Farnley is a district in
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 ...
,
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 ...
, south-west of
Leeds city centre
Leeds city centre is the central business district of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is roughly bounded by the Leeds Inner Ring Road, Inner Ring Road to the north and the River Aire to the south and can be divided into several quarters.
C ...
, between
Wortley,
Bramley and the countryside around
Pudsey
Pudsey is a market town in the City of Leeds, City of Leeds Borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between Bradford, Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of ...
and
Gildersome
Gildersome is a village and civil parish in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough 5 miles (7 km) south-west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire, England. Glidersome forms part of the Heavy Woollen District.
Location
Historicall ...
, in the LS12
Leeds postcode area. It is part of the Leeds City Ward ''Farnley and Wortley'' with a population of 24,213 according to the 2011 Census.
New Farnley is a nearby commuter village.
Etymology
The name of Farnley was first attested in the 1086
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 ...
as ''Fernelei''. 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 settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
words ''fearn'' ('fern') and ''lēah'' ('open land in woodland'), and thus meant 'clearing characterised by ferns'.
Farnley
![Farnley Hall West Yorkshire](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Farnley_Hall_West_Yorkshire.jpg)
Farnley
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
(also known as Old Farnley) started as a small agricultural village dating back to early medieval times. When first recorded in the Domesday Book, it was in the Hundred of Morley and was part of the King’s land, with Ilbert de Lacy being the tenant-in-chief. The original Farnley village started around Cross Lane which serviced Farnley Hall (on Hall Lane) and the Farnley Manor House (at the junction of Hall Lane to Chapel Lane). The Manor and Estates of Farnley were held in 1086 by Swain Fitz Alric and then a number of his descendants until it passed by marriage to Sir James Danby in 1497. The Danbys held it for about 300 years before it was bought by James Armitage. Farnley was surrounded by the villages of Bawn, Upper Moor Side and Low Moor Side. Farnley was heavily wooded until the 19th century, and Farnley Wood was the meeting point for a would-be rebellion against Charles II in 1663 which was known as the
Farnley Wood Plot
The Farnley Wood Plot was a conspiracy in Yorkshire, England in October 1663. Intended as a major rising to overturn the return to monarchy in 1660, it was undermined by informers, and came to nothing.
The major plotters were Joshua Greathead a ...
(believed to have taken place in Sykes wood, at the bottom of Green Lane). Although the rebellion failed from lack of support, the betrayal led to 26 participants being condemned to death, with 16 hanged, drawn and quartered in York.
The people of Farnley worked in the mills surrounding the area including the Butterbowl Mill and the three mills situated in the area around
Post Hill (including Union Bridge Mill and the Woolen Mills of Farnley and Upper Mill).
![The Beulah Hotel, Tong Rd, Farnley - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/The_Beulah_Hotel%2C_Tong_Rd%2C_Farnley_-_geograph.org.uk_-_387237.jpg)
New Farnley did not exist as a village until the early part of the 19th century when Edward Armitage started the Farnley Iron Works and Farnley Fireclay. He needed many workers so built houses for them, so what had been known as part of Farnley now became New Farnley. With the increasing urban expansion connected with the industrial revolution of the 19th century, Low Moor Side emerged into New Farnley and the Bawn into Farnley. The close proximity of these two settlements led to the whole area being referred to as New Farnley, while the area around Hall Lane and Cross Lane (the original Farnley Village) was popularly called Old Farnley.
At the lower area of Old Farnley sits St Wilfrid's Church. St Michael's church is in Farnley park near the
stately home
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
of
Farnley Hall.
Shops in the original village of Farnley now include a hair salon, a newsagent, and a mini-mart. Farnley has a lower set of shops (in what was originally Bawn village) consisting of a pizza takeaway, a newsagent, a mini-mart, a butcher and Cow Close Community Corner. The area of Farnley is served by several schools, in particular Cobden Primary School, Lawns Park Primary School and
The Farnley Academy
The Farnley Academy is a secondary school with serving the Farnley, New Farnley and Wortley wards of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Mr Stokes is the principal at the Academy
The Farnley Academy is built on the site of Cow Close Secondary Sc ...
.
Old Farnley is the western terminus for
First Leeds
First West Yorkshire operates both local and regional bus services in West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of the FirstGroup, and is made up of three sub-division brands: First Bradford, First Halifax, Calder Valley & Huddersfield and Firs ...
Bus Routes 15 and 42. It is likely that past bus operators in Leeds coined the name Old Farnley to avoid confusion with Farsley, another nearby area of Leeds.
In 1904, Farnley Civil Parish was abolished to create the Armley and Bramley Civil Parish. The Farnley civil parish had included slightly more than the area between the
ring road
A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...
, Wood Lane, Back Lane, Tong Road and Park Spring; in particular it included New Farnley. The population of the civil parish was 4,351 in 1901 and 4,208 in 1911.
New Farnley
![New Farnley Village, Leeds, England](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/New_Farnley_Village%2C_Leeds%2C_England.jpg)
New Farnley is a commuter
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
in
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 ...
,
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 ...
, south west of
Leeds city centre
Leeds city centre is the central business district of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is roughly bounded by the Leeds Inner Ring Road, Inner Ring Road to the north and the River Aire to the south and can be divided into several quarters.
C ...
, on the
A58 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 ...
-
Halifax main road. New Farnley lies about south west of Farnley and was part of the Farnley Civil Parish.
It grew around two historic settlements, Upper Moor Side and the modern centre of New Farnley Village, both of which had nucleated settlements recognisable in early estate maps. There are still buildings dating from the late 17th and early 18th-century standing in both locations. It was part of the ancient manor of Farnley, ownership of which was split and held by families including the Harringtons, Nevilles, Brudenells, Danbys and finally, the Armitages.
The discovery of a 3rd-century coin may point to Roman activity in the area. A field of Harper Farm has the name 'Castle Hill', leading to a local tradition (which appears to have originated with an estate manager of Farnley Hall) that it was the site of a Roman marching camp. The field name first appears in early modern estate maps. There are also Saxon field names in the village and remains of medieval ridge and furrow. Other evidence of medieval activity may be the place-name Snittels Farm, a possible corruption of "spital", indicating the location of a medieval (leper?) hospital. However, there is no archaeological or documentary evidence to support this.
There was industrial development of the significant natural resources in the area from the early modern period (if not earlier). This industry led to the rapid expansion of settlement with the construction of workers housing in the 19th century. Despite this industrial activity a number of farms are still working in the area.
As the population increased, St James's church and the Lancasterian School were built, both of which originally served as chapels of ease. There was also a Methodist chapel. Alms houses were built in the 19th century along with a village school. Local amenities included a recreation ground. There were a number of shops including The Village Chippy and Cooperative with grocers, butchers and drapers.
New Farnley now has a village co-op which includes a post office, Craven's Fish and Chip shop which is over 120 years old and said to be haunted, also a pub, a barber shop, a beauty salon, Cobden Primary and Lawns Park Primary Schools, The Farnley Academy, and two churches. The centrally-located community centre is owned by the residents of the community and run on a voluntary basis. It is a hub for the activities of the village, is home to a local Mums and Tots group, and hosts several community nights over the year, e.g. at Halloween or Christmas.
Sport
Farnley is represented in
Rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
via the Farnley Falcons amateur club. The Falcons currently play in Pennine League Division 5, and also run a reserve side, playing in Pennine League Division 7. They also compete in the Yorkshire Cup and various regional cup competitions. They're based at the Farnley Sports & Social Club (locally known as 'The Nest'), and play their home games on the pitches close by.
Other sports played out of Farnley Sports and Social are Farnley Sports Fc who play on Saturdays - they are league 2 division champions and were promoted from division 1 to championship which they won undefeated & now play in the premiership . They play in the Yorkshire Amateur League, they are also have a reserve side. West Leeds Wortley also play from here as a Sunday football team.
Also based at Farnley Cricket Club are,'Wortley Ladies Women's Football Teams',a First Team and a Reserve Team, the Reserves were 3rd Division Champions 2012/13,and the First Team were 1st Division Champions 2013/14 to be the first Ladies Team from Wortley/West Leeds area to be promoted to the Premier.
New Farnley has its own Ladies team, currently playing their home games on the Chapel Lane ground, next to Lawns Park Primary, they are currently in the third division of the West Riding Women's League.
Notable people
Farnley is well regarded in
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 ...
for its sports and that shows in the list of notable individuals which includes footballer, who currently plays for
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
,
Kalvin Phillips
Kalvin Mark Phillips (born 2 December 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Manchester City and the England national team.
A Leeds United academy graduate, Phillips made his first-team debut in 2015 ...
and rugby league player, who currently plays for
Catalan Dragons,
Michael McIlorum
Michael McIlorum (born 10 January 1988) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Catalans Dragons in the Betfred Super League. He is both an Ireland and England international.
He had played his entire professional car ...
.
As well as there being famous people from Farnley there have been several notable people who have lived in Farnley such as former
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
and
Republic of Ireland national football team
, FIFA Trigramme = IRL
, Name = Republic of Ireland
, Association = Football Association of Ireland (FAI)
, Confederation = UEFA (Europe)
, website fai.ie, Coach = Stephen Kenny (foot ...
player
Gary Kelly or comedian and actor
Leigh Francis
Leigh Izaak Francis (born 30 April 1973), known professionally as Keith Lemon, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for creating and starring in Channel 4's sketch comedy show ''Bo' Selecta!'' (200 ...
.
Medieval landowner
Margaret de Neville
Margaret de Neville, also Margaret de Longvillers and domina Margareta de Nevill (c. 1252 – February 1318/1319) was an English landowner in Yorkshire and Lancashire during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Her inheritance helped to consol ...
was born in Farnley.
[Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes''. Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd (1999), vol. 1, p.13.]
See also
*
Listed buildings in Leeds (Farnley and Wortley Ward)
Footnotes
External links
*{{Genuki, county=WRY, Leeds, , Farnley