Wilsden is a village and

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 ...

in west

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, in

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. Wilsden is west of Bradford and is close to the Aire Valley and the nearby villages of

Denholme Denholme is a town and civil parish in the Bradford Metropolitan Borough, West Yorkshire, England. It is west of Bradford, from Keighley and roughly the same distance from Halifax. Administratively, it is part of the Bingley Rural ward ...

Cullingworth Cullingworth is a village and civil parish in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, it is west of Bradford and south of Keighley. The surrounding countryside is mainly ...

, Harden, Cottingley and Allerton. Wilsden re-acquired

status in 2004. The 2001 census revealed a population of 3,697, increasing to 4,807 at the 2011 Census.

History

During the Roman era, the area was part of the Ancient

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

(Celtic) kingdom of

Elmet Elmet ( cy, Elfed), sometimes Elmed or Elmete, was an independent Brittonic kingdom between about the 5th century and early 7th century, in what later became the smaller area of the West Riding of Yorkshire then West Yorkshire, South Yorkshir ...

. A connection to the original British tribes of the area may have been included in the name of the village; Wilsden is an

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 ...

name and was originally recorded as ''Wealhas-den'', which has been interpreted as "place of the Welsh". Since all speakers of

Brittonic languages The Brittonic languages (also Brythonic or British Celtic; cy, ieithoedd Brythonaidd/Prydeinig; kw, yethow brythonek/predennek; br, yezhoù predenek) form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family; the other is Goidelic. ...

were known as "Welsh" in Old English, the name may have implied that Wilsden was a place that Britons retreated to, after Anglo-Saxon settlers arrived in the Aire Valley. The village is mentioned in the

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 belonging to Gamalbarn and was part of the manor known as Allerton-cum-Wilsden. A map of 1818, shows Wilsden Hill, Wilsden and Lingbob as being three separate and distinct hamlets. Industrialisation led to the building of mills in the village, the first of which, Albion Mill, was built in 1810 with a further seven following in the same century. Albion Mill was demolished after it suffered a serious fire in 1990. The church of St Matthew was built in Wilsden in 1826 and was identical to the Church of St Paul in Shipley. The church was demolished in 1962 and ten years later, a modern St Matthew's church was built in a different location in the village. In 1886, a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

was opened on the Queensbury to Keighley line that ran to the west of the village. The station was actually in the hamlet of Harecroft, away, and was closed down in May 1955 to passengers and November 1963 to goods. The 616 and 619 bus services connect the village with Harden, Bingley and Eldwick to the north and with Allerton and Bradford to the south. The main road that runs north–south through the village is an unclassified road but connects at the southern end with the B6144 road towards Cullingworth and Bradford, and at the northern end goes through Harden to connect with the B6429 towards Bingley. Wilsden has many businesses such as Wilsden Autos, Suite Centre, a Co-op and a post office. The village occupies the high ground to the west of the Aire Valley and is surrounded by upland pastures, enclosed areas, wooded valleys and gritstone moorland. The Ling Bob public house was built to the south of the village in 1836 and was originally known as the Brown Cow Inn. It was situated in the hamlet of Ling Bob, which was separate from the village of Wilsden at that time, however, the locals all knew the pub as the Ling Bob, so the name stuck.

Wilsden Village Hall

Wilsden village hall holds many groups such as scouting groups, walking group, a weekly auction, a pre-school and others. Administratively, it is part of the

Bingley Rural Bingley Rural is an electoral ward in the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. The population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 17,895. It encompasses the villages of Harden, Wilsden, Cottingley, Cullingworth and Denholme. Coun ...

ward of 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 ...

and part of the Shipley constituency.

Notable people

Alfred Fowler Alfred Fowler, CBE FRS (22 March 1868, in Yorkshire – 24 June 1940) was an English astronomer. Early life and career He was born in Wilsden on the outskirts of Bradford, Yorkshire and educated at London's Normal School of Science, w ...

, Astronomer was born in the village

References

Sources

External links