East Ardsley is a village in the

City of Leeds The City of Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Garforth, Guiseley, Horsforth, Morley, Otley, Pudsey, Rothwell, W ...

metropolitan borough, 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. East Ardsley 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 ...

Etymology

The name ''Ardsley'' is first attested 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 manus ...

as ''Erdeslau'' and ''Eadeslauue'', apparently primarily with reference to what is now East Ardsley as opposed to

West Ardsley West Ardsley is a settlement on the south-west edge of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it roughly approximates to an amalgamation of Tingley, Woodkirk, Hill Top, Upper Green, Common ...

. The first element of the name comes from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

personal name ''Eard'', a nickname form of longer names like ''Eardwulf'', in the genitive form ''Eardes'' ('Eard's'). The second element comes from Old English ''hlǣw'' ('hill, mound'). Thus the name once meant 'Eard's hill' or 'Eard's mound'. The name first appears with the element ''east'' in 1459, in the forms ''Est Ardeslaw'' and ''East Ardeslawe''.Harry Parkin, ''Your City's Place-Names: Leeds'', English Place-Name Society City-Names Series, 3 (Nottingham: English Place-Names Society, 2017), pp. 16-17.

Location

Historically 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 south of Leeds city centre and north of the City of Wakefield. Being between several towns, East Ardsley has become a dormitory village. The village is about above sea level and is more widely known than its neighbour

. Although it is in the City of Leeds metropolitan district, the village is in Wakefield's WF3 postcode district and its telephone numbers have both the 0113 Leeds and 01924 Wakefield dialling code. East Ardsley was part of Ardsley Urban district 1894–1937, which also included

Tingley Tingley is a suburban village in the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, Northern England, forming part of the parish of West Ardsley. Tingley forms part of the Heavy Woollen District. It is situated between the cities of Leeds and Wakefield. ...

and

, and was then part of

Morley Morley may refer to: Places England * Morley, Norfolk, a civil parish * Morley, Derbyshire, a civil parish * Morley, Cheshire, a village * Morley, County Durham, a village * Morley, West Yorkshire, a suburban town of Leeds and civil parish * M ...

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 ...

1937–1974. The village is still classed as part of Morley in the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

, but it is not governed by Morley

Town Council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second t ...

. East Ardsley sits in the Ardsley and Robin Hood ward of

Leeds City Council Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of l ...

- which elects three city councillors - and the Morley and Outwood parliamentary constituency.

History

East Ardsley once had a diverse economy, including agriculture, textiles, railways and coal-mining. Its coal mine closed in 1968 – the same year that the nearby Middleton pit closed. On the site of the old

pit head A headframe (also known as a gallows frame, winding tower, hoist frame,Ernst, Dr.-Ing. Richard (1989). ''Wörterbuch der Industriellen Technik'' (5th ed.). Wiesbaden: Oscar Brandstetter, 1989. pit frame, shafthead frame, headgear, headstock o ...

now stands the headquarters of Sharp Business Systems, the UK arm of

Sharp Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation that designs and manufactures electronic products, headquartered in Sakai-ku, Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. Since 2016 it has been majority owned by the Taiwan-based Foxconn Group. Sharp employs more than 5 ...

, which supplies and services photocopiers. The village had many co-op departments all of which are now closed. The old coop on Thorpe Road changed hands to become Moorknoll Upholstery and after that, Restyle fitness. More recently the property is now occupied by The Mulberry House Beauty Salon. Amblers Mill is at the crossroads of the A650 Bradford Road, Westerton Road and Common Lane. The building has ceased textile production and now houses Country Baskets. In 2007 the former railway sidings site started to be redeveloped for housing. The owners of the Country Baskets wholesaler were both killed in a helicopter accident on Saturday 26 January 2008. The M62 and M1

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

s intersect near here. The main

A650 road A65 or A-65 may refer to: * A65 road (England), a major road in England * A65 motorway (France), a major road in France * A65 motorway (Germany), a road connecting Kandel and Wörth am Rhein * A65 motorway (Netherlands) * A65 motorway (Spain) ...

from Wakefield to Bradford also goes through the village. The Bay Horse Pub, a long-standing and historical part of East Ardsley can be found on Bradford Road. The village was also formerly served by Ardsley railway station. The entertainer

Ernie Wise Ernest Wiseman, (27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known by his stage name Ernie Wise, was an English comedian, best known as one half of the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise, who became a national institution on British television, especially ...

was brought up in East Ardsley.

Notable people

(born 1925), comedian * Eric Fisk (born 1931), first-class cricketer * Terry Durham (born 1936), artist and poet

References

External links

* {{authority control Places in Leeds Villages in West Yorkshire