Birkby is a large multi-cultural suburb close to the town centre in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

, in the

Kirklees Kirklees is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, governed by Kirklees Council with the status of a metropolitan borough. The largest town and administrative centre of Kirklees is Huddersfield, and the district also includes ...

borough of

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England. It has a population of 6,700. An affluent suburb during Victorian times, Birkby sits in the Grimescar Valley, a

greenbelt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...

area of Huddersfield. Birkby contains Norman Park, a small park with a play area and war memorial, which commemorates those who died in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

History

The name Birkby is not recorded until 1561, when it was spelt ''Byrkebye''. The origin of the name is uncertain. It is probably of Old Danish origin, from ''birk'' "birch tree" and ''by'' "settlement". From the study of old

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

maps, much of the district of Birkby remained largely rural well into the 20th century, with the original settlement lying close to the town centre. Bay Hall, a local historic house dates from the 16th century but was largely restored in 1895, as a date plaque on the residence indicates. Birkby can effectively be bisected into two distinct areas; St Johns road being the main thoroughfare. Birkby is generally more affluent to the north and west of the main thoroughfare. This can be seen with a comparison of a south Birkby postcode HD2 2RT having an average home price of £121,892 and a northern Birkby postcode of HD2 2DU having an average home price of £450,000, although this shows anomalies and is not a general trend. Recently, Birkby has seen significant residential development, as the Hopkinson's Valve Works has been redeveloped for housing On Sunday 12 May 2002, an arson attack took place at 40 Osborne Road, Birkby, killing eight people, including a six-month-old girl. All had been sleeping whilst the house was deliberately set on fire. One of the arsonists, Shahid Mohammed, who had fled to Pakistan, was found guilty of eight counts of murder on 6 August 2019 and was motivated by an inter-family dispute. His accomplices, Shaied Iqbal, Nazar Hussain and Shakiel Shazad, were convicted in 2003. Det Ch Supt Nick Wallen said after the verdict concerning Shahid Mohammed that the incident remains the largest single event of multiple murders that West Yorkshire Police has investigated.

Amenities and buildings

It has a catholic primary school, St. Patrick's, as well as Birkby Infant and Nursery School, located on Blacker Road. Birkby Junior School is located to the east of Birkby and is addressed as

Fartown, Huddersfield Fartown is a district of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England that starts north of the town centre. Fartown runs for approximately either side of the A641 main Huddersfield to Bradford Road. The district area stretches from the top of Woo ...

. Birkby is a semi-rural area, home to a large white and Asian population, having four mosques. Elsewhere, the suburb contains two

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

chapels, a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

centre, as well as a meetinghouse for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

. The centre of Birkby, located around the east of Blacker Road and the north of St John's Road, has a high concentration of Asian retailers and food outlets, serving the local Asian community.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkby, West Yorkshire Areas of Huddersfield

History

Amenities and buildings

See also

References