Clifton is a small village, near

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 ...

, in the

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 ...

Calderdale Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, whose population in 2020 was 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the u ...

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

Clifton is mentioned as ''Cliftone'' in the

Domesday book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

The entry reads ‘In Cliftone Escelf has seven carucates of land…where four ploughs may be…’The manor was one of two hundred manors granted by William the Conqueror to the Norman noble, Ilbert de Laci. The early Lords of the Manor lived at Clifton Hall (which was down Well Lane) and Cross Hall (later called Highley Hall). Remnants of the early ‘strip’ farming remain in the fields known as ‘The Acres’.. The parish was recorded on 1 July 1837 as part of the Halifax Registration District. It was abolished as a distinct parish on 1 April 1937 and merged with the neighbouring parishes of Brighouse,

Cleckheaton Cleckheaton is a town in the Metropolitan borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Bradford, east of Brighouse, west of Batley and south-west of Leeds. It ...

, and

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 ...

, the village of Clifton becoming part of the Borough of Brighouse. The borough was abolished in 1974 when it became part the metropolitan borough of Calderdale.

Governance

Clifton is a village in the Brighouse

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 Calderdale, a

in the

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

of West Yorkshire, England.

Geography

The village is on the north side of the valley of the River Calder and the plateau adjoining it. The village is on the route of the Calderdale Way. This is a 50-mile circular walk around the hills and valleys of Calderdale.

Nearby towns and villages

Culture and community

Filling Station, Wakefield Road (A644), Clifton - geograph

There are two

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s at either end of the main street (Towngate). One, the Black Horse Inn, was the ''

Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds in Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...

'' pub restaurant of 2006. The other is the Armytage Arms. Clifton also has a small hairdressing salon. The Clifton Village Community Association (CVCA) organises local events, in recent years has added a new memorial stone to men lost in WWII associated with Clifton Village war memorial railings and the village play park. In addition to restoring and managing the former telephone kiosk, the CVCA has oversight of local issues. The Clifton Village Neighbourhood Forum (CVNF) was granted recognition by Calderdale Council on 1 August 2018 to produce a neighbourhood plan for Clifton Village. Clifton also gives its name to the Clifton & Lightcliffe brass band. It is one of the country's oldest, formed in 1838. The band headquarters is in nearby

Bailiff Bridge Bailiff Bridge is a village north from Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England, and is from Huddersfield and from Bradford. Bailiff Bridge falls within the Hipperholme and Lightcliffe Ward of Calderdale Council. The village is centred on the A64 ...

Landmarks

There are many local historical references connected to

drift mining Drift mining is either the mining of an ore deposit by underground methods, or the working of coal seams accessed by adits driven into the surface outcrop of the coal bed. A drift mine is an underground mine in which the entry or access is above ...

. It was first recorded in 1307 and also mentioned by

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

, author of ''

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...

'', in his 1727 book 'A Tour Of Great Brittain'. On the western flank of the village is a long straight ridge, which constitutes the remains of a gravity railway that was last used to transport coal in 1920 to the municipal gasworks by the

Calder and Hebble Navigation The Calder and Hebble Navigation is a broad inland waterway, with locks and bridgeholes that are suitable for boats, in West Yorkshire, England. Construction to improve the River Calder and the River Hebble began in 1759, and the initial sch ...

at Brighouse. There are also intriguing historical connections such as America Lane, the fever hospital and Clifton 'airport' used by Sir

Alan Cobham Sir Alan John Cobham, KBE, AFC (6 May 1894 – 21 October 1973) was an English aviation pioneer. Early life and family As a child he attended Wilson's School, then in Camberwell, London. The school relocated to the former site of Croydo ...

's Air Circus between the two world wars. The remains of the village well can be seen opposite the school. At the easterly edge of the village is the 16th-century

Kirklees Hall Kirklees Hall is a 16th-century Grade I listed Jacobean hall, close to the English village of Clifton in Calderdale, West Yorkshire. The first evidence of a hall constructed at Kirklees was that of Sir Thomas Gargrave, who conveyed the prop ...

, whose grounds contain the reputed grave of

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depic ...

. It was the model for 'Nunwood' in

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'. At the northerly end of the village, there remains evidence of

strip farming Strip cropping is a method of farming which involves cultivating a field partitioned into long, narrow strips which are alternated in a crop rotation system. It is used when a slope is too steep or when there is no alternative method of preventin ...

, also known as 'open field system'. Originally, there were 32 strips of land and families would work two or three. Beyond were fields known as the Doles, common grazing land. Doles Lane, a public right of way, still exists and starts (as Well Lane), opposite the Black Horse Inn a meeting place for

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 ...

s, the machine wreckers, in the early 19th century. Highley Hall (formerly Crosse Hall), near the war memorial, was a farm until the 1990s. Originally the family home of Richard de Hileagh, constable of the village in the mid-14th century; it is now again a private residence.

Education

The village, a 'Village Design Statement' area, has a junior and infant school, St John's Primary Academy, originally built in the 1870s. It is a top-performing school, which was called 'outstanding' in successive

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

inspections such as in 2014. It was 7th best in England for SATS level 5 in December 2007. The academy has had many names, but was first called Clifton School, but now it is called St. John's CE Primary Academy, Clifton. The school has been extended many times to accommodate more children.

Religious sites

There is an Anglican church (first baptism Goldthorpe Squire 1859, first burial Zillah Ramsden 1860) within the

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 ...

Diocese of Leeds, and a

Methodist 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 b ...

church.

Patrick Brontë Patrick Brontë (, commonly ; born Patrick Brunty; 17 March 1777 – 7 June 1861) was an Irish Anglican priest and author who spent most of his adult life in England. He was the father of the writers Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë, and of ...

, father of the novelist

sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

, was Minister at the nearby Hartshead-cum-Clifton church.

Sport

Adjacent to the village is Willow Valley Golf Club. Each June, the club hosts the annual Yorkshire PGA Championship.

References

External links

Domesday Book

St John's CE Primary Academy, Clifton

Clifton Village Community Association

Clifton Village Neighbourhood Forum

Calderdale Way route
{{authority control Villages in West Yorkshire Geography of Calderdale Former civil parishes in West Yorkshire