Methley Church from Rose and Crown Yard - geograph.org.uk - 404454.jpg
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Methley is a dispersed village in the City of Leeds
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 ...
, south east of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is located near Rothwell,
Oulton Oulton may refer to: Places *Oulton, Cumbria, England *Oulton, Norfolk, England *Oulton, Norbury, in Norbury, Staffordshire, Norbury, Staffordshire, England *Oulton, Stone Rural, Staffordshire, England *Oulton, Suffolk, England *Oulton, West Yorks ...
, Woodlesford, Mickletown and Allerton Bywater. The Leeds City Ward is called Kippax and Methley. It is within the triangle formed by Leeds, Castleford and Wakefield, and between the confluence of the River Aire and River Calder. The latter is crossed by Methley Bridge, the
A639 road List of A roads in Great Britain, A roads in List of A roads zones in Great Britain, zone 6 in Great Britain starting east of the A6 road (Great Britain), A6 and A7 road (Great Britain), A7 roads, and west of the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 (ro ...
, () about a mile south-east of the village.


Location and history

Today, the village is often described in terms of the area around Church Lane, Main Street and Pinfold Lane. However, the buildings on these streets largely date from the 20th century – and this area does not represent the original geographical centre of the village. The original village was established near to Saint Oswald's Church, and in particular along Church Side. This is reflected in the 17th- and 18th-century buildings along Churchside and parts of Watergate.Leeds City Council (2008) Methley Church Side Conservation Area Appraisal & Management Plan The village has a history of coal mining. At one stage there were five mines in operation in the village – ''Savile Colliery'', ''Methley Junction'', ''Foxholes'' (Scholey Hill), ''Newmarket'', and ''Newmarket Silkstone''. The last pit (''Saville Colliery'') closed in the mid-1980s. Part of the village (the area south and west of the M62 motorway) was ceded to the
City of Wakefield The City of Wakefield is a local government district with the status of a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Wakefield, the largest settlement, is the administrative centre of the district. The population of the City of ...
Metropolitan district council in the 1990s. This area, which includes the hamlets of Newmarket and Scholey Hill, was subject to a planning dispute regarding an industrial and leisure development as villagers feared increased traffic levels – particularly along the A642, B6135 (Newmarket Lane and Watergate), Park Lane and Churchside. Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government approved the development on 21 June 2012. The new stadium for Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Rugby league club will form part of the development and should be completed by 2015. Methley was in the wapentake of
Agbrigg Agbrigg is a suburb of the city of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. History The village of Agbrigg was historically within the parish of Sandal Magna and a large area of present-day Agbrigg was common land and can be seen on older maps as ...
in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1086. Methley was surveyed by the Tudor cartographer, Christopher Saxton, author of the first atlas of England (1577). However, the map is now lost.


Buildings


Methley Hall

Methley Hall was the former seat of the Earl of Mexborough. During the fourteenth century the de Waterton family married into the de Methley family and moved to Methley Hall, a large, imposing and solid castellated building, mostly spread over three storeys rising to four by the turreted entrance. An eighteenth century watercolour shows a great hall with a minstrels gallery and grand staircase, decorated and embossed ceiling with a full-length oriel window. Young Richard Plantagenet, Richard of York, lived here from the ages of four to twelve, with Waterton's family until 1423 when national events changed things. Robert Waterton was the custodian of Richard II whilst constable of Pontefract Castle from 1399 and later gaoler of James I of Scotland. He was esquire to Henry Bolingbroke, the future Henry IV. The seat at Methley Hall was conferred in 1410 to Robert's brother John Waterton. The Hall, which featured in a 1907 edition of '' Country Life'', was demolished in 1964, although the Mexborough Estate are still significant landowners in the district. Queen Mary ( Mary of Teck), consort of H. M. King George V, visited the village in 1935 and stayed at the Hall as a guest of the Earl. Titus Salt leased Methley Hall from the Earl of Mexborough between 1856 and 1865 according to Salt's biographer Balgarnie.


Church

The parish church Saint Oswald's is a 12th century Grade I listed building which had a spire from the mid-18th century to 1937. The spire became unsafe and was dismantled. The Castleford-born artist
Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...
was a frequent visitor to the church. Nikolaus Pevsner documented the church and Methley Hall as part of his '' Buildings of England'' series in the late 1950s. Alan Bennett visited the church in December 1998 as mentioned in his collection of writings ''Untold Stories'' (2005), a visit which was filmed as part of a special '' The South Bank Show'' charting the writer's early life.Alan Bennett (2006) ''Untold Stories'' (Faber & Faber) page 244


"Fatty Cake" School House

The Old Pinder Green school house is a Grade II listed building dating from 1637 at the junction of Watergate and the main Leeds to Pontefract Road.British Listed Buildings
Old Pinder Green School
The school closed in 1881 and became a private residence, now known as the Fatty Cake School House.
4-bedroom detached house for sale: Fatty Cake School House, Watergate, Methley, Leeds


Railway

Methley was once served by three railway stations: Methley North (closed 1957); Methley Junction (closed 1943); and Methley South (closed 1960). The original railway line through the village was built by the North Midland Railway in 1840 as part of the Derby to Leeds main line. This route now forms part of the Hallam ( LeedsSheffield) and Pontefract Lines. The proposed route of the Birmingham to Leeds
HS2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...
rail line would have passed to the west of the village between Scholey Hill, Clumpcliffe and Lemonroyd Lock, where it would have curved west at that point to take trains into Leeds city centre via Woodlesford. The line has now been axed and will not happen.


Second World War POW camp

Methley was the site of a German
POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...
camp during the Second World War. The camp was located on the north side of Park Lane near to The Lodge. The foundations of the POW huts are still visible on close inspection. POWs were used as agricultural labourers on the Mexborough Estate as many villagers had been recruited into the armed forces. The POWs were invited to perform
Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht "Silent Night" (german: "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht", links=no, italic=no) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an ...
(Silent Night) in German during a Christmas Eve service at St Oswald's Church – an event still remembered by some villagers. The BBC Inside Out programme (5 December 2011) reported that Artur Braun, one of the inmates of the POW camp, produced a large painting (size 8 ft x 8 ft) entitled 'Our Lady of the ruins' during the winter of 1944–45. It featured the Madonna with child in a ruined city surrounded by desperate people appealing to God for protection from war. The painting is believed to depict the artist's wife (as the Madonna) in the ruins of the city of
Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...
in Baden-Württemberg, (Germany) (the painting clearly shows
Freiburg Munster Freiburg Minster (german: Freiburger Münster or Münster Unserer Lieben Frau) is the cathedral of Freiburg im Breisgau, southwest Germany. The last duke of Zähringen had started the building around 1200 in romanesque style. The construction c ...
in the background). Braun may have produced the painting after hearing of the death of his wife during an allied air raid on
Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...
(Braun's home town) during November 1944. For many years the painting was owned by a convent in Lancashire, then was sold at auction in 1997.


Local points of interest

The
Yorkshire Imperial Band The Yorkshire Imperial Band, nicknamed the Yorkshire Imps, is a brass band from West Yorkshire, England. Previous names have included Yorkshire Imperial Metals Band, IMI Yorkshire Imperial Band, Yorkshire Imperial David Urquhart Travel Band, DU ...
, formerly the Yorkshire Imperial Copperworks Band, used to rehearse in the village. The band, who have won the Champions of Great Britain title and three British Open titles, is one of the country's foremost brass bands and have produced recordings and performed concerts on the BBC. The composer
Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
was friends with the former owner (Mr. Embleton) of 'The Cedars' – now a residential home – and often stayed in the village.
Nick Hodgson Nicholas James David Hodgson (born 20 October 1977) is an English drummer, backing vocalist, and songwriter, formerly of the indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs. Early life He attended St. Mary's Menston with Nick Baines and Simon Rix. He then wen ...
, drummer of the Leeds band the Kaiser Chiefs, has family connections with the village. The band officially opened the new village primary school on 16 January 2006. Other notable residents of the village have included Rugby league players
Brian Lockwood Brian Lockwood (8 October 1946) is an English World Cup winning former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1980s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, England and Yo ...
,
Dean Mountain Dean Mountain is a police officer, and a professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played at club level for Stanley Rangers ARLFC, Pointer Panthers (now named Castleford Panthers, Castleford ( Heritage № 631 ...
,
Daryl Powell Daryl A. Powell (born 21 July 1965) is an English professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Warrington Wolves in the Super League. He is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1980s, 1990s and ...
, Ben Crooks,
Kelvin Skerrett Kelvin Skerrett (born 22 May 1966) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 2000s. He played at representative level for Great Britain and Wales, and at club level for Hunsle ...
,
Joe Arundel Joe Arundel (born 22 August 1991) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or forward for Bradford Bulls in the RFL Championship and the England Knights at the International level. He has played for the Castleford T ...
and footballer
Paul Rickers Paul Steven Rickers (born 9 May 1975) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Oldham Athletic and Northampton Town in the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional ...
. . Each year the village holds a Scarecrow Festival, a competition in which residents take part. Methley Cricket Club won the
Village Cup Village cricket is a term, sometimes pejorative, given to the playing of cricket in rural villages in England and Wales. Many villages have their own teams that play at varying levels in local or regional club cricket leagues. When organised cric ...
national cricket competition at
Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...
, in 1998. Yorkshire and Worcestershire player
Matthew Waite Matthew James Waite (born 24 December 1995) is an English cricketer who plays for Worcestershire County Cricket Club. Primarily a right-handed batsman, he also bowls right-arm fast-medium. In March 2019, in the match against Leeds/Bradford MCC ...
, has represented Methley C.C. Methley United A.F.C. (formerly ''Methley United JFC'') are the local football club. The original village football club, was
Methley Perseverance F.C. Methley Perseverance F.C. was an English football club based in Methley, West Yorkshire. History The club won the Yorkshire Football League The Yorkshire Football League was the name of two football competitions. The first lasted three seasons ...
& Methley Rangers F.C. were also a now defunct village side. United were formed in 2002 for local juniors to play football in the village and the club in 2021, now have a staggering 29 teams, made up of junior teams (U5s-u18s), alongside a male vets team and ladies team. The club are one of the fastest growing football clubs in the country. Methley Warriors A.R.L.F.C and Methley Royals R.L.F.C., are the village Rugby League teams.


Location grid


See also

*
Listed buildings in Methley Methley is a village in the Ward (electoral subdivision), ward of Kippax and Methley (ward), Kippax and Methley in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The village and surrounding area contain twelve Listed b ...


References


External links


Methley Archive
personal archive web site
YEP Kippax Today Community Website covering MethleyMethley online
* *
A vision of Britain through time
– page about Methley's history
John Savile of Methley Hall 1719–78
{{authority control Villages in West Yorkshire Places in Leeds Rothwell, West Yorkshire