Birkby is a large multi-cultural suburb close to the town centre in
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees 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 confl ...
, in the
Kirklees
Kirklees is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. The borough comprises the ten towns of Batley, Birstall, West Yorkshire, Birstall, Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Meltham, Mirfield and Slaithwaite. It ...
borough of
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...
, England. It has a population of 6,700.
An affluent suburb during
Victorian times
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed th ...
, Birkby sits in the Grimescar Valley, a
greenbelt
A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or gree ...
area of Huddersfield. Birkby contains Norman Park, a small park with a play area and war memorial, which commemorates those who died in the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.
History
The name Birkby is not recorded until 1561, when it was spelt ''Byrkebye''. The origin of the name is uncertain. It is probably of Old Danish origin, from ''birk'' "birch tree" and ''by'' "settlement".
From the study of old
Ordnance Survey
The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...
maps, much of the district of Birkby remained largely rural well into the 20th century, with the original settlement lying close to the town centre. Bay Hall, a local historic house dates from the 16th century but was largely restored in 1895, as a date plaque on the residence indicates.
Birkby can effectively be bisected into two distinct areas; St Johns road being the main thoroughfare. Birkby is generally more affluent to the north and west of the main thoroughfare. This can be seen with a comparison of a south Birkby postcode HD2 2RT having an average home price of £121,892 and a northern Birkby postcode of HD2 2DU having an average home price of £450,000, although this shows anomalies and is not a general trend.
Recently, Birkby has seen significant residential development, as the Hopkinson's Valve Works has been redeveloped for housing
On Sunday 12 May 2002, an arson attack took place at 40 Osborne Road, Birkby, killing eight people, including a six-month-old girl. All had been sleeping whilst the house was deliberately set on fire. One of the arsonists, Shahid Mohammed, who had fled to Pakistan, was found guilty of eight counts of murder on 6 August 2019 and was motivated by an inter-family dispute. His accomplices, Shaied Iqbal, Nazar Hussain and Shakiel Shazad, were convicted in 2003. Det Ch Supt Nick Wallen said after the verdict concerning Shahid Mohammed that the incident remains the largest single event of multiple murders that West Yorkshire Police has investigated.
Amenities and buildings
It has a catholic primary school, St. Patrick's, as well as Birkby Infant and Nursery School, located on Blacker Road. Birkby Junior School is located to the east of Birkby and is addressed as
Fartown, Huddersfield. Birkby is a semi-rural area, home to a large white and Asian population, having four mosques. Elsewhere, the suburb contains two
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
chapels, a
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
centre, as well as a meetinghouse for
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
. The centre of Birkby, located around the east of Blacker Road and the north of St John's Road, has a high concentration of Asian retailers and food outlets, serving the local Asian community.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Huddersfield (Greenhead Ward)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkby, West Yorkshire
Areas of Huddersfield