HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Eccleshill is an area, former village, and
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 ...
within the
Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...
district, in the
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
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. The ward population of Eccleshill is 17,540, increasing at the 2011 Census to 17,945. Eccleshill is a more or less completely residential urban area with very little open space although there is substantial open land directly to the east. The origins of the name Eccleshill are uncertain. At the time of 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
'' the area was known as Egleshill either meaning 'eagles hill' or perhaps named after a
Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
landlord called Aikel or Eckil—alternatively it could mean Ecclesiastical Hill.


History

In Roman times the Eccleshill area was crossed by two lanes. One lane was along what is now Norman Lane and the other to
Apperley Bridge Apperley Bridge is a village in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England in the Idle and Thackley Ward. Apperley Bridge is north-east of Bradford on the boundary with the City of Leeds bounded in the east b ...
down the road now known as Bank. After 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 Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
the lands of Eccleshill were given to William, Earl of Warren. In 1274 ownership of lands passed to the Sheffields and in 1407 to the Bolling family of Calverley then the Scargills, Saviles, Wyatts, Zouches, Stanhopes, Hirds, and then to Jeremiah Rawson. In the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
Eccleshill was shunned by church authorities after a supposed incident in which it is said a
preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...
or
monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...
was stoned to death on the main road though Eccleshill village. This supposed incident is said to be the reason behind naming the main road 'Stony Lane'. The real explanation may be that either the road was stony or that it led on to Stone Hall.


Eccleshill Hall

In 1713 Eccleshill Hall was built for Dr Stanhope, located to the east of Stony Lane at the site of previous Eccleshill Halls, on what is now Victoria Road. The hall was demolished in 1878 and all that remains are parts of stone gateposts embedded in a roadside wall.


Church history

Initially the churches built in Eccleshill were nonconformist. Before 1775 the only place of worship in Eccleshill was The Quaker Meeting House on Tunwell Lane. In 1775 Prospect Chapel also known as Bank Top Chapel a Wesleyan Chapel was constructed on Lands Lane off Norman Lane. In 1776
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
John Wesley John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...
(1703-1791) preached there. On the opposite side of Norman Lane is Prospect Chapel burial ground, created in 1823. Doctrinal disagreement led to a split and the establishment in 1823 of Salem Independent Chapel. Salem Chapel and
Sunday school ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...
both now demolished, were built on Dobby Row, an event that was to prompt the renaming of the street to Chapel Street. The Chapel Street chapel was eventually replaced by the Congregational Church on Victoria Road near Harrogate Road, built in 1889. Salem Chapel burial ground remains on Chapel Street. The Congregational Church was demolished in the 1960s and the United Reformed Church, a single storey building built on the site in 1967 and the Congregational Church building was demolished in 1979/80. A further split at Prospect Chapel had led to the establishment of Eccleshill United Methodist Chapel on the corner of Workhouse fold now named Stewart Close. In 1854 the remaining worshippers of Prospect Chapel built Eccleshill Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Stony Lane and sold Prospect Chapel. The old Prospect Chapel building had many subsequent uses including as an organ works. When congregations shrank at the Wesleyan Methodist Church on Stony Lane worshippers moved to join the Primitive Methodist Chapel built in 1911 on Norman Lane to become Eccleshill Methodist Church. The Eccleshill Methodist Church has now been demolished and there are plans to replace it with
apartment An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement (Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that ...
s. The Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was sold in 1965 then became the Ukrainian Autocephalic Orthodox Church. Construction of St. Lukes church was ordered by the Rev
William Scoresby William Scoresby (5 October 178921 March 1857) was an English whaler, Arctic explorer, scientist and clergyman. Early years Scoresby was born in the village of Cropton near Pickering south-west of Whitby in Yorkshire. His father, Willia ...
, Vicar of Bradford and this was consecrated in 1848. It was designed in a vertical Gothic style with a spire, however, the spire was removed circa 1971 when the stonework began crumbling. The ecclesiastical parish of Eccleshill takes in Greengates, and
Apperley Bridge Apperley Bridge is a village in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England in the Idle and Thackley Ward. Apperley Bridge is north-east of Bradford on the boundary with the City of Leeds bounded in the east b ...
south of the
River Aire The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, in length. Part of the river below Leeds is canalised, and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation. The ''Handbook for Leeds and Airedale'' (1890) notes that the distance from Malha ...
.


Industrial, commercial and transport history

The quarrying, pottery, spinning and weaving industries have been located in the area for some time but only quarrying remains today.


Wool and mills

Eccleshill has a number of mills. The Old Mill on Victoria Road was a woollen mill built in 1800 but was destroyed by fire in 1816. The present building on the site is dated 1863 although parts of it date back to the early 1800s. On the other side of Victoria Road from the Old Mill is a row of houses and street once known as Dobby Row - a dobby being a type of
cloth Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is n ...
, a type of
loom A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...
or part of an early form of weaving loom taking its name from a corruption of the words 'draw boy' - a weaving assistant. In around 1816 Union Mill on Harrogate Road was constructed for the manufacture of woollens. From 1892 to 1983 John Pilley and Sons owned and operated the mills A further three storey mill building known as Pilley's Mill was added to the south of the site. Union Mills had a serious fire in 1905. In 2019 both mills were demolished and the site cleared to make way for a retail complex. In the 1838 White's Directory Eccleshill is described as engaged in the manufacture of white woollen cloth. In 1872 Tunwell Mill was built by Messrs Smith and Hutton as a woollen mill near Tun Well (Town Well) directly south of Stony Lane—although today's Tunwell Mills are not the original mill building. At the north end of Stone Hall Road is a mill variously known as Stone Hall Shed and Whiteley's Mill where worsted was manufactured. Halfway down Stone Hall Road off to the west stood Victoria Mill, a worsted mill. This mill has been demolished and domestic properties now stand on the site. Moorside Mills was built on Moorside Road in 1875 by John Moore for
worsted spinning Short draw is the spinning (textiles), spinning technique used to create worsted yarns. It is spun from combing, combed roving, Sliver (textiles), sliver or wool top – anything with the fibers all lined up parallel to the yarn. It is generally ...
. In 1919 two floors were added and a clock tower as a
war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...
to those who had 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 ...
. Ownership of the mill changed hands many times and in 1970 the
City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is the local authority of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Bradford has had an elected council since 1847, which has been reformed on several occasions. Since 1974 it has been a metr ...
bought the property from Messrs. W. & J. Whitehead to create the Bradford Industrial Museum.


Pottery

In 1837, the Manor Pottery was established by Jeremiah Rawson, lord of the manor on a site east of the Undercliffe Road-Pullan Avenue junction using beds of shale, fireclay and coal at a deep quarry near Bolton Junction at a site now partly occupied by Kents Fitness Gym. There was a rail tunnel under Leeds Road, then known as Pottery Lane, with waggons carrying clay and minerals from the quarry to the pottery on the other side of the road. Manor Pottery produced a salt glazed brown stoneware, household utensils, brown and cream crockery, ornaments, garden vases, busts, and statuettes although these did not bear any distinguishing marks. Although the product stood comparison with other local wares, the local market for pottery was eventually supplied by better and cheaper stoneware from Staffordshire, and by 1867 the pottery had been sold to William Woodhead and production switched over to house bricks, firebricks and sewer pipes. The kilns were shut down in the early 20th century, and in 1921 the chimney was demolished, however the manor house still remains.


Coal pits

There were numerous coal pits in what is now the Thorpe Edge and Ravenscliffe areas of the Eccleshill ward. This coal was required for steam powered machinery and the pottery. Unfortunately the digging of the coal pits caused many local water wells to run dry.


Eccleshill Mechanics' Institute

Eccleshill
Mechanics' Institute Mechanics' institutes, also known as mechanics' institutions, sometimes simply known as institutes, and also called schools of arts (especially in the Australian colonies), were educational establishments originally formed to provide adult edu ...
on Stone Hall Road was built in 1868. Charles Bottomley converted the upper floor of the Eccleshill Mechanics' Institute into a 359-seat picture hall which he named Eccleshill Picture House and then opened in 1911. Shortly after this the cinema was renamed 'Picture Palace' but closed in 1931 never running any '
talkies A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...
'. Before construction of the building the institute used to meet in the now demolished school buildings at the western end of Chapel Street on a site now occupied by Eccleshill Victoria Conservative Club.


Shopping

For the last two hundred years the shopping centre for Eccleshill has been Stony Lane and it was here that Henry Sparks, founder of Sparks Bakeries, had his first shop.


Transport history

In 1804 the Dudley Hill to Killinghall turnpike was constructed. Parts of this are now Killinghall Road and Harrogate Road. In 1889 Mill Lane, Town Lane and Town Street were renamed Victoria Road to mark the
Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria The Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated on 20 and 21 June 1887 to mark the Golden jubilee, 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. It was celebrated with a National service of thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Serv ...
that year. The tram service came from central Bradford up Bolton Road then Stone Hall Road to a terminus in front of the Eccleshill Mechanics Institute. The tram service also went along Harrogate road to Greengates but because of the low rail bridge at Eccleshill Station only low profile double decker trams and buses could get under.


= The railway and Eccleshill Railway Station

= In 1874 the Great Northern Railway opened its Laisterdyke - Shipley branch (the Shipley and Windhill line), a six-mile double track branch line from Quarry Gap junction in Thornbury to Shipley and Windhill railway station, passing Eccleshill, Idle and Thackley railway stations. Eccleshill railway station opened in 1875 with its sidings and coal yard. This was located just north of the rail bridge crossing over Harrogate Road. Only the embankment and abutment of one side of the rail bridge remain. The former Station Hotel on Harrogate Road took its name from its proximity to the railway station. The railway station closed to passengers in 1931 although goods traffic continued on the line until 1964. Subsequently, the line was taken up and the bridge demolished.


The Palladium/Regal cinema

In 1928 Ralph Dickinson created the purpose-built 1,000 seat Palladium Cinema on Norman Lane, opened in 1929. Later the cinema changed ownership and in 1931 the new owner John Lambert altered the name to Regal. In 1958 the cinema closed for refurbishment and updating, and reopened later that year, but closed finally in 1966. Later with the construction of an extra internal floor the building was used as a bingo hall, a
snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...
hall and then a
fitness centre A health club (also known as a fitness club, fitness center, health spa, weight room and commonly referred to as a gym) is a place that houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise. In recent years, the number of fitness an ...
.


Schools history

The school on Fagley Lane was built in 1845. The school in Chapel Street (1875) was declared unsuitable in 1884 and to replace it the Central Board School was built on Victoria Road in 1887 on the site of the old Eccleshill Hall. In 1889 the Central Board School was renamed Hutton School after the chairman of the School Board; John Hutton who bought the land of Eccleshill Hall for the purpose of building the Central Board School. After a period as a fitness centre the building was demolished in 2016 to make way for housing, despite a campaign to save the building form demolition which was unsuccessful.


Geography

Eccleshill is bounded in the east by
Pudsey Pudsey is a market town in the City of Leeds borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 25,393. History T ...
and Fagley Beck— flowing a short distance directly north under the name Carr Beck to meet the
River Aire The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, in length. Part of the river below Leeds is canalised, and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation. The ''Handbook for Leeds and Airedale'' (1890) notes that the distance from Malha ...
. To the north of Eccleshill is the village of Idle and to the north-east is Greengates and Thorpe Edge. In the
City of Leeds Leeds, also known as the City of Leeds, is a metropolitan borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in West Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Gar ...
is Calverley. To the east across Fagley Beck is
Pudsey Pudsey is a market town in the City of Leeds borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 25,393. History T ...
in the City of Leeds and to the south-east Bradford Moor. To the south is the ward of Undercliffe and round to the south-west is
Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...
and Ashbourne. To the north-west is Five Lane Ends and to the north and further along is Idle Moor and
Wrose Wrose is a village and civil parish in the City of Bradford metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, about three miles north of Bradford city centre, and southeast of Shipley. Wrose is in the Windhill and Wrose ward. The civil parish ...
.


Fagley

Fagley is an area to the south-east of Eccleshill ward. The local economy includes a sandstone quarry, and a riding school. Most of the shops including the post office are on Fagley Road running east–west. Fagley no longer has any public houses. The local school is Fagley Primary School and in the east of Fagley is the Fagley Youth and Community Centre. Further east is Fagley Beck and the
Leeds Country Way The Leeds Country Way (LCW) is a circular long-distance footpath of around Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is never more than from the city centre of Leeds, but is mainly rural with extensive views in the outlying areas of the Leeds me ...
bridle path and the border with
Pudsey Pudsey is a market town in the City of Leeds borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 25,393. History T ...
.


Landmarks

At the junction of Stony Lane and Victoria Road by the roadside was the 19th century lock-up and a public urinal, however these have been walled up for some considerable time. The lock-up and urinal are now over-topped by a section of raised stone paved pavement with railings known as 'The Monkey Bridge' overlooking a small triangular area of land at the road junction that was the site of the village
stocks Stocks are feet and hand restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law de ...
. North of Stony Lane is the former Stoney Lane Quarry now a recreation ground known as The Delph, a grassed area with a fenced children's play ground and
triangulation pillar A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The station is usually set up by a map ...
. South of Stony Lane is a grassed recreation ground or common with Village Green Status. Cricket and football were played here but more suitable grounds became available. Eccleshill War Memorial is on the northern side and to the south of the Recreation Ground on Moorwell Place is a terrace of listed former weavers' houses and a
bowling green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...
. There are many historic wells in Eccleshill, e.g. Moor Well, and Tun Well however there is a Holy Well covered by a manhole cover, located in a private garden off Harrogate Road opposite the end of Ravenscliffe Avenue, close to the site of Eccleshill Railway Station. This historic well and its associated grove dates back to Roman times. The Eccleshill (Swimming) Pool is located on Harrogate Road towards Greengates. To the east of Harrogate Road can be found the Eccleshill NHS Treatment Centre, and playing fields. East of the playing fields is the Eccleshill Community Hospital, Eccleshill Park—an area of grassland, and the Eccleshill Adventure Playground. Eccleshill has four
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
s, one on Harrogate Road, one in Fagley and others in Ravenscliffe and Thorpe Edge. There is also a driving test centre on Victoria Road.; Eccleshill Police Station is not in Eccleshill ward but just outside in Idle. Eccleshill has a number of public houses particularly along Victoria Road and Norman Lane, however several public houses along Harrogate Road have closed in recent years. ;Listed buildings Eccleshill's listed buildings (of which there are 34; more than any other district besides Saltaire and Little Germany in the City Centre) include private houses on Moorside Road,Moorside Road: , , , , , , , , and the Ukrainian Autocephalic Orthodox church, a public house and a private house on Stony Lane,Stony Lane: , , private houses on Stone Hall Road and Back Stone Hall Road, Stone Hall Road:; , , , , Back Stone Hall Road: listed farmhouses and former farmhouses on Fagley Lane and Fagley Road,Fagley Lane: , , Fagley Road: listed three-storey former weavers' houses (1851–54) on Moorwell Place, and a listed former Wesleyan chapel (1775) on Lands Lane. and the Manor House off Leeds Road.


Bradford Industrial Museum

In the south of Eccleshill off Moorside Road close to Fagley is the Bradford Industrial Museum in what was Moorside Mills. This museum houses machinery from local textile and printing industries and has a row of workers houses. It used to house the popular ''Horses at Work'' exhibition but this has now closed.


Churches

Originally built in 1854 as a Wesleyan Methodist Church, the Ukrainian Autocephalic Orthodox church is the only listed church building in Eccleshill. Tucked behind this church is a former Wesleyan Sunday School of 1885, now residential accommodation.


Governance

Eccleshill was formerly a
township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
and
chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...
in the parish of
Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...
, in 1866 Eccleshill became a separate
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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
. From 1894 to 1899 Eccleshill was an urban district. In 1951 the parish had a population of 18,480. As of 2004, Eccleshill ward includes the south-east quadrant of Greengates, Thorpe Edge housing estate, part of Five Lane Ends, Bank Top, the eponymous Eccleshill, Fagley and the Ravenscliffe housing estate. ;Councillors Eccleshill electoral ward is represented on
Bradford Council City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is the Local government in England, local authority of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Bradford has had an elected council since 1847, which has been reformed on several occasions. ...
by three Liberal Democrat councillors, Geoff Reid, Nicola Pollard and Brendan Stubbs. indicates seat up for re-election.


Economy

Along the south-western end of Victoria Road is the Victoria Industrial Estate including The Old Mill and a variety of commercial and light industrial units. Work has begun on the creation of 589 homes on the former sandstone quarry near Fagley. A
Lidl Lidl ( ) is a trademark, used by two Germany, German international discount supermarket, discount retailer chain store, chains that operates over 12,600 stores. The ''LD Stiftung'' operates the stores in Germany and the ''Lidl Stiftung & Co. K ...
supermarket and
Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...
have been built on an as yet unfinished retail park on the now demolished Union Mills/Pilleys Mill site.


Education

Cavendish Primary school, Saint Brendan's primary school, to the west in Swain House is the Hanson Academy. Hutton Middle school was demolished to make way of housing, although the caretakers house still remains. Also demolished was Eccleshill Upper school and a replacement school was built in Thackley called Immanuel College. Ashcroft Doctor's surgery, Eccleshill Hospital (not A&E) and Inspire business park was built in place on the old Eccleshill Upper school grounds. Eccleshill Public Library is on Bolton Road. In Fagley on Falsgrave Road is Fagley primary school. Eccleshill was the first township to elect a School Board in the land, following Edward Forsters Education Act of 1871. The School Board built three schools; Greengates, Wellington and the Central Board School; later named Hutton School after John Hutton who was Chair of the School Board for over 25 years and who bought and donated the land for and contributed to the building of the Central Board School. Both Hutton School and Wellington Schools were demolished to make way for new housing developments. The Greengates school building only remains - as of 2022 it remained unlisted.


Transport

The area is served by the First Bradford 640, 641 and 645 Green Line and A2 airport bus services. The main roads through the area are the north–south A658 Harrogate Road, and the A6176 Bolton Road—Pullan Avenue. Apperly Bridge railway is approximately 1.5 miles away.


Sport

Eccleshill United Football Club are currently members of the Northern Counties East Football League Premier Division. Other local sports teams include Eccleshill Badminton Club who use the facilities of Hanson School. Rugby team Victoria Rangers A.R.L.F.C. and Victoria Rangers A.F.C. who once used the facilities of Eccleshill Sports and Social Club. until they folded.


Culture and events

The Eccleshill Village Fair is held annually in ''The Delph'', a grassed over former Stoney Lane Quarry north of Stony Lane. The spelling of Stoney/Stony Lane is contentious even today although older maps favour the Stoney spelling.


Notable people

See the category People from Eccleshill. Artist
David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English Painting, painter, Drawing, draughtsman, Printmaking, printmaker, Scenic design, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considere ...
(b. 1937) grew up in Eccleshill. TV presenter, journalist, and game show host
Richard Whiteley John Richard Whiteley (28 December 1943 – 26 June 2005) was an English presenter and journalist, best known for his twenty-three years as host of the game show '' Countdown''. ''Countdown'' was the launch programme for Channel 4 at 4:45 ...
(1943–2005) was born in Eccleshill into a family of mill owners, and lived there in his youth. The company was Thomas Whiteley & Co. (1889–1963) worsted manufacturers based in mill premises off Stone Hall Road. TV presenter and journalist Christa Ackroyd (b. 1957) and actor Duncan Preston (b. 1946) were born in Eccleshill. Popular Victorian actress and 'postcard beauty' Marie Studholme (1872–1930) was born at Stone Hall, Eccleshill. Inventor Edward Spurr (1907–1998) was brought up in Eccleshill and
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
and
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
er Don Brennan (1920–1985) was born in Eccleshill. Arthur Wood (1898–1973), a
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
and
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
er was born in Fagley and Eric Anderson (1915–1943), a posthumous recipient of the
Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...
lived in Ashfield Place, Fagley.


References


External links


The Eccleshill History Trail
PDF

* Sport
Eccleshill Badminton ClubEccleshill Road Runners
. ;Eccleshill ward
Ward Labour Profile Eccleshill

BBC election results
{{City of Bradford Areas of Bradford Wards of Bradford Former civil parishes in West Yorkshire