![Church of St John The Evangelist, Church Street, Cleckheaton (1) - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Church_of_St_John_The_Evangelist%2C_Church_Street%2C_Cleckheaton_%281%29_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1631646.jpg)
Cleckheaton is a town in the Metropolitan borough of
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 ...
, in
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.
Historically
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
part of the
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
, it is situated south of
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
, east of
Brighouse
Brighouse is a town within the metropolitan borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated on the River Calder,
east of Halifax. It is served by Junction 25 of the M62 m ...
, west of
Batley
Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part of the ...
and south-west of
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
. It is at the centre of the
Spen Valley and was the major town in the former borough of
Spenborough
Spenborough was, from 1915 to 1974, a local government district in the administrative county of Yorkshire, West Riding, England.
Spenborough was created as an urban district in 1915 by the merger of Cleckheaton, Gomersal and Liversedge urban ...
.
Cleckheaton has a history as a mill town and forms part of the
Heavy Woollen District
The Heavy Woollen District is a region of textile-focused industrial development in West Yorkshire, England. It acquired the name because of the heavyweight cloth manufactured there from the early 19th century.
The district is made up of parts o ...
.
History
Early history
![Cleckheaton Whitechapel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Cleckheaton_Whitechapel.jpg)
The Spen Valley was once heavily wooded. Evidence of human habitation in
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...
and
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
times has been found in the area. Roman remains have been found in the valley and it is thought that roads from
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
to
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
, and from settlements in
Halifax and
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
, passed through Cleckheaton.
Cleckheaton was in the ancient parish of
Birstall. A
chapel of ease
A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently.
Often a chapel of ea ...
, known as the White Chapel (later Whitechapel) was established.
Textile working
The area was very disorganised for a long time after the
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...
and the richest townships at that time were still the richest 300 years later as the Poll Tax returns of 1379 show. They also demonstrate the lack of administration as only the richest four of the 227 families living in the Spen Valley were made to pay more than the 4d (approx. 2p) minimum tax. These tax returns also show the recent deviation from the traditional sources of wealth in the area (i.e. farming and allied trades). These were centred on textiles and included dyeing, weaving and fulling (common names in the area nowadays still recall these early trades: Lister- dyer, Webster- weaver, Walker- fuller).
After the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
, Kirklees Priory was largely destroyed, many families were driven from the area and new non-aristocratic lords of the manor who were sympathetic to Protestantism were introduced by
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
, as was a puritan clergyman who was installed at Birstall Church. By 1570, at the time of the
Rising of the Northern Earls, the last of the old Norman noble families had been swept away. Sir John Neville went into exile and forfeited his estate and Thomas Hussey (heir to the de Tilly family of Oakwell Hall) was imprisoned in the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
for some time before being pardoned.
By the 17th century land-owning farmers were finding it increasingly difficult as were their landlords and some payments were still in kind as farmers had no money to pay their debts. Meanwhile, the textile workers were becoming more and more prosperous and paid less and less attention to their hard up and increasingly impotent landlords. During the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
the clothiers were on one side and the landlords on the other. Lords of the area were made Royalist officers and made some progress such as at the
Battle of Adwalton Moor about a mile east of
Birkenshaw and the
siege of Bradford, before the Parliamentarians took control of the area.
Nonconformity
![Independent Methodist Chapel Cleckheaton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Independent_Methodist_Chapel_Cleckheaton.jpg)
After the
restoration of the monarchy in 1660,
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
was reintroduced. However, many people had found
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
teachings more to their taste, and it took many years to re-install an Anglican vicar to Whitechapel. Despite the draconian nonconformist laws, there were many
nonconformist
Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to:
Culture and society
* Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior
*Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity
** ...
meeting houses and nonconformity flourished; a fifth of the population of the Birstall Parish was estimated to be nonconformist.
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
s were widespread, and even now a number of 17th and 18th century Quaker burial grounds remain in the area. In the 18th century,
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
was widespread, but then it lost a large minority of its flock to
Unitarianism
Unitarianism (from Latin ''unitas'' "unity, oneness", from ''unus'' "one") is a nontrinitarian branch of Christian theology. Most other branches of Christianity and the major Churches accept the doctrine of the Trinity which states that there i ...
and to the
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
church.
Methodism
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...
also flourished from the 1740s after visits from
John Wesley
John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...
and
Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley (18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788) was an English leader of the Methodist movement. Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime. His works include " And Can It Be", " Christ the Lord Is Risen ...
, as did the
Moravian Church
The Moravian Church ( cs, Moravská církev), or the Moravian Brethren, formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohem ...
. Indeed, John Wesley visited Birstall some 40 times.
In spite of the religious strength in the valley, the inhabitants were somewhat unconventional and still went to astrologers, quack doctors and prophets. Local religious leaders included people like Eli Collins, the "Wizard of Wyke", and Alvery Newsome, the "Wise Man of Heckmondwike".
Industrial Revolution
![Prospect Mills Cleckheaton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Prospect_Mills_Cleckheaton.jpg)
In 1804 the Reverend Hammond Roberson, annoyed that the administration of Liversedge was disorganised, promoted a system of reform (the
select vestry
A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...
) which quickly spread to Cleckheaton and Heckmondwike. In 1810, after his wife's death, Roberson turned his attention to church building in the area. In 1818 Parliament voted £1 million for the building of new churches in the country, and Roberson was able to secure funding to build Cleckheaton Church:
St John the Evangelist in Church Street.
Spen Valley
By the mid 19th century the Spen Valley entered its golden era. In 1800 children were paid starvation wages for putting staples into leather for carding wool, but by 1838 there were eleven carding factories in Cleckheaton and by 1893 the town was recognised as the carding capital of the world.
20th century
Around 1900, many large and expensive buildings were erected and became symbols of the area's wealth; massive chapels and a new grammar school were built in Cleckheaton, and to mark the new
urban district
Urban district may refer to:
* District
* Urban area
* Quarter (urban subdivision)
* Neighbourhood
Specific subdivisions in some countries:
* Urban districts of Denmark
* Urban districts of Germany
* Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...
and the fact that it was the centre of it, Cleckheaton built a
town hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
in 1892, paid for in part by public subscription.
In 1903, Lion Confectionery began making "Midget Gems" in Cleckheaton, and 1904 saw the opening of the
Phelon & Moore
Phelon & Moore manufactured motorcycles in Cleckheaton, Yorkshire, England from 1904 to 1967 particularly those under the Panther marque. They became identified with one particular design of motorcycle which had a large sloping 40-degree single- ...
(Panther) motorcycle factory in the town, soon followed by a car factory. BBA (formerly British Belting & Asbestos), the large asbestos, friction material, and conveyor belting firm, built its headquarters at Moorend, where they manufactured automotive disc brake pads under the Mintex banner. A tourist industry developed to serve visitors to the area aware of its connection to
Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature.
She enlisted i ...
's novel ''
Shirley
Shirley may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë
* ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film
* ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film
* ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...
'' and
Luddite
The Luddites were a secret oath-based organisation of English textile workers in the 19th century who formed a radical faction which destroyed textile machinery. The group is believed to have taken its name from Ned Ludd, a legendary weaver s ...
attacks. The philanthropic Mowatt family paid for Cleckheaton Library.
Cleckheaton railway station
The
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
closed to passenger traffic in 1965 and to goods four years later. In 1972, a singular case was heard at Wakefield Crown Court. A
Dewsbury
Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...
man was accused of, as counsel for the prosecution put it, effectively stealing the station.
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
had contracted for the clearing of the site; part of the deal was that the contractors would sell and retain the proceeds from disposal of the materials and scrap. On arrival, they discovered that the station and most of the material were already gone. It transpired that the defendant had been contracted by another firm to clear the site, had been advanced a sum for hire of plant, and had spent three weeks clearing the site. Subsequent efforts to trace the second firm failed, and the court found the man not guilty, deciding that he had been duped and left significantly out of pocket.
Cleckheaton bus station
![Cleckheaton bus station 001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Cleckheaton_bus_station_001.jpg)
Cleckheaton has a bus station in the town centre. It has six stands, and the main operator is
Arriva Yorkshire
Arriva Yorkshire is a major bus operator providing services primarily within and across West Yorkshire, although it also provides service in some parts of South Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire and southern areas of North Yorkshire. It is a ...
. However, there is a regular service to Bradford Interchange with different operators and a school bus also operated here. It is owned and maintained by
West Yorkshire Metro
Metro is the passenger information brand used by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority in England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 as the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE) at the same time as the metropolitan county of West Yor ...
, who rebuilt it in April 2005, replacing the previous site owned by Arriva Yorkshire.
Governance
Local government
![Town Hall Cleckheaton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Town_Hall_Cleckheaton.jpg)
Cleckheaton adopted the
Local Government Act 1858
Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environmenta ...
in 1864 and a
local board
Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environmenta ...
was formed. The
Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...
reconstituted the area of the local board as Cleckheaton
Urban District
Urban district may refer to:
* District
* Urban area
* Quarter (urban subdivision)
* Neighbourhood
Specific subdivisions in some countries:
* Urban districts of Denmark
* Urban districts of Germany
* Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...
. There were at this time attempts to involve all the local authorities in the valley in joint projects such as installation of sewers and water. In 1915, the three
urban districts of Cleckheaton,
Liversedge
Liversedge is a town and former parish of Birstall, in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Liversedge lies between Cleckheaton and Heckmondwike. The Kirklees ward ...
and
Gomersal
Gomersal is a town in Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is south of Bradford, east of Cleckheaton and north of Heckmondwike. It is close to the River Spen and forms part of the Heavy Woollen District.
History
Gomersal was attested i ...
were amalgamated to form
Spenborough Urban District. In 1937, a
county review order
The Local Government Act 1929 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made changes to the Poor Law and local government in England and Wales.
The Act abolished the system of poor law unions in England and Wales and their boar ...
enlarged the urban district to include Birkenshaw, Hunsworth and
Hartshead.
[Frederic A Youngs Jr., ''Local Administrative Units of England'', Vol II: Northern England, London 1991] Spenborough (which included all the Spen Valley except for Heckmondwike) was granted a charter of incorporation and became a
municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...
on 23 May 1955. The borough used the
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
which bore the motto "Industry Enriches" which it had been granted in 1949.
On 1 April 1974, the
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
reorganised administration throughout
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
. The borough of Spenborough was abolished, and its area combined with that of ten other local authorities to form the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, one of five
metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan ...
s 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 ...
.
Cleckheaton is an
unparished area
In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparish ...
and
ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
of Kirklees. The population of this ward as taken at the 2011 Census was 16,622.
It elects three of the borough council's 69 councillors. In 2007 all three councillors were members of the
Liberal Democrats. Under the borough council's
decentralisation
Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group.
Conce ...
scheme, Cleckheaton's councillors and those from Heckmondwike and Liversedge and Gomersal form the Spen Valley Area Committee. In August 2014, it was announced that Cleckheaton councillor
Kath Pinnock
Kathryn Mary Pinnock, Baroness Pinnock (born 25 September 1946) is a British Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrat politician, life peer, and former school teacher. Since 1987, she has been a member of Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council. S ...
was to be elevated to the House of Lords as a life peer.
Parliamentary representation
In 1885, Cleckheaton and the three neighbouring townships, Gomersal, Heckmondwike and Liversedge, were grouped to form the Parliamentary
county constituency
In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons.
Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called "constituenc ...
of
Spen Valley and remained in that constituency until 1950.
The seat was held at various times by the
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
,
National Liberal
National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism).
A seri ...
and Labour parties. From 1950 to 1983, Cleckheaton was included in the
borough constituency
In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons.
Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by ...
of
Brighouse and Spenborough.
It was a marginal seat, changing hands between the Conservative and Labour parties on six occasions. Cleckheaton is now in the
Batley and Spen borough constituency, created in 1983. It was represented by a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) from 1983 to 1997, then by
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
MP
Mike Wood until 2015, when Wood retired and was succeeded by
Jo Cox (Labour). After Jo Cox was murdered in 2016, she was replaced in a by-election (which was uncontested by the other major parties) by
Tracy Brabin
Tracy Lynn Brabin (born 9 May 1961) is a British politician who has served as the first Mayor of West Yorkshire since the office was established on 10 May 2021. She previously was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Batley and Spen from 2016 to 20 ...
, who retained the seat in 2017 and 2019. When she became
Mayor of West Yorkshire
The Mayor of West Yorkshire is a directly elected mayor responsible for the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire in England. The Mayor chairs and leads the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and assumes the office and powers of the West Yorks ...
in 2021, there was
another by-election which was won by
Kim Leadbeater
Kim Michele Leadbeater (; born 1 May 1976) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Batley and Spen since 2021.
Early life and education
Leadbeater was born in 1976 in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, Engl ...
, from the Labour Party.
Geography
Cleckheaton is at the centre of a number of villages which together form the Spen Valley:
Oakenshaw, East Bierley, Hunsworth,
Birkenshaw, Drub,
Gomersal
Gomersal is a town in Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is south of Bradford, east of Cleckheaton and north of Heckmondwike. It is close to the River Spen and forms part of the Heavy Woollen District.
History
Gomersal was attested i ...
, Little Gomersal, Littletown, Millsbridge,
Liversedge
Liversedge is a town and former parish of Birstall, in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Liversedge lies between Cleckheaton and Heckmondwike. The Kirklees ward ...
, Roberttown, Hartshead, Clifton,
Hightown, Heckmondwike and Scholes. The town itself is made up of areas such as Moorend, Whitechapel, Whitcliffe, Moorbottom, Moorside, the Marsh and Rawfolds.
Sports
Cleckheaton Sports Club, based at Moorend, is the home of the town's
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
team,
Cleckheaton RUFC
Cleckheaton Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team based in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire. The club runs four senior sides and twelve junior teams. and the first XV currently plays in North 1 East
History
Cleckheaton first formed a ru ...
., who play in the
National 3 North league at the fifth tier of English domestic rugby. The club is also home to Cleckheaton Cricket Club, who play in the
Bradford Premier Cricket League Division One. Yorkshire Captain
Andrew Gale
Andrew William Gale (born 28 November 1983) is an English cricket coach and former first-class cricketer, who was first XI coach of Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 2016 to 2021. He also co-owns Pro Coach Cricket Academy, with his business par ...
is a member of Cleckheaton and occasionally plays, depending on his availability and commitments for Yorkshire. Also the club, are two
bowling
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...
greens, home to Cleckheaton Sports Bowls Club, which has hosted the BCGBA Senior Merit "All England" Finals four times. It also hosts lesser annual competitions such as the John Smith's Classic.
Liversedge F.C. are the town's highest football club in the football league pyramid, currently playing in the
Northern Premier League Division One East as of the 2021–22 in English football season. They play their home games at the Clayborn Ground, from the town centre.
Other cricket clubs from the local area include Spen Victoria, Gomersal, Hartshead Moor and East Bierley from the
Bradford Cricket League
The Bradford Premier League (currently known as the Gordon Rigg Bradford Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is an amateur cricket competition centred in Bradford, West Yorkshire. It has been described as "arguably England's strongest amate ...
, and Scholes and Liversedge from the Central Yorkshire Cricket League.
Notable people
*
William Baines
William Baines (26 March 1899 – 6 November 1922) was an English pianist and composer who wrote more than 150 works for solo piano and a number of larger orchestral works before his death from tuberculosis at the age of 23.
Life
Born in Ho ...
(composer/pianist) (1899–1922), lived here from 1913 to 1918, when his father (later replaced by himself) was a cinema pianist at the Picture Palace.
*
Wilfred Barber (1901–1968), born Cleckheaton, Yorkshire and England cricketer.
*
John Barlow, novelist.
*
John Bentley, was Captain of, Cleckheaton RUFC (part of Cleckheaton Sports Club).
*
Danny Cadamarteri
Daniel Leon Cadamarteri (born 12 October 1979) is an English retired professional footballer who played in the Football League for clubs including Everton, Bradford City, Huddersfield Town, Leicester City and latterly Carlisle United befor ...
,
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...
footballer, was born in Cleckheaton in 1979.
*
Andrew Gale
Andrew William Gale (born 28 November 1983) is an English cricket coach and former first-class cricketer, who was first XI coach of Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 2016 to 2021. He also co-owns Pro Coach Cricket Academy, with his business par ...
, captain of
Yorkshire Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of Yorkshire. ...
, was educated at Whitcliffe Mount School and played for Cleckheaton C.C. (part of Cleckheaton Sports Club).
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Roger Hargreaves
Charles Roger Hargreaves (9 May 1935 – 11 September 1988) was an English author and illustrator of children's books. He created the ''Mr. Men'' series, ''Little Miss'' series and ''Timbuctoo'' series, intended for young readers. The simple and ...
, author of the
Mr Men
''Mr. Men'' is a British series of children's books by English author Roger Hargreaves which began publication in August 1971. From 1981, an accompanying series of Little Miss books by the same author (but with female characters) was published. ...
and
Little Miss
"Little Miss" is a song written and recorded by the American country music duo Sugarland. It was released in November 2010 as the second single from the album '' The Incredible Machine''. Before the album's release, the song charted on the ''B ...
es series of books, was born in Cleckheaton in 1935.
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Wendy Holden, novelist, attended
Whitcliffe Mount School.
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Fred Lord (long-distance runner) (1879–1928), competed at the
1908 Olympics.
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Edward Wadsworth
Edward Alexander Wadsworth (29 October 1889 – 21 June 1949) was an English artist, closely associated with modernist Vorticism movement. He painted coastal views, abstracts, portraits and still-life in tempera medium and works printed using ...
(artist) (1889–1949), "the only son of Fred Wadsworth and Hannah Smith, was born at Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, on 29th October 1889. His mother, who was an amateur painter, died of
puerperal fever
Postpartum infections, also known as childbed fever and puerperal fever, are any bacterial infections of the female reproductive tract following childbirth or miscarriage. Signs and symptoms usually include a fever greater than , chills, lower ab ...
soon after giving birth to Edward. His father was a worsted-spinning industrialist who owned the firm E. Wadsworth & Sons."
See also
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Listed buildings in Cleckheaton
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Sugden Audio
References
External links
Google map Direct line to past Gomersal and Cleckheaton FCWebsite of Mike Wood, the town's Member of Parliament
{{Authority control
Towns in West Yorkshire
Heavy Woollen District
Local Government Districts created by the Local Government Act 1858
Geography of Kirklees