Halifax, Yorkshire
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Halifax is a town in the
Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale Calderdale () is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, which had a population of 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the up ...
, in
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 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 ...
. It is in the eastern foothills of the
Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of highland, uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "Vertebral column, backbone of England" because of its length and position, the ra ...
. In the 15th century, the town became an economic hub of the old
West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...
, primarily in
wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...
len manufacture with the large
Piece Hall The Piece Hall is a Grade I listed building in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was built as a cloth hall for handloom weavers to sell the woollen cloth "pieces" they had produced. History The earliest known reference to the new Piece ...
square later built for trading wool in the town centre. The town was a thriving
mill town A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more List of types of mill#Manufacturing facilities, mills or factories, often cotton mills or factories producing textiles. Europe ...
during the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
with the Dean Clough Mill buildings a surviving landmark. In 2021, it had a population of 88,109. It is also the administrative centre of the wider Calderdale Metropolitan Borough.


Toponymy

The town's name was recorded in about 1091 as ''Halyfax'', most likely from the
Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
''halh-gefeaxe'', meaning "area of coarse grass in the of land". This explanation is generally preferred to derivations from the Old English ' (holy), in ''hālig feax'' or "holy hair", proposed by 16th-century
antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...
s. The probably-incorrect interpretation gave rise to two legends. One concerned a maiden killed by a lustful priest whose advances she spurned; another held that the head of Saint
John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...
was buried here after his execution. The legend is almost certainly medieval rather than ancient, although the town's
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
carries an image of the saint. Another explanation is a corruption of the Old English ''hay'' and ', as a clearing or meadow. This etymology is based on Haley Hill, the nearby hamlet of Healey (another corruption), and the common occurrence of the surnames Hayley and Haley around Halifax. The derivation from ''halig'' has given rise to the
demonym A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic' () is a word that identifies a group of people ( inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place ( hamlet, village, town, city, region, ...
Haligonian, which is of recent origin and not in universal use. The Earldom of Halifax took the name of the town. Its first creation, in the
Peerage of England The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. From that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were closed to new creations, and new peers were created in a single Peerag ...
in 1677, was for George Savile, who was created Baron Savile of Eland and Viscount Halifax in 1668 and later became the
Marquess of Halifax The title Marquess of Halifax was created in the Peerage of England in 1682 for the George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax, George Savile, 1st Earl of Halifax. He had previously been created Baron Savile, of Elland in the County of York, Viscount ...
(this creation of the earldom became extinct in 1700).
George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (6 October 1716 – 8 June 1771) was a British statesman of the Georgian era. Due to his success in extending commerce in the Americas, he became known as the "father of the colonies". President of the B ...
, (2nd order of the 3rd creation) became the
President of the Board of Trade The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. A committee of the His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, it was first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th centur ...
in 1748. In 1749 the city of Halifax, the capital of
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
, Canada, was named in his honour. The
Halifax River The Halifax River is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, located in northeast Volusia County, Florida. The waterway was originally known as the North Mosquito River, but was renamed after George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (for ...
in
Central Florida Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, in ...
, United States, was also named after him.


History

Halifax is not 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
'', and evidence of the early settlement is unclear. By the 12th century the township had become the religious centre of the vast parish of Halifax, which extended from
Brighouse Brighouse (, locally also ) is a town within the metropolitan borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated on the River Calder, West Y ...
in the east to
Heptonstall Heptonstall is a small village and civil parish within the Calderdale borough of West Yorkshire, England, historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The population of Heptonstall, including the hamlets of Colden and Slack, is 1,448, i ...
in the west. Halifax Minster, parts of which date from the 12th century is dedicated to St John the Baptist. The minster's first organist, in 1766, was
William Herschel Frederick William Herschel ( ; ; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-British astronomer and composer. He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel. Born in the Electorate of Hanover ...
, who discovered the planet
Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan-coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a Supercritical fluid, supercritical phase of matter, which astronomy calls "ice" or Volatile ( ...
. The coat of arms of Halifax include the chequers from the original coat of arms of the Earls Warenne, who held the town during
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 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...
times. Halifax was notorious for its
gibbet Gibbeting is the use of a gallows-type structure from which the dead or dying bodies of criminals were hanged on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. Occasionally, the gibbet () was also used as a method of public ex ...
, an early form of
guillotine A guillotine ( ) is an apparatus designed for effectively carrying out executions by Decapitation, beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secur ...
used to
execute Execution, in capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), s ...
criminals by
decapitation Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...
, that was last used in 1650. A replica has been erected on the original site in Gibbet Street. Its original blade is on display at
Bankfield Museum Bankfield Museum is a grade II listed building, listed historic house museum, incorporating a regimental museum and textiles gallery in Boothtown, Halifax, West Yorkshire, Halifax, England. It is notable for its past ownership and development ...
. Punishment in Halifax was notoriously harsh, as remembered in the ''Beggar's Litany'' by poet
John Taylor John Taylor, Johnny Taylor or similar is the name of: Academics *John Taylor (Oxford), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1486–1487 * John Taylor (classical scholar) (1704–1766), English classical scholar *John Taylor (English publisher) ...
(1580–1654), a prayer whose text included "From
Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...
, from Halifax, from
Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...
, 'tis thus, From all these three, Good Lord deliver us.". The town's 19th-century wealth came from the cotton, wool and carpet industries and like most other Yorkshire towns, it had a large number of
weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...
mills Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to: As a name * Mills (surname), a common family name of English or Gaelic origin * Mills (given name) *Mills, a fictional British secret agent in a trilogy by writer Manning O'Brine Places U ...
many of which have been lost or converted to alternative use. In November 1938, in an incident of
mass hysteria Mass psychogenic illness (MPI), also called mass sociogenic illness, mass psychogenic disorder, epidemic hysteria or mass hysteria, involves the spread of illness symptoms through a population where there is no infectious agent responsible for c ...
, many residents believed a serial killer, the Halifax Slasher, was on the loose.
Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...
concluded there were no attacks after several locals admitted they had inflicted wounds on themselves.
Halifax plc Halifax (previously known as Halifax Building Society and colloquially known as The Halifax) is a British banking brand operating as a trading division of Bank of Scotland, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group. It is named ...
started as a
building society A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization, which offers banking institution, banking and related financial services, especially savings and mortgage loan, mortgage lending. They exist in the Unit ...
, the Halifax Permanent Benefit Building and Investment Society, in the town in 1853. Today the bank operates as a trading name of
HBOS HBOS plc is a banking and insurance company in the United Kingdom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group, having been taken over in January 2009. It was the holding company for Bank of Scotland, Bank of Scotland plc, which ...
, part of the
Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Banking Group plc is a British financial institution formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. It is one of the UK's largest financial services organisations, with 30 million customers and 65,000 employees. Lloyds B ...
.
Yorkshire Bank Yorkshire Bank was a trading name used by Clydesdale Bank plc for its retail banking operations in England. The Yorkshire Bank was founded in 1859 as the West Riding of Yorkshire Provident Society and Penny Savings Society but the Provident ...
, based in
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
and known as the ''
West Riding The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The lieutenancy at that time included the city of York a ...
Penny Savings Bank'', was established on 1 May 1859 by Colonel
Edward Akroyd Lieutenant Colonel Edward Akroyd (1810–1887), English manufacturer, was born into a textile manufacturing family in 1810, and when he died in 1887, he still owned the family firm. He inherited "James Akroyd & Sons Ltd." from his father in 1 ...
of Halifax. Halifax is twinned with
Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...
in Germany. The A58 has a stretch called Aachen Way.


Governance

The ancient parish of Halifax was divided into a large number of civil parishes in the 19th century. In Halifax, a body of
improvement commissioners Boards of improvement commissioners were ''ad hoc'' urban local government boards created during the 18th and 19th centuries in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and its predecessors the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Irel ...
or town trustees was created between 1762 and 1823, and the town became a
borough constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constituen ...
under the
Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...
. Halifax was incorporated as a
municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...
in 1848 under the
Municipal Corporations Act 1835 The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 ( 5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 76), sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales. The le ...
, and, with the passing of the
Local Government Act 1888 The Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales. It came into effect ...
, became a county borough in 1889. Since 1974, Halifax has been the
administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...
of the Metropolitan Borough of
Calderdale Calderdale () is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, which had a population of 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the ...
in
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 ...
.


Geography

Topographically, Halifax is located in the south-eastern foothills of the moorland region called the
South Pennines The South Pennines is a region of moorland and hill country in northern England lying towards the southern end of the Pennines. In the west it includes the Rossendale Valley and the West Pennine Moors. It is bounded by the Greater Manchester co ...
. Halifax is situated about from the
M62 motorway The M62 is a west–east Pennines, trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting Liverpool and Kingston upon Hull, Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; of the route Concurrency (road), is shared with the M60 motorway, ...
, close to
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 ...
and
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 ...
. The A641 road links the town with
Brighouse Brighouse (, locally also ) is a town within the metropolitan borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated on the River Calder, West Y ...
, Bradford and Huddersfield. The Hebble Brook joins the River Calder at
Salterhebble Salterhebble is an area of Halifax, a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. The town falls within the Skircoat ward of Calderdale Council. Salterhebble is located where the Hebble Brook flows into t ...
.


Demography

In 2004 Calderdale had a population of 192,405, of which 82,500 live in the Halifax
urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...
. The main ethnic group in Halifax is
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
(87%), followed by
British Pakistani British Pakistanis (; also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are Britons or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes people born in the UK who are of Pakistani descent, Pakis ...
(10%). Over 90% of people aged 16–74 were employed, mostly full-time. 64% of residents had qualifications. Halifax is home to a large
South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
n community mainly of
British Pakistanis British Pakistanis (; also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are British people, Britons or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes people born in the UK who are of Pakistani ...
from the
Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...
region, which originally moved to the area for employment in the textile industry. The majority of the community lives in the west central Halifax region of the town, which was previously home to immigrant Irish communities who have since moved to the outer suburbs. The Illingworth and Mixenden areas, in contrast to west central Halifax, consists mostly of white,
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
residents. In the 2001 census, 5% stated they were
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
, 16.3% of no religion, and 63.8% of
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
background. 12.8% did not disclose their religion. The population density of the Halifax urban area is 530/km2.


Economy

From
New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...
1779, manufacturers and
mercers The Mercers' Company, or the Worshipful Company of Mercers, is a livery company of the City of London in the Great Twelve City Livery Companies, and ranks first in the order of precedence of the Companies. Mercer comes from the Latin for merch ...
dealt internationally in such articles through its grandiose square, the
Piece Hall The Piece Hall is a Grade I listed building in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was built as a cloth hall for handloom weavers to sell the woollen cloth "pieces" they had produced. History The earliest known reference to the new Piece ...
. Halifax is known for
Mackintosh's Mackintosh's ( ) was a British confectionery firm founded in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was known for Mackintosh's Toffee, its toffee and the Quality Street (confectionery), Quality Street and Rolo brands. Beginnings The firm was fo ...
chocolate and toffee products, including
Rolo Rolo ( ), referring to the roll-styled chocolates, is a brand of truncated cone-shaped or conical frustum-shaped chocolates with a caramel inside. First manufactured in Norwich, Norfolk in the United Kingdom by Mackintosh's in 1937 (followed by ...
and Quality Street. The Halifax bank was founded and has large offices in the town. Dean Clough, north of the town centre, was once one of the largest textile factories in the world at more than long; today the building has been converted for office and retail use including a gym, theatre,
Travelodge Travelodge or Travelodge by Wyndham (formerly branded ''TraveLodge'') refers to several hotel chains around the world. Current operations include the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and several co ...
and radio station. As well as the significance of the bank
Halifax plc Halifax (previously known as Halifax Building Society and colloquially known as The Halifax) is a British banking brand operating as a trading division of Bank of Scotland, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group. It is named ...
which, since 2008, is part of the
Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Banking Group plc is a British financial institution formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. It is one of the UK's largest financial services organisations, with 30 million customers and 65,000 employees. Lloyds B ...
, the town has strong associations with confectionery. John Mackintosh and his wife, Violet, opened a
toffee Toffee is an English confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses (creating inverted sugar) along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of . While being prepar ...
shop in King Cross Lane in 1890. Violet formulated the toffee's recipe. John became known as "The Toffee King". A factory was opened on Queens Road in 1898. A new factory at Albion Mill, at the current site near the railway station, opened in 1909. John died in 1920, and his son Harold continued the business, expanding it to its present size and range of confectionery. Their famous brands, including
Rolo Rolo ( ), referring to the roll-styled chocolates, is a brand of truncated cone-shaped or conical frustum-shaped chocolates with a caramel inside. First manufactured in Norwich, Norfolk in the United Kingdom by Mackintosh's in 1937 (followed by ...
, Toffee Crisp and Quality Street of chocolate and confectionery have global popularity. In 1969 John Mackintosh & Co Limited merged with the
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
-based Rowntree Limited to form Rowntree Mackintosh. This was, in turn, purchased by
Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...
in 1988. Riley's Toffee Rolls were launched in 1907, made by "Riley Brothers". Halifax was a busy industrial town, dealing in and producing wool, carpets, machine tools and beer. The Crossley family began carpet manufacture in modest premises at Dean Clough, on the banks of Hebble Brook. The family was philanthropic and Joseph and Sir Francis Crossley built and endowed
almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...
s for their workers, which exist to this day and are run by volunteer trustees. Halifax is also home to Suma Wholefoods, which was established in 1975 and is the largest
workers' co-operative A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and self-managed by its workers. This control may mean a firm where every worker-owner participates in decision-making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one in which management is elected by ...
in the UK.


Transport

Public bus and train transportation in Halifax is managed and subsidised by
West Yorkshire Metro Metro is the passenger information brand used by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority in England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 as the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE), at the same time as the metropolitan county of West Yo ...
. It was announced in January 2009 that Halifax was to have a direct rail link to London after a long campaign backed by many, including the local paper the ''Courier''; the service began to run on 23 May 2010.


Bus

Most of the bus services operate from Halifax bus station.
First West Yorkshire First West Yorkshire operates both local and regional bus services in West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of the FirstGroup, and is made up of three sub-division brands: First Bradford, First Halifax, Calder Valley & Huddersfield and Fir ...
operate most services in the town, Team Pennine, part of the
Transdev Blazefield Transdev Blazefield is a bus group, which operates local and regional bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. Formed in August 1991, the group has been a subsidiary of French-based operato ...
group operating a small number of routes.
Arriva Yorkshire Arriva Yorkshire is a major bus operator providing services primarily within and across West Yorkshire, although it also provides service in some parts of South Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire and southern areas of North Yorkshire. It is a ...
currently operate the 255 Leeds to Halifax route. First operate bus services from Halifax to Huddersfield, Bradford and Leeds. First also run services into other counties,
Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...
in
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...
and
Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...
in
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
.


Rail

is on the
Calder Valley line The Calder Valley line (also previously known as the Caldervale line) is a railway route in Northern England between the cities of Leeds and Manchester as well as the seaside resort of Blackpool. It is the slower of the two main rail routes ...
, with services to
Manchester Victoria Manchester Victoria station in Manchester, England, is a combined mainline railway station and Metrolink tram stop. Situated to the north of the city centre on Hunts Bank, close to Manchester Cathedral, it adjoins Manchester Arena which was c ...
, , via
Bradford Interchange Bradford Interchange is a transport interchange in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, which consists of a railway station and bus station adjacent. The Interchange, which was designed in 1962, was hailed as a showpiece of European design and wa ...
and
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
; ; via to and and to via . The London service is operated by Grand Central, the others by
Northern Trains Northern Trains, Trade name, trading as Northern, is a British train operating company that operates Commuter rail, commuter and Inter-city rail, medium-distance intercity services in the North of England. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Dep ...
. Rail passenger representation is organised by the local users' group, the Halifax and District Rail Action Group (HADRAG). The railway leading from Halifax due north towards (towards , and ) with a further branch to Bradford via saw its last through services in May 1955, although parts of the route, which was extremely heavily engineered with long tunnels and high, spectacular
viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...
s, have now been repaired and revived by Sustrans as a walking and cycle route. In 2018 a campaign was launched to save and restore the Queensbury Tunnel and add it to the walking and cycling network. A branch from Holmfield, on the Halifax to Queensbury section of the lines to Keighley and Bradford, served the west side of Halifax. It terminated at . This short branch closed to passengers in January 1927 and to all traffic in June 1960. Halifax is also served by station in the neighbouring town of
Sowerby Bridge Sowerby Bridge ( ) is a market town in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. The Calderdale Council ward population at the 2011 census was 11,703. History The town was originally a fording point over the once mu ...
at the southwest edge of the town. It lies just to the south of the River Calder.


Media

Calderdale's local radio stations are
BBC Radio Leeds BBC Radio Leeds is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of West Yorkshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at St Peter's Square in Leeds. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audienc ...
on 95.3 FM,
Hits Radio West Yorkshire Hits Radio West Yorkshire, formerly Pulse 1, is an Independent Local Radio station based in Leeds, England, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to West Yorkshire. As of September 2024, t ...
on 102.5 FM, Heart Yorkshire on 106.2 FM, Capital Yorkshire on 105.1 FM and Phoenix Radio on 96.7 FM, which has its studios in Halifax. Sunrise Radio (Yorkshire) has been given permission by media regulator Ofcom to expand its FM coverage to Halifax. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire. Television signals are received from the Emley Moor TV transmitter and the local relay transmitter. ''Courier'', Calderdale's local weekly newspaper, has its offices in the town.


Education

The Halifax area is home to two selective and non fee-paying grammar schools, which are the Crossley Heath School in Savile Park, Halifax, Savile Park and North Halifax Grammar School in Illingworth. Both schools achieve excellent GCSE and A-level (United Kingdom), A level results with both schools achieving a large proportion of A*to C grades at GCSE level. In 2005, the Crossley Heath School was the highest ranking Mixed-sex education, co-educational school in the North of England. Calderdale College is a further education college located on Francis Street, just off King Cross Road, in the west of the town. The Maltings College opened in 2013 and offers a range of vocational sixth form courses. In December 2006 it was announced that Calderdale College, in partnership with Leeds Beckett University, opened a new higher education institution in January 2007 called 'University Centre Calderdale'. In 2019, Trinity Sixth Form opened in Halifax town centre, which provides 'outstanding' further education for pupils aged between 16 and 18. The school formed as a result of the closure of sixth forms within schools in the Trinity MAT. This allowed for a more 16-18 friendly education to be sought by pupils from the Trinity schools. This school, as with the above school, boasts excellent A-level results, with a consistently >98% pass rate since opening in 2019, as well as almost 200% growth in student numbers in that time.


Culture

The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) Regimental Association, previously based at Wellesley Park, on the junction of Gibbet Street and Spring Hall Road, in the former Wellesley Barracks is located within the
Bankfield Museum Bankfield Museum is a grade II listed building, listed historic house museum, incorporating a regimental museum and textiles gallery in Boothtown, Halifax, West Yorkshire, Halifax, England. It is notable for its past ownership and development ...
on Boothtown Road. The former barracks, having served as the headquarters of the schools' music service in the last few decades of the 20th century, became a school in 2005. Former regimental colours of the 'Duke's' are laid up in the Halifax Minster. These include the stand used by the 33rd Regiment between 1761 and 1771, which is one of the oldest in existence in England, plus those carried by the regiment during the Battle of Waterloo and the Crimea. The 1981 stand of colours, was taken out of service in 2002. They were marched through the town from the Halifax Town Hall, town hall to the minster, which at that time was still a parish church, accompanied by two escorts of 40 troops, the Regimental Drums and the Heavy Cavalry and Cambrai Band on Sunday 31 March 2007. The troops were then inspected by the Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, Ingrid Roscoe, Dame Ingrid Roscoe DCVO DStJ FSA and the Mayor of Halifax Cllr Colin Stout making a total of eight stands of colours within the Regimental Chapel. The regiment was presented with the "Freedom of Halifax" on 18 June 1945. Eureka! (museum), Eureka! The National Children's Museum was inspired and opened by King Charles III when he was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall in the summer of 1992 and is in part of the railway station. Another cultural aspect of the town is its nightlife, centred around Georges Square and Bull Green. It is also home to Britain's oldest nightclub The Acapulco that opened in the early 1960s. The nightclub auctioned off its infamous 20-odd-year old grubby carpet, in square pieces, and surprisingly raised thousands of pounds.


Dean Clough Mill

Dean Clough Mill, a redeveloped worsted spinning mill, was once the largest carpet factory in the world. It was built in the 1840s–'60s for Crossley's Carpets and owned by John Crossley. The corona chimney dominates over the mill complex and area, at a height of , it is made from triangular cast iron plates and built in 1857. It was converted into a business park in the 1980s by Ernest Hall (businessman), Sir Ernest Hall. It was redeveloped again to host the Northern Broadsides Theatre Company and the IOU theatre company as well as providing space for eight art galleries. The Artworks is a collection of artists studios, gallery space and an art school housed in an old mill complex just to the south of the town centre. The structure can be seen entering the town from the north and east and lower parts of Pellon. It would have been one of many that filled the Halifax skyline back in the Victorian age. There is also a smaller chimney that has been shortened, which is not much higher than the existing mills surrounding it.


Landmarks

*
Piece Hall The Piece Hall is a Grade I listed building in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was built as a cloth hall for handloom weavers to sell the woollen cloth "pieces" they had produced. History The earliest known reference to the new Piece ...
is the former cloth hall, where pieces of woollen cloth were traded. Opened on 1 January 1779, trading took place for two hours on a Saturday morning in a total of 315 merchant trading rooms. After the mechanisation of the cloth industry, the Piece Hall became a public market. Piece Hall is host to many arts, crafts and independent shops. The Piece Hall has recently undergone a £19 million conservation and transformation programme. The works were completed in July 2017, after a three-year construction plan which overran by a year and over budget, with the building fully reopened in August (on Yorkshire day) with shops, cafes and events run by the Piece Hall Charity. The hall is also home to the industrial museum. * Halifax Minster * Halifax Town Hall was designed by Charles Barry, who also designed the Houses of Parliament, in 1863. * Borough Market, Halifax, Borough Market is a Victorian covered market-place in the town centre. A hidden gem with streets on top of the building that housed market workers at one time. It is (2024) currently undergoing a major refurbishment. * Wainhouse Tower, at King Cross, is a late Victorian folly constructed between 1871 and 1875. Originally intended to be the chimney for a dye works, it became a folly after the dye works was sold in 1874 and the new owner refused to pay for its completion. It is the tallest folly in the world and the tallest structure in
Calderdale Calderdale () is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, which had a population of 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the ...
. It is open to the public on bank holidays weather permitting. * People's Park, Halifax, People's Park is a public park originally designed by Joseph Paxton, given to the people of Halifax in 1857 by Sir Francis Crossley. * The Prescott Street drill hall, Halifax, Prescott Street drill hall designed by Richard Coad and completed in 1870. *Shibden Hall is just outside Halifax in the neighbouring Shibden Valley, it was once the diarist Anne Lister's home. * The ''Magna Via'', an ancient footpath from Wakefield to Halifax. Sections are visible in the Shibden Valley area. *North Bridge, Halifax, North Bridge, Victorian era bridge in the Gothic Revival style


Sport

The town has relatively successful sports clubs. Its rugby league club, Halifax Panthers, plays in the Betfred RFL Championship, Championship. The town's Association football, football team, FC Halifax Town currently compete in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of English football. Halifax also has a Women's association football, women's football team, Halifax FC Women.


Football

The Shay football ground has been the home of the town's football club since 1921. The ground was substantially redeveloped in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, with money provided by the Football Foundation and funds raised or provided by the local community and Calderdale Council.


Rugby league

Halifax Panthers is one of the most historic rugby league clubs in the game, formed over a century ago, in 1873. They have been Champions of England on 4 occasions and have lifted the Challenge Cup 5 times. Amateur clubs Boothtown Terriers, Greetland All Rounders, Illingworth, King Cross Park, Ovenden, Siddal A.R.L.F.C., Siddal and Stainland Stags are based in or near the town. The Siddal club is a leading member of amateur rugby league's flagship National Conference League. Greetland All Rounders and Ovenden are former members.


Rugby union

Halifax has several senior rugby union clubs. They include Halifax RUFC, Halifax, Halifax Vandals RUFC, Halifax Vandals (Warley), Heath RUFC, Heath (West Vale), Old Crossleyans, Old Rishworthians (Copley) and Old Brodleians (Hipperholme).


Field hockey

Halifax Hockey Club is a field hockey club that competes in the North Hockey Association, North Hockey League and the Yorkshire Hockey Association, Yorkshire & North East League.


Speedway

Motorcycle speedway racing has been staged at two venues in Halifax. In the pioneering days of 1928–1930 a track operated at Thrum Hall. A Halifax team took part in the English Dirt Track League of 1929. Speedway returned to Halifax at the Shay Stadium in 1949 and operated until 1951. The team operated as the Halifax Nomads in 1948 racing three away fixtures. The Halifax Dukes, the name they took once the Shay was opened, operated in the National League Third Division in 1949 before moving up to the Second Division in 1950. Riders including Arthur Forrest, moved on to
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 ...
. The Dukes re-emerged in 1965 as founder members of the British League and operated there for many years before the team moved en bloc to Odsal Stadium, Bradford.


Swimming

Halifax Swimming Pool was opened in 1966 and designed by the borough architects FH Hoyles and JL Berbiers. It contains two ceramic murals by Kenneth Barden on the theme of British pond life. By 2020 there was consideration that a new swimming pool should be installed within the existing North Bridge Leisure Centre, and that the current building should be listed as a significant twentieth century building.


Religion

The 15th-century Minster (church), Minster dedicated to
John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...
did not achieve cathedral status when a new diocese was being considered for the West Riding of Yorkshire, West Riding: Wakefield Cathedral, Wakefield parish church became the cathedral in 1888 and was extensively altered and enlarged. Minster status was only conferred on the parish church in a ceremony on 22 November 2009. There is a collection of rare Commonwealth of England, Commonwealth white glass as well as a series of Victorian architecture, Victorian windows. Another feature is the complete array of Jacobean era, Jacobean box pews. The pair of Gothic art, Gothic organ cases by John Oldrid Scott now house the four-manual instrument by Harrison & Harrison. The belfry holds fourteen bells and an Angelus. St Mary's Church, Halifax, St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, on the corner of Gibbet Street and Clarence Street, was built in 1839, rebuilt in 1864 and extended in 1924. The Serbian Orthodox Church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, in the Boothtown area, formerly the Mount Carmel Methodist chapel, was acquired in 1956 and after extensive refurbishment was opened in the 1965 by the town's Serbs, Serbian community. In 2015 the church celebrated its Golden Jubilee. The mid-Victorian era, Victorian All Souls' Church, Halifax, All Souls' Church by Sir George Gilbert Scott, standing part way up Haley Hill to the north of the main town centre, is redundant church, redundant and vested in the Churches Conservation Trust. It is grade I listed building, listed and is open to visitors at limited times. Its lofty spire and white Magnesian Limestone, magnesian limestone exterior stand as a very personal statement in 13th-century French style of the mill owner Lieutenant Colonel
Edward Akroyd Lieutenant Colonel Edward Akroyd (1810–1887), English manufacturer, was born into a textile manufacturing family in 1810, and when he died in 1887, he still owned the family firm. He inherited "James Akroyd & Sons Ltd." from his father in 1 ...
, who paid solely for its construction as the centre-piece of a purpose-built model village "Akroydon". All Souls' boasts an unusually complete sequence of windows by the leading artists of the 1850s, including William Wailes, John Hardman and Clayton and Bell. The large organ by Forster and Andrews, inserted in 1868, ten years after the building was completed, is currently unplayable and many of its surviving parts are in storage awaiting restoration. The tower houses a ring of eight bells. Other churches include the Georgian architecture, Georgian Holy Trinity Church (which has since now been converted to office use) and the Gothic Revival (1911) St. Paul's at King Cross, by Arts and Crafts architect Sir Charles Nicholson, 2nd Baronet, Sir Charles Nicholson. St. Paul's is notable not only for its fine acoustics and massive west tower but also for an unusual and highly colourful west window, specified by Nicholson, showing the apocalyptic vision of the Holy City descending upon the smoky mills and railway viaducts of Halifax as it was before World War I. The William Swinden Barber#Church of St Jude, Savile Park, 1888, Church of St Jude in Savile Park, designed by local architect William Swinden Barber in 1888, is easily identified by the four large pinnacles on its tower. There is also a more modern Christadelphian church, located on Balmoral Place. As of early 2024 a new Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall is under construction on Crown Road in Boothtown to replace the smaller hall located on Shay Lane in Ovenden.


Notable people

* Tom Bailey (musician), Tom Bailey, singer of the Thompson Twins * William Swinden Barber, architect * Richard Bedford, singer * Phyllis Bentley, novelist * James Bintliff, Union Army General * Sarah Blackwood, singer * Hbomberguy, Harry "Hbomberguy" Brewis, leftist internet personality * Bramwell Booth, former Salvation Army General * Christopher Saint Booth, filmmaker and composer * Philip Adrian Booth, filmmaker and composer * Henry Briggs (mathematician), Henry Briggs, mathematician * Jacob Brown (footballer), Jacob Brown, footballer * Kenny Carter, Speedway Rider. British Champion 1984 1985. World Pairs champion 1983 * Alan Carter (motorcyclist), Alan Carter, Road racer 250cc. Youngest ever winner of a Grand Prix. Le Mans (1983) * John Reginald Halliday Christie, the murderer from 10 Rillington Place * Lindsay Clarke, novelist * Keith Clifford, actor, in ''Last of the Summer Wine'' and ''Coronation Street'' * Hannah Cockroft, athlete/double Paralympic gold medallist * Shirley Crabtree, wrestler professionally known as 'Big Daddy' * Barney Cutbill, cricketer * Jon Driver, scientist * George Dyson (composer), George Dyson, composer * Arthur Edward Ellis, football referee * Jonathan Fairbanks, builder of the Fairbanks House (Dedham, Massachusetts), Fairbanks House * Tony Field (footballer, born 1946), Tony Field, footballer * Stuart Fielden, rugby league footballer * Oliver Hannon-Dalby, cricketer * Howard Greenhalgh, music video and advertising director * David Hartley (philosopher), David Hartley, philosopher * Brian Highley, television and ''Trivial Pursuit'' question writer * Charlie Hodgson, rugby union fly half for England national rugby union team, England and Saracens F.C., Saracens * Charles Horner (jeweller), Charles Horner, jeweller and inventor of the Dorcas thimble * Jocelyn Horner, sculptor and teacher * Nick Holmes, singer of the band Paradise Lost (band), Paradise Lost * Barrie Ingham, actor * Paddy Kenny, footballer * John Kettley, weatherman * Don Lang (musician), Don Lang, musician * Nick Lawrence, radio presenter * John Lawton (singer), John Lawton, singer in the band Uriah Heep (band), Uriah Heep * Alex Lees, cricketer * Anne Lister, diarist and former owner of Shibden Hall * Ernest Lister, eighth List of governors of Washington, Governor of the U.S. state of Washington * Mackintosh's, John Mackintosh, created Mackintosh's Toffee, which became Rowntree's, Rowntree Mackintosh * Viscount Mackintosh of Halifax, Harold Vincent Mackintosh 1st Viscount Mackintosh of Halifax and chocolate manufacturer * Jim Mallinder, Northampton Saints coach * Brian Moore (rugby union), Brian Moore, rugby union footballer, TV presenter, pundit and journalist * Thomas Nettleton, local physician who carried out some of the earliest systematic programs of smallpox vaccination * John Noakes, TV presenter * John Pawson, architect * Carolyn Pickles, actress * James Pickles, barrister and Circuit judge (England and Wales), circuit judge * Wilfred Pickles, actor and radio presenter * Kathryn Pogson, actress * Eric Portman, actor * Jesse Ramsden, inventor of the Ramsden theodolite * John Alan Robinson, philosopher, mathematician, and computer scientist * Sir Richard Saltonstall, colonist * Rebecca Sarker, actress * Sir Henry Savile, bible translator * Percy Shaw, inventor of Cat's eye (road), cat's eyes, used on public roads * Ed Sheeran, singer-songwriter * Robin Simon, guitarist of Ultravox, Magazine (band), Magazine and Visage (band), Visage * Matthew Smith (painter), Sir Matthew Smith, artist * Oliver Smithies, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel Prize winning geneticist and physical biochemist * Sir James Stansfeld, Radical and Liberal politician and social reformer * Herbert Akroyd Stuart, inventor of the hot-bulb engine (ancestor to the diesel engine) * John Tillotson, Archbishop of Canterbury (1691–1694) * Brian Turner (chef), Brian Turner, chef, restaurant, restaurateur and TV personality * John E. Walker, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize winning chemist * Gareth Widdop, Rugby league footballer * Emma Williams (actress), Emma Williams, West End theatre, West End musical theatre actress * John Wolfenden, Baron Wolfenden, chairman of the Wolfenden report, Wolfenden committee * Matthew Wolfenden, actor in ITV1's ''Emmerdale'' * Patrick Woodroffe, science fiction and fantasy artist * Dorothy Wordsworth, diarist and sister of William Wordsworth * Frank Worthington, footballer


See also

* Calderdale Industrial Museum * Listed buildings in Halifax, West Yorkshire * Handley Page Halifax * * Walterclough Hall * Halifax power station


References


Further reading

* *


External links

* * {{Authority control Halifax, West Yorkshire, Towns in West Yorkshire Market towns in West Yorkshire Unparished areas in West Yorkshire Former civil parishes in West Yorkshire Geography of Calderdale