motorway is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting the cities of Liverpool and Hull via Manchester and Leeds. The road also forms part of the unsigned Euroroutes E20 and E22...
, Birstall Shopping Park (also referred to as West Yorkshire Retail Park), although most of the business' on the park (including Ikea
IKEA
IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer...
and the Showcase Cinema) claim to be trading in Leeds. The town at one stage contained a large night club called 'Barcelona', however this closed down and is now a DW Sports shop and fitness club. In addition to Birstall Shopping Park there is the Junction 27 Retail Park, which specialises in bulky goods and electronics and is under different ownership to Birstall Shopping Park.
Town centre upgrade
In mid-2008 Birstall received a £900,000 cash injection to improve the aesthetics of the town. This was completed in December 2008. The town's 19th-century cobbled market place was removed (with large unrest from residents believing the town would lose character, like neighbouring Batley) and replaced with a level stone surface with random cobbled stripes. New lighting has been erected throughout the village centre along with a CCTV system. Village centre roads have also been improved and the overall upgrade of the town has been well received by residents. The opening was celebrated with the official "Christmas light switch on" and a one-of-a-kind Italian Market.Active community groups
Birstall's residents and traders take part in many community groups, such as the current "Birstall in Bloom" project started in 2010, hoping to make Birstall a competitor on all sides.The local chamber of trade actively seeks to improve the local knowledge on the independent traders operating their businesses in and around Birstall, to keep the village thriving, with a florist, bakers, butchers, travel agent, pet shop, hair dressers, nail bar, fish shop, garment alterations, nail bar, bistro, hot sandwich bar, to name just a few of the services available.