Thornhill, West Yorkshire
Encyclopedia
Thornhill, is a village in Kirklees
, West Yorkshire
, England. Thornhill was absorbed into Dewsbury
County Borough in 1910. It is located on a hill on the south side of the River Calder
, and has extensive views of Dewsbury, Ossett
and Wakefield
. It is known for its collection of Anglo-Saxon
cross
es.
of 1086, but Anglo-Saxon crosses and other remains indicate that there was a settlement here by the ninth century. In 1320 Edward II granted a charter for a market and a fair.
In the reign of Henry III
Thornhill was the seat of the Thornhill family, who intermarried with the De Fixbys and Babthorpes in the reigns of Edward I
and Edward II
. In the reign of Edward III
, Elizabeth Thornhill, the only child of Simon Thornhill, married Sir Henry Savile. This extinguished the family line of Thornhills of Thornhill which now passed down the Savile line. Thornhill now became the seat of the powerful Savile family. http://midgleywebpages.com/thornhill.html
The Saviles later intermarried with the Calverley family as well, so that when Sir John Savile died in 1503 in Thornhill, he left provision in his will for his sister Alice, married to Sir William Calverley.
The Saviles remained here until the English Civil War
when the house
was besieged, (having been previously fortified by Sir William Savile
, the third baronet
of the family), taken, and demolished by the forces of Parliament
. Some ruins of the house and the moat still remain at Thornhill Rectory Park.http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?pid=1&id=340714 This large house had a secret underground passage, that lead to Thornhill Parish Church
. http://www.thornhillparishchurch.org.uk/AboutUs.htm just a few hundred yards away from the park. The passage remained until the early 1990s when it was filled in due to safety reasons.
Monuments to members of both the Thornhill and Savile families are on view in Thornhill Parish Church. http://www.thornhillparishchurch.org.uk/AboutUs.htm
Thornhill has close ties to coal-mining. In 1893 the Combs Pit Mining Disaster killed 139 local coal miners. Thornhill colliery resulted from the merging of Inghams and Combs colliery in 1948 but closed in 1971. Caphouse Colliery
, just to the south of Thornhill, closed after the miners strike of 1985 and became the National Coal Mining Museum.
which joined the Dewsbury Poor Law Union
in 1837. In 1894 it was an Urban District
and in 1910 it was incorporated into Dewsbury County Borough.
and the Calder and Hebble Navigation
. The township covered 2486 acres (10.1 km²) and the underlying rock comprises coal measures. Thornhill encompasses the areas of Thornhill Lees on the flatter land in the valley, Thornhill Edge, Overthorpe
and Foxroyd overlooking the valleys of the Howroyd Beck and Smithy Brook.
The Thornhill area has two junior schools: Overthorpe (C of E) Junior and Infants and Thornhill Junior and Infants School. The Community Science College @ Thornhill http://www.tcscat.co.uk (formerly Thornhill High) is the area's secondary school, with a GCSE
pass rate of 84% in 2010, an increase of 22% from 2009. Recently the school has undergone various modifications, and is now a Science College. Much of the school has been refurbished and modernised. Construction of a new sports hall was completed in April 2007 and includes a new Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA). The majority or all of the school is planned to be rebuilt under the Government Building Schools for the Future
scheme.
s. The Alma is also situated at the north of Thornhill, there is also one other pub up the road from The Alma next to the church called The Savile Arms that serves a range of traditionally brewed real ales as well regularly having guest ales. There are also several sports clubs and working men's club
s.
team who are currently in the National Conference League Premier Division.http://www.nationalconferenceleague.co.uk/ The area also boasts several football teams Overthorpe Sports who play in the West Riding county Amateur League (Premier Division) on Saturdays and Overthorpe Town who play in the Heavy Woollen Sunday League (First Division).
The club has recently been awarded FA Charter Standard status as an adult club and has ambitious plans to increase participation in the game in the next three years.
Thornhill United is located at rectory park. There is several rugby league youth teams. The Thornhill rugby club, located in Overthorpe Park, houses the changing rooms for the local rugby and football teams.
Community facilities open to the public include a football
pitch, rugby pitch and basketball
court, a mini rugby pitch frequently used by the rugby club itself for the under tens junior team and the new sports hall, with the Multi-Use Games Area located at the local secondary school (The Community Science College at Thornhill).
Thornhill is home to the Savile Bowmen, an archery club that shoots at Thornhill Cricket and Bowls Club http://www.savile-bowmen.org.uk/.
s are in Dewsbury, which is connected by public transport. The area has two post office
s with limited services. The Overthorpe post office has recently undergone building work and is now part of the Londis franchise.
Other shops and services include a florist, dental surgery, beauty salon, a computer repair shop and several fish and chip shops; one of which doubles as a Chinese takeaway.
due to the belief that it was a hotbed of Yorkshire dialect http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/personalisation/object.cfm?uid=021SED000C908S9U00003C01. A 2005 study compared the 1964 Thornhill recording with a recording from nearby Ossett in 1999 http://www.leeds.ac.uk/english/activities/lavc/Conference%20Paper%20PDFs/JonathanRobinson.pdf.
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. Thornhill was absorbed into Dewsbury
Dewsbury
Dewsbury is a minster town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Huddersfield and south of Leeds...
County Borough in 1910. It is located on a hill on the south side of the River Calder
River Calder, West Yorkshire
The River Calder is a river in West Yorkshire, in Northern England.The Calder rises on the green eastern slopes of the Pennines flows through alternating green countryside, former woollen-mill villages, and large and small towns before joining the River Aire near Castleford.The river's valley is...
, and has extensive views of Dewsbury, Ossett
Ossett
Ossett is a market town within the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on junction 40 of the M1 motorway, half-way between Dewsbury, to the west, and Wakefield, to the east. In the 2001 census, it was classified as part of the West Yorkshire...
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....
. It is known for its collection of Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
cross
Cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...
es.
History
Thornhill is mentioned in the Domesday BookDomesday 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...
of 1086, but Anglo-Saxon crosses and other remains indicate that there was a settlement here by the ninth century. In 1320 Edward II granted a charter for a market and a fair.
In the reign of Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
Thornhill was the seat of the Thornhill family, who intermarried with the De Fixbys and Babthorpes in the reigns of Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
and Edward II
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
. In the reign of Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
, Elizabeth Thornhill, the only child of Simon Thornhill, married Sir Henry Savile. This extinguished the family line of Thornhills of Thornhill which now passed down the Savile line. Thornhill now became the seat of the powerful Savile family. http://midgleywebpages.com/thornhill.html
The Saviles remained here until the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
when the house
Thornhill Hall
Thornhill Hall is the ruins of a medieval Manor house on a moated island located in Rectory Park, Thornhill, West Yorkshire. It is a grade II listed building. and the moat and surrounding grounds is a scheduled monument.-History:...
was besieged, (having been previously fortified by Sir William Savile
Sir William Savile, 3rd Baronet
Sir William Savile, 3rd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1640 and 1642. He fought on the Royalist side in the English Civil War and was killed in action....
, the third baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
of the family), taken, and demolished by the forces of Parliament
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
. Some ruins of the house and the moat still remain at Thornhill Rectory Park.http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?pid=1&id=340714 This large house had a secret underground passage, that lead to Thornhill Parish Church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
. http://www.thornhillparishchurch.org.uk/AboutUs.htm just a few hundred yards away from the park. The passage remained until the early 1990s when it was filled in due to safety reasons.
Monuments to members of both the Thornhill and Savile families are on view in Thornhill Parish Church. http://www.thornhillparishchurch.org.uk/AboutUs.htm
Thornhill has close ties to coal-mining. In 1893 the Combs Pit Mining Disaster killed 139 local coal miners. Thornhill colliery resulted from the merging of Inghams and Combs colliery in 1948 but closed in 1971. Caphouse Colliery
Caphouse Colliery
Caphouse Colliery, originally known as Overton Colliery, was a coal mine in Overton, near Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It was situated on the Denby Grange estate owned by the Lister Kaye family, and was worked from the 18th century until 1985...
, just to the south of Thornhill, closed after the miners strike of 1985 and became the National Coal Mining Museum.
Governance
Historically Thornhill (St. Michael) was a large ecclesiastical parish in the wapentake of Agbrigg, West Riding of YorkshireWest Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
which joined the Dewsbury Poor Law Union
Poor Law Union
A Poor Law Union was a unit used for local government in the United Kingdom from the 19th century. The administration of the Poor Law was the responsibility of parishes, which varied wildly in their size, populations, financial resources, rateable values and requirements...
in 1837. In 1894 it was an Urban District
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....
and in 1910 it was incorporated into Dewsbury County Borough.
Geography
Thornhill is situated on a hill on the south side of the River CalderRiver Calder, West Yorkshire
The River Calder is a river in West Yorkshire, in Northern England.The Calder rises on the green eastern slopes of the Pennines flows through alternating green countryside, former woollen-mill villages, and large and small towns before joining the River Aire near Castleford.The river's valley is...
and the Calder and Hebble Navigation
Calder and Hebble Navigation
The Calder and Hebble Navigation is a Broad inland waterway in West Yorkshire, England, which has remained navigable since it was opened.-History:...
. The township covered 2486 acres (10.1 km²) and the underlying rock comprises coal measures. Thornhill encompasses the areas of Thornhill Lees on the flatter land in the valley, Thornhill Edge, Overthorpe
Overthorpe, West Yorkshire
Overthorpe is a neighbourhood in Thornhill near Dewsbury in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England....
and Foxroyd overlooking the valleys of the Howroyd Beck and Smithy Brook.
Schools
General Certificate of Secondary Education
The General Certificate of Secondary Education is an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is equivalent to a Level 2 and Level 1 in Key Skills...
pass rate of 84% in 2010, an increase of 22% from 2009. Recently the school has undergone various modifications, and is now a Science College. Much of the school has been refurbished and modernised. Construction of a new sports hall was completed in April 2007 and includes a new Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA). The majority or all of the school is planned to be rebuilt under the Government Building Schools for the Future
Building Schools for the Future
Building Schools for the Future is the name of the previous UK Government's investment programme in secondary school buildings in England. The program is very ambitious in its costs, timescales and objectives, with politicians from all English political parties supportive of the principle but...
scheme.
Entertainment
Thornhill has several public houses. The Black Horse is a small public house in the south of Thornhill. The Scarborough Pub is a medium sized traditional public house on the edge of Frank Lane. The Flatt Top is a small public house on the corner of Albion Road, serving traditionally brewed local aleAle
Ale is a type of beer brewed from malted barley using a warm fermentation with a strain of brewers' yeast. The yeast will ferment the beer quickly, giving it a sweet, full bodied and fruity taste...
s. The Alma is also situated at the north of Thornhill, there is also one other pub up the road from The Alma next to the church called The Savile Arms that serves a range of traditionally brewed real ales as well regularly having guest ales. There are also several sports clubs and working men's club
Working men's club
Working men's clubs are a type of private social club founded in the 19th century in industrial areas of the United Kingdom, particularly the North of England, the Midlands and many parts of the South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class men and their families.-...
s.
Sports
Thornhill is home to the Thornhill Trojans http://www.thornhilltrojans.com, a rugby leagueRugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
team who are currently in the National Conference League Premier Division.http://www.nationalconferenceleague.co.uk/ The area also boasts several football teams Overthorpe Sports who play in the West Riding county Amateur League (Premier Division) on Saturdays and Overthorpe Town who play in the Heavy Woollen Sunday League (First Division).
The club has recently been awarded FA Charter Standard status as an adult club and has ambitious plans to increase participation in the game in the next three years.
Thornhill United is located at rectory park. There is several rugby league youth teams. The Thornhill rugby club, located in Overthorpe Park, houses the changing rooms for the local rugby and football teams.
Community facilities open to the public include a football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
pitch, rugby pitch and basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
court, a mini rugby pitch frequently used by the rugby club itself for the under tens junior team and the new sports hall, with the Multi-Use Games Area located at the local secondary school (The Community Science College at Thornhill).
Thornhill is home to the Savile Bowmen, an archery club that shoots at Thornhill Cricket and Bowls Club http://www.savile-bowmen.org.uk/.
Amenities
There are a number of local shops and off-licences in Thornhill and numerous takeaways ranging from traditional English to Italian cuisine. The nearest large supermarketSupermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
s are in Dewsbury, which is connected by public transport. The area has two post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
s with limited services. The Overthorpe post office has recently undergone building work and is now part of the Londis franchise.
Other shops and services include a florist, dental surgery, beauty salon, a computer repair shop and several fish and chip shops; one of which doubles as a Chinese takeaway.
Survey of English Dialects site
The area was also covered by the Survey of English DialectsSurvey of English Dialects
The Survey of English Dialects was undertaken between 1950 and 1961 under the direction of Professor Harold Orton of the English department of the University of Leeds. It aimed to collect the full range of speech in England and Wales before local differences were to disappear...
due to the belief that it was a hotbed of Yorkshire dialect http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/personalisation/object.cfm?uid=021SED000C908S9U00003C01. A 2005 study compared the 1964 Thornhill recording with a recording from nearby Ossett in 1999 http://www.leeds.ac.uk/english/activities/lavc/Conference%20Paper%20PDFs/JonathanRobinson.pdf.
Notable people
- John RuddJohn Rudd (cartographer)John Rudd was a Tudor cartographer and clergyman.In 1561 he was given two years' leave from his duties as Vicar of Dewsbury and Rector of Thornhill to travel the country with the objective of mapping England...
, cartographer, was also a Rector of Thornhill - Christopher SaxtonChristopher SaxtonChristopher Saxton was an English cartographer, probably born in the parish of Dewsbury, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England around 1540....
, cartographer and apprentice to John RuddJohn Rudd (cartographer)John Rudd was a Tudor cartographer and clergyman.In 1561 he was given two years' leave from his duties as Vicar of Dewsbury and Rector of Thornhill to travel the country with the objective of mapping England...
lived in Thornhill - Sir William Savile, 3rd BaronetSir William Savile, 3rd BaronetSir William Savile, 3rd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1640 and 1642. He fought on the Royalist side in the English Civil War and was killed in action....
, politician and soldier was born in Thornhill - George Savile, 1st Marquess of HalifaxGeorge Savile, 1st Marquess of HalifaxGeorge Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax PC was an English statesman, writer, and politician.-Family and early life, 1633–1667:...
, statesman and writer was born in Thornhill - John MichellJohn MichellJohn Michell was an English natural philosopher and geologist whose work spanned a wide range of subjects from astronomy to geology, optics, and gravitation. He was both a theorist and an experimenter....
, geologist and astronomer, was also a Rector of Thornhill - John BainesJohn Baines (mathematician)John Baines , was an English mathematician.Baines was born at Westfield farmhouse in the parish of Horbury, Yorkshire, in 1787.From 1810 at least, he sent mathematical contributions to periodicals, including...
, mathematician taught at Thornhill Grammar SchoolThornhill Grammar SchoolThornhill Grammar School was a school between Thornhill, West Yorkshire and Dewsbury.The building is dated 1643 and now disused. It was built with moneybequeathed by Charles Greenwood, Rector of Thornhill. The rear part... - Barron KilnerBarron KilnerBarron Kilner was a rugby union footballer of the 1880s, and rugby union administrator of the 1890s who at representative level played for England, and Yorkshire, and at club level for Wakefield Trinity, playing in the Forwards, e.g. Front row, Lock, or Back row...
, rugby union international and a Mayor of Wakefield was born in Thornhill - Hector Munro ChadwickHector Munro ChadwickHector Munro Chadwick was an English philologist and historian, professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Cambridge . He helped develop an integral approach to Old English studies. With his wife, Nora Kershaw Chadwick, he compiled a multi-volume survey of oral traditions and oral poetry,...
, philologist and historian was born in Thornhill