Kirkheaton () is a village and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

north-east of

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 ...

, now in the parish of

Kirkburton Kirkburton is a village, civil parish and ward in Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is south-east of Huddersfield. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the township comprises the villages of Kirkburton and Highburton and ...

, in the county 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,

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 ...

, it is 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 in the

Dalton Dalton may refer to: Science * Dalton (crater), a lunar crater * Dalton (program), chemistry software * Dalton (unit) (Da), the atomic mass unit * John Dalton, chemist, physicist and meteorologist Entertainment * Dalton (Buffyverse), minor cha ...

ward of 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 1931 the parish had a population of 2,610.

History

The name Heaton comes from Old English "Heah" meaning high and "tun" meaning settlement along with Old Norse "Kirk" meaning church.

Governance

On 1 April 1938 the parish was abolished and merged with Kirkburton and Huddersfield. From 1894 to 1938 Kirkheaton was also an

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 ...

Parish Church

The Parish church in Kirkheaton, dedicated to St John the Baptist, is one of the earliest churches in the area, there was a stone church on the site before the Norman Conquest. In the churchyard is a fine memorial to a disaster which shook the nation in 1818, a horrific fire in a local cotton mill,

Colne Bridge Mill Colne Bridge Mill () was a factory, built in 1775, in the village of Colne Bridge near Bradley and Kirkheaton, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which was destroyed by fire on 14 February 1818. It was owned by the wealthy manufacturer Tho ...

, in which 14 workers, all girls and many of them very young, were trapped and lost their lives.

Education

Kirkheaton has a primary school, Kirkheaton Primary School, which is situated on New Road.

Notable people

* England cricketers

George Herbert Hirst George Herbert Hirst (7 September 1871 – 10 May 1954) was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1891 and 1921, with a further appearance in 1929. One of the best all-r ...

Allen Hill Allen Hill may refer to: * Allen Hill (cricketer) Allen Hill (14 November 1845, Kirkheaton, Huddersfield, Yorkshire – 28 August 1910, Leyland, Lancashire) played in the first-ever cricket Test, taking the first wicket. Hill also went on to um ...

and

Wilfred Rhodes Wilfred Rhodes (29 October 1877 – 8 July 1973) was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman ...

were born in the village and played cricket for Kirkheaton Cricket Club. Also the cricketers, William Bates, John Thewlis Senior, and Lewis Wrathmell, were also all born in the village and played for

Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Yorkshire. Yorkshire are the most successful team in English cricketing hi ...

References