Tong or Tong Village is a village in the
City of Bradford
The City of Bradford () is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough. It is named after its largest settlement, Bradford, but covers a large area which includes the towns and v ...
metropolitan district
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 metropoli ...
,
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. It is a historic village, and is sometimes thought to be a smaller version of the larger area of
Tong Tong may refer to:
Chinese
*Tang Dynasty, a dynasty in Chinese history when transliterated from Cantonese
*Tong (organization), a type of social organization found in Chinese immigrant communities
*''tong'', pronunciation of several Chinese char ...
, which is a local election ward.
History
Evidence of early activity within the Tong area is sparse, an undated flint found within the grounds of Tong Hall represents the prehistoric period. Later artefacts within the general area include a Roman pre-Flavian coin (i.e. before 69 AD) and two coins dating to the second and third centuries found in the vicinity of Westgate Hill.
The village was an integral part of the Tempest estate, comprising workers' cottages, farmsteads and ancillary buildings. By 1725 a linear settlement extended eastwards from the chapel, towards Keepers Lane and Hill Green. Dwellings were mainly located to the front of Tong Lane with barns or outbuildings to the rear. It is believed settlement may have initially comprised two focal points, near the
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
and at Hill Green. Rebuilding work/renovation of village buildings, undertaken by the Tempests, occurred in the 17th and early 18th centuries.
These works included the rebuilding of the 12th-century chapel by Sir George Tempest in 1727, and the construction of the village school and master's house in 1736. A
vicarage
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage.
Function
A clergy house is typically ow ...
also superseded the parsonage adjacent to the church. Church Farmhouse similarly dates from the 18th century. Although there is little remaining evidence of any permanent settlement of the area from prehistoric to through Roman times, St James Church provides conclusive evidence of an earlier settlement of some importance at Tong in
Saxon times. Excavations undertaken during the restoration of the church in the 1970s uncovered the fragmentary walls and foundation stones of two earlier buildings contained within the footprint of the remains of a Norman-era church which was built circa 1140.
![St James' Church, Tong - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/St_James%27_Church%2C_Tong_-_geograph.org.uk_-_352208.jpg)
The discovery of grave markers within these two buildings alludes to the fact that a church existed on the site of the present day church from the eleventh century, and, moreover, prior to the Norman invasion of 1066.
Around the time of the
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
invasion, it is known that Tong Manor was farmed and was owned by a
Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
named Stainulf. As happened across the country after 1066, the Norman invaders knocked down existing churches and built a new place of worship, often on the site of the church they demolished, and, under
William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
, high ranking Normans were installed as the new lords and overlords of the English manors.
By the time of the
Domesday Survey
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 ...
, in 1086, some twenty years after the invasion, Tong Manor was held by
Ilbert de Lacy
de Lacy (Laci, Lacie, Lascy, Lacey, Lassey) is the surname of an old Norman family which originated from Lassy, Calvados. The family took part in the Norman Conquest of England and the later Norman invasion of Ireland. The name is first recorde ...
, an ally of William The Conqueror, who is recorded in the survey as holding 162 manors. Among de Lacy's holdings was all of what is now Bradford (excluding
Eccleshill). At the time of the Domesday survey all manors which were held directly by de Lacy lay undeveloped wasteland, including the Tong Manor, although it is known that Tong was cultivated when in the possession of Stainulf.
Asolf, an extensive landowner in West Riding, appears to have been lord of Tong Manor from around 1135 to about 1159 and it is therefore probably he who rebuilt the church in about 1140 on the site of the demolished pre-Conquest church. Asolf had many sons, who, instead of taking the name Fitzasolf (son of Asolf) were named after where they were made lord of the manor on their father's death.
In this way, Asolf's son Richard de Tang (c.1130–c.1195) was the first in a line of Lords of Tong who would inhabit Tong Hall and oversee the running of the manor until 1941. The name Tong comes from the Old English term tang meaning tong or
fork
In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tine (structural), tines with which one ...
and refers to the village's position on a raised sliver of land between Ringshaw Beck and Cockersdale which converge at the eastern extreme of the manor.
Tong remained in the possession of the de Tangs as an agricultural manor for nine generations until the death of Hugh de Tong in 1445 and the passing of the manor to his grandson, John Mirfield, to which the woollen town of
Mirfield
Mirfield () is a town and civil parish in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the A644 road between Brighouse and Dewsbury. At the 2011 census it had a population of 19,563. Mirfield ...
got its name.
![Ned Lane, Tong - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Ned_Lane%2C_Tong_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1379556.jpg)
Holme Bank, located nearby in Ned Lane, was an ancient holding, but the earliest actual record discovered so far is from "Bradford Archive" is 1562 (Reign of Elizabeth I). Holme Bank Farm like most of the surrounding farms and cottages were owned by the
Tempest family of Tong Hall.
Tong Lane was described in the late 19th century as lined with old trees, with a parsonage, known as Lantern House, and former inn, The Griffin, standing adjacent to the church. The inn's license was subsequently transferred to the Greyhound Inn, a straw-thatched building on Tong Lane, but later moved to its present site, and thus, a griffin is the symbol of the historic pub village cricket team, Tong Cricket Club who have played in several cricket leagues in the West Yorkshire area.
Long since demolished buildings within the village included a wheelwright's shop and smithy adjacent to the pinfold at the junction of Keeper Lane. In order to prevent over-population of the village the Lord of the Manor discouraged new development. Some buildings were dismantled when they became vacant and the stone re-used.
In contrast landholdings elsewhere, such as at Tong Street (about one-and-a-half miles to the west) were sold, resulting in industrial, commercial and residential development. In the early 20th century the antiquarian, James Parker, described Tong village as set within a "charming" rural landscape, the village remaining the same "as it has done in generations past." According to the estate sale particulars of 1943 the majority of village buildings had retained their function as farmsteads and dwellings, many of the dwellings being single-storey cottages.
The preservation of the Hall and Park, and the Estate's influence on development has helped maintain the character of the village and buildings within it. Many buildings within the
Conservation Area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
are Grade II listed structures dating between the 17th and 18th centuries, with Tong Hall and gatepiers to the entrance of the drive listed respectively as Grade I and Grade II* listed structures. Despite modern residential development the layout of the linear settlement today is very similar to that recorded in 1725.
Geography
Tong Village, approximately to the south-east of Bradford City centre, is situated at an
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...
of 145 m north of Ringshaw Beck, the land rising to an elevation of 167 m at Hall Green. Formerly within the parish of
Birstall the village is located on a prominent ridge between
Pudsey Beck
Pudsey Beck is a watercourse in West Yorkshire, England which borders Fulneck (Leeds) and Tong Village ( Bradford). It forms the southern and eastern boundary of the area of Pudsey town, after which it is named, and continues as Farnley Beck ...
and Cockers Dale. Its place-name is derived from its location between the two valleys, 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 ...
term
tang
Tang or TANG most often refers to:
* Tang dynasty
* Tang (drink mix)
Tang or TANG may also refer to:
Chinese states and dynasties
* Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...
, meaning
tong Tong may refer to:
Chinese
*Tang Dynasty, a dynasty in Chinese history when transliterated from Cantonese
*Tong (organization), a type of social organization found in Chinese immigrant communities
*''tong'', pronunciation of several Chinese char ...
or
fork
In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tine (structural), tines with which one ...
, such as a river fork.
Landmarks
![Tong Village - The Greyhound Inn - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Tong_Village_-_The_Greyhound_Inn_-_geograph.org.uk_-_61196.jpg)
Tong Village forms part of Tong
Conservation Area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
, which was originally designated in 1973. The designation covers virtually the entire village which extends in a linear fashion along Tong Lane, the main thoroughfare.
Tong village predates the
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...
and was the seat of Tong Manor between the thirteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. The manor remained in the hands of the Tempest family, who resisted the expansion and
industrialisation
Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
of the village, for some four hundred years before selling the Hall and estate in 1941, to E. W. Towler director of Redpath Dorman and Long. Unusually, a great number of the buildings in the conservation area were built in the 18th century including Tong Hall (1702) and the adjacent courtyard (1711), St James's Church (1727), the school (1736) and several newly built and rebuilt farmhouses and estate cottages. These buildings used a mixture of red brick and local gritstone, making the conservation area unique in Bradford in terms of materials.
Tong Hall, a Queen Anne manor house built in the late 17th century, replaced an older building—a capital messuage (manor house) is recorded in 1343 as part of the holdings of the Tong family, but was destroyed by fire around 1700.
In 1702 Sir George Tempest built the present Tong Hall to designs by Theophilus Shelton. Further alterations took place in 1773 under the direction of architect John Platt. The estate and hall remained with the Tempest family until 1941, when the hall was subsequently used for a number of functions such as a Co-operative Youth Centre, a training college, a hall of residence, a museum, and its current use as a business centre with suites of offices. This small privately owned country estate complex contains high-tech businesses, including
internet dating
Online dating, also known as Internet dating, Virtual dating, or Mobile app dating, is a relatively recent method used by people with a goal of searching for and interacting with potential romantic or sexual partners, via the internet. An onlin ...
companies.
St James Church is the village's listed parish church (see the history section below), located between the Greyhound pub and the
Marriott
Marriott may refer to:
People
*Marriott (surname)
Corporations
* Marriott Corporation, founded as Hot Shoppes, Inc. in 1927; split into Marriott International and Host Marriott Corporation in 1993
* Marriott International, international hote ...
hotel. The 12th-century chapel situated on Tong Lane formed the southern boundary of Tong Park. Other structures included a water corn mill, documented in 1218/19.
Archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
investigations in 1979 found the remains of a probable earlier chapel, dating to the 11th century, standing within the foundations of the 12th century chapel. A grave marker found during these works implies that there was a burial ground here prior to the 12th-century, suggesting that Tong was possibly a pre-Conquest settlement.
A former schoolroom opposite the parish church is used as a village gathering place, and a learning centre. The village
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
operated from these premises, but following recent post office closures, it is no longer operational.
A further landmark of Tong village is Tong Garden Centre, which is situated at the south-western end of Tong Lane about from its junction with the B6135.
On Tong Lane there is a holiday camping site, a motorcycle hill climb, and the Innovation Motorsports rally (and four by four) testing centre drive, located opposite the Holiday Inn Leeds/Bradford, a testing facility used by professional
rally
Rally or rallye may refer to:
Gatherings
* Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade
* Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event
Sport ...
teams to ensure their up-and-coming
drivers are up to scratch, before the major European rallies.
Further down the road (which was once a
short cut for Leeds-bound traffic until traffic-calming measures were introduced), is the Holiday Inn Leeds/Bradford, set within wheat fields.
Past the village's new
residential
A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas.
Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...
housing are preserved working farms, one of which supplies local ice-cream.
The Greyhound
public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
, a traditional pub and restaurant, is at the Leeds end of the village. Until recently, there was a
dovecote
A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...
on the gable end of the pub. Adjacent to the Greyhound is a small village cricket ground, home to Leeds And West Riding League Tong CC, who play their home games at one of Yorkshire's oldest cricket grounds.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Bradford (Tong Ward)
Tong (ward), Tong is a Ward (electoral subdivision), ward in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It contains 48 Listed building#England and Wales, listed buildings that are recorded in the National Herita ...
References
External links
West Yorkshire Village Archive*
{{authority control
Geography of the City of Bradford
Villages in West Yorkshire