Longwood is a village and suburb of the town 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 ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

. It is situated some west of Huddersfield town centre, in the valley of the Longwood Brook, a tributary of the River Colne. The village is the home of the Longwood Sing, an annual event, where

choirs A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

from around the area gather to sing

hymns A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

and songs. Near the amphitheatre, where the sing takes place, the

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

Nab End Tower can be found. The tower was built in 1861 by unemployed local woollen

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

workers. In 2008 it was restored by

Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council Kirklees Council is the local authority providing most local government services for the borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council and one of five constituent councils of the West Yorkshire Combined Aut ...

at a cost of £200,000. There are also three reservoirs that supply Huddersfield. They were built around 1840, although strengthening work in the 1930s makes them appear newer. One now covered and the lower reservoir looking more like a natural lake that is called a compensation reservoir - 'Compensation' as it was set up to compensate the mill owner for water lost from natural sources that now went to the main reservoirs to be distributed by the water corporation under 'rates' systems - although the mill owner was most likely the owner of the main reservoir too. During the 1840s, Longwood was the home to the Hanson family of Ballroyd. Mary Hanson set up a carrying business to supplement her husband's income from farming and soon the Hanson wagons were seen taking the Great North Road to London. James Hanson, founder and former chairman of

Hanson plc Hanson UK, formerly Hanson Trust plc, is a British-based building materials company, headquartered in Maidenhead. The company has been a subsidiary of the German company HeidelbergCement since August 2007, and was formerly listed on the London S ...

, is a direct descendant of the Ballroyd family. When he was made a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

, he took the title ''Baron Hanson of Edgerton'' after the nearby suburb of Edgerton. Longwood was built up around the woollen industry and its mills, most of which have now been demolished and replaced by housing. As a result of this the village has recently seen an influx of new inhabitants. In 2005, a campaign was mounted to save the Longwood allotment plots (situated behind the Mechanics' Institute) from being developed into housing. Longwood Church is dedicated to

St. Mark Mark the Evangelist ( la, Marcus; grc-gre, Μᾶρκος, Mârkos; arc, ܡܪܩܘܣ, translit=Marqōs; Ge'ez: ማርቆስ; ), also known as Saint Mark, is the person who is traditionally ascribed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark. Accor ...

, and is in 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 ...

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of Huddersfield, being a

perpetual curacy Perpetual curate was a class of resident parish priest or incumbent curate within the United Church of England and Ireland (name of the combined Anglican churches of England and Ireland from 1800 to 1871). The term is found in common use mainly du ...

. Longwood is also home to the 27th Longwood Scout Group. The name Longwood derives from

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 ...

''Lang wudu'', meaning "The Long Wood".

References

{{reflist
Areas of Huddersfield Colne Valley

See also

References