Rastrick is a village 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, between Halifax, 5 miles (8 km) north-east and

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 ...

, 4 miles (7 km) south. The population of the Calderdale Civil Ward at the 2011 census was 11,351. It is perhaps best known for its association, along with its neighbour

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 ...

, 1 mile (2 km) north-east, with the

Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band The Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band is a British brass band formed in 1881. The band is based in Brighouse, in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. The band is known across the world, and is regarded by many as the best and most consistent "p ...

. Along with

, it is part of

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 ...

, but shares a

postcode A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal a ...

and

phone number A telephone number is a sequence of digits assigned to a landline telephone subscriber station connected to a telephone line or to a wireless electronic telephony device, such as a radio telephone or a mobile telephone, or to other devices f ...

. 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 ...

, the village is on an incline facing north-east, the Parish Church, is vertically in the middle. The area around the Parish Church is known as "Top o' t'Town" and the area around the Junction public house is known as "Bottom o' t'Town", this reflects the days when Rastrick had its own governance in the form of a Town Board whose Offices and lock-up were situated halfway between the two, on Ogden Lane. Remains of a fort have been found at Castle Hill, just below Top o' Town.

History

The name Rastrick is thought to be Viking in origin, with the "..ick" formation being common to many Norwegian Viking placenames, including "Jorvick", the Viking name for York. Rastrick is well known for its pubs and the "Rastrick Run" is a popular pub crawl. Rastrick, and the variation Raistrick are English surnames, originating from the area of the town.

Governance

Rastrick is a village and a

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 ...

, a

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 ...

within 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 ...

in England. The parish of Rastrick 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 parish of

as part of the Borough of Brighouse. On 1 April 1938 the borough was transferred to the neighbouring registration district of 'Calder' and in 1974 it was abolished as part of the creation of Calderdale. Rastrick became a ward of Calderdale, with boundaries similar to those of the original parish.

Geography

The ward of Rastrick is bordered to the north by the River Calder, which separates it from the ward of Brighouse. To the east and south the border with the

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 ...

ward of Ashbrow roughly follows the

M62 motorway The M62 is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting Liverpool and Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; of the route is shared with the M60 orbital motorway around Manchester. The road is part of ...

. The traditional north western boundary between

Elland Elland is a market town in Calderdale, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. It is situated south of Halifax, by the River Calder and the Calder and Hebble Navigation. Elland was recorded as ''Elant'' in the Domesday Book of 1086. It ha ...

and Rastrick was the edge of the escarpment, but the Elland Ward boundary is further east, encompassing parts of the old parish of Rastrick as far as Dewsbury Road and the crossroads with New Hey Road. The village is neighboured by the towns of

to the north and

to the west. The village of

Fixby Fixby is a suburb in north-west Kirklees bordering neighbouring Calderdale and is traditionally part of Huddersfield in the English county of West Yorkshire. Fixby is mentioned in the Domesday Book. The name "Fixby" derives from the Gaelic Irish ...

is to the south east and

Ainley Top Ainley Top is a village in Calderdale, West Yorkshire in England. It is situated approximately north west of Huddersfield on the A629 to Elland and Halifax. It is situated on a hill (the Ainleys) with the M62 motorway to the north, and junct ...

is to the south west.

Community facilities

Rastrick has its own library which can be found on Crowtrees Lane and a doctors surgery at Rastrick Health Centre which is on Chapel Croft. A second doctors surgery is situated at the junction of Castle Avenue and Field Top Road.

Landmarks

The highest point in the village is Round Hill which is adjacent to the grounds of Rastrick Cricket Club. This appears to be man made but is thought to be of natural origin. The Clough House Inn, on Clough Lane, is easily seen from the nearby M62. It was originally the White Lion Inn which was built in 1824, and is named as such on the 1835 and 1850 maps.

Transport

The local railway station is named Brighouse but is in fact in Rastrick. An extensive bus service is provided by several operators, including First West Yorkshire, Team Pennine and South Pennine Community Transport, under the guidance of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (brand name Metro).

Education

Rastrick has several primary schools, including Carr Green Junior, Infant and Nursery School, Field Lane Primary School, Longroyde Primary School, and Woodhouse Primary School. Rastrick High School is the secondary school for the area. Highbury School is a specialist school on Lower Edge Road, and The William Henry Smith School is a non-maintained residential school located on Boothroyd Lane.

Rastrick Independent School The Rastrick Independent School was an independent school in Rastrick in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to it ...

was an

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

located in the village that closed in 2019.

Religious sites

Church of St John the Divine, Rastrick - geograph

There are two

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

churches in the village. St Matthew's Church, which is used jointly by the Anglicans and the

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 ...

s and is situated on Church Street. Across the road from this Church is Rastrick Parish Centre, the church hall for St Matthew's Church. The Church of St John the Divine is located off Gooder Lane close to Brighouse railway station and was designed by Nicholson and Corlette in 1913. Both St Matthew's and St John's share the same

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 ...

vicar. The non-denominational New Road Family Church is located on New Hey Road and has been in existence since 1837. New Road Sunday School originally opened on 3 April 1837. It was also used as "New Road Board School" until 1912, when this was superseded by Carr Green Board School. In 1872 a Band of Hope Society was formed, but this closed shortly afterwards. Ten years later a second attempt was more successful. In 1887 the New Road Cricket Club was formed at the premises. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the building housed a restaurant. Upper Edge

Baptist Church Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

is located on Dewsbury Road.

Sport

The cricket club in Rastrick, Rastrick Cricket Club, is found next to Round Hill, the highest point in Rastrick. Round Hill is a popular playing area for children in the area. A second cricket club, Badger Hill Cricket Club, formerly New Road Cricket Club, played on the field off New Hey Road. Rastrick Bowling Club is situated at the bottom of Toothill Bank which has many local bowling teams and entertainment nights, and is also a good venue for parties. Rastrick Constitutional Club (also known as Top Club) has been situated on Church Street since 1886 and is known for its snooker teams.Rastrick Constitutional Club

Notable people

Rastrick was the birthplace of religious writer

Margaret Barber Margaret Fairless Barber (pseudonym, Michael Fairless; 7 May 1869 – 24 August 1901), was an English Christian writer. Her book of meditations, ''The Roadmender'' (1902), became a popular classic. Life Barber was born in Rastrick, Brighouse, W ...

who wrote under the pseudonym Michael Fairless, and the eccentric inventor

Wilf Lunn Wilfred Makepeace Lunn (born 1942 in Rastrick, West Yorkshire, England) is an English inventor, prop maker and TV presenter. He is best known for his regular appearances on the 1960s and 1970s UK children's television show '' Vision On''. Early ...

. Acclaimed

travel writer The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In the early modern period ...

, photographer, and adventure motorcyclist Christopher Paul Baker attended Rastrick Grammar School (1966–73).

References

The history of Brighouse, Rastrick, and Hipperholme; with manorial notes on Coley, Lightcliffe, Northowram, Shelf, Fixby, Clifton and Kirklees (1893)
Turner, J. Horsfall (Joseph Horsfall)

External links

Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band
{{authority control Villages in West Yorkshire Geography of Calderdale Wards of Calderdale