Morley is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

and a

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 ...

within 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 ...

metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of districts of England, local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan distr ...

, 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. Morley is the largest town in the borough after Leeds itself. Morley forms part of the

Heavy Woollen District The Heavy Woollen District is a region of textile-focused industrial development in West Yorkshire, England. It acquired the name because of the heavyweight cloth manufactured there from the early 19th century. The district is made up of parts o ...

. It lies approximately south-west of

Leeds city centre Leeds city centre is the central business district of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is roughly bounded by the Leeds Inner Ring Road, Inner Ring Road to the north and the River Aire to the south and can be divided into several quarters. A ...

. It was built on seven hills: Scatcherd Hill, Dawson Hill, Daisy Hill, Chapel Hill, Hunger Hill, Troy Hill and Banks Hill. In 2011, the town and civil parish had populations of 44,440 and 27,738 respectively. The town is split between the Morley North and Morley South wards (containing the town centre) of

Leeds City Council Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Leeds has had a council since 1626, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 it has been a metropolitan borough council. It provides the ...

, both making up part of the Leeds South West and Morley

parliamentary constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

History

Morley was 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 ...

in 1086 as ''Morelege'', ''Morelei'' and ''Moreleia''. Morley means "open ground by a moor", from

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 ...

''mōr'' " moor, clearing, pasture" + ''lēah'' "open ground, clearing". It gave its name to ''Morelei Wapentac'', a

wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of ...

which probably met at

Tingley Tingley is a suburban village in the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, Northern England, forming part of the parish of West Ardsley. Tingley forms part of the Heavy Woollen District. It is situated between the cities of Leeds and Wakefield. ...

. Howley Hall was built during the 1580s by Sir John Savile, a member of the great Yorkshire landowners, the Savile family. The house was besieged during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

in 1643 before the

Battle of Adwalton Moor The Battle of Adwalton Moor occurred on 30 June 1643 at Adwalton, West Yorkshire, during the First English Civil War. In the battle, the Royalists loyal to Charles I of England, King Charles led by the William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcast ...

but appears to have sustained no serious damage. It continued to be occupied during the 17th century but fell into disrepair. The hall was demolished in 1730 but ruins exist including the cellars of its great hall. The town became famous for its textile industry, notably the cloth,

shoddy Recycled wool, also known as rag wool or shoddy is any Wool, woollen textile or yarn made by shredding existing fabric and re-spinning the resulting fibres. Textile recycling is an important mechanism for reducing the need for raw wool in manufact ...

, which was worn by both sides in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. It was a significant coal mining area. On 7 October 1872, 34 people were killed in an explosion at the Morley Main Colliery.

Governance

Historically, Morley was the centre of one of two divisions of the

Agbrigg and Morley Agbrigg and Morley was a wapentake of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The main purpose of the wapentake was the administration of justice by a local court. At the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, Agbrigg and Morley were separate wape ...

. Morley became 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 1889 and under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, was incorporated into the

Metropolitan District A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropol ...

. Morley is represented on

by three wards (namely Morley North, Morley South and Ardsley and Robin Hood) each with three councillors. At the 2010 general election, Morley and Outwood was won by Ed Balls of the Labour Party, who had been MP for Normanton since 2005, and served as Labour's

Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer The shadow chancellor of the exchequer in the British Parliamentary system is the member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), Shadow Cabinet who is responsible for shadowing the Chancellor of the Exchequer, chancellor of ...

from 2011 until 2015. Balls narrowly lost the seat at the 2015 general election to

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Andrea Jenkyns Dame Andrea Marie Jenkyns (born 16 June 1974) is a British politician who has been the Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire since May 2025. A member of the Reform UK party, she was previously the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Morle ...

. In the 2024 General Election, Mark Sewards won a majority and ousted Andrea Jenkyns from the MP position after the constituency boundaries were redrawn to change Morley and Outwood to Leeds South West and Morley. A

town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland In 2002, 49 urban district councils and 26 town commissi ...

was established in 2000. Localities which are included within the town council's area include

Churwell Churwell is a settlement in the civil parish of Morley, West Yorkshire, Morley, in the City of Leeds, Leeds district, in West Yorkshire, England, between Leeds city centre and Morley. It is south-west of Leeds city centre and away from the Le ...

, Elmfield, Scatcherd, Teale, Topcliffe and Woodkirk, but

Drighlington Drighlington is a village and civil parish in the City of Leeds metropolitan district, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the village lies 5 miles (9 km) south-west of ...

Gildersome Gildersome is a village and civil parish in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough 5 miles (7 km) south-west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire, England. Glidersome forms part of the Heavy Woollen District. Location Historic coun ...

and

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and

West Ardsley West Ardsley is a settlement on the south-west edge of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it roughly approximates to an amalgamation of Tingley, ...

, which were formerly part of the municipal borough, are outside the town council's area. Following a review of parliamentary representation in West Yorkshire, the Morley and Rothwell parliamentary constituency was abolished at the 2010 election and replaced by the

Morley and Outwood Morley and Outwood was a constituency in West Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished. Subject to boundary ...

constituency. 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 ...

featured the symbolic principal industries of the municipal borough:

textile manufacturing Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful good ...

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

and

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

ing.

Geography

Present

Morley Town Hall Morley Town Hall is a municipal facility in Morley, West Yorkshire, England. The town hall, which is the meeting place of Morley Town Council, is a Grade I listed building. History Previously the local board of health in Morley had met in a roo ...

is sometimes used for music recordings. Television programmes, '' Heartbeat'' and ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

'' have used its disused magistrates’ court and a

cobblestone Cobblestone is a natural building material based on Cobble (geology), cobble-sized stones, and is used for Road surface, pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Sett (paving), Setts, also called ''Belgian blocks'', are often referred to as " ...

d street to one side. It hosts

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

s by local schools and performances by the Morley Amateur Operatic Society, whose

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

s have taken place at the Alexandra Hall for many years. St Mary in the Wood Church is located to the north of the town centre on Troy Road and Commercial Street. The church has been closed since the late 20th Century and survived until 2010. When a fire broke out and burnt the whole church interior. The site is now overgrown and abandoned although the impressive spire can be seen from the town centre. The congregation still meet at the chapel on Commercial Street. Morley annually holds one of the largest St George's Day parades in the country and has been named "the most patriotic town in England". Morley Market has been a feature since the town was formed. The market building has a large trading hall split up into units housing,

butchers A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishme ...

, fashion shops and a

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

. Supermarkets in Morley include Morrisons, Home Bargains and B & M in the town centre, a 24-hour Asda superstore and an Aldi Supermarket on the outside of the town centre. Scatcherd Park in the centre of Morley, by the Morley Leisure Centre, has a large playing field, a skate park, children's park, bowling green and memorial gardens, including the town's

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 ...

. Events are held on the adjoining field in the summer months. On 21 February 2010, a statue of

Ernie Wise Ernest Wiseman (27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known by his stage name Ernie Wise, was an English comedian, best known as one half of the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise, who became a national institution on British television, especially f ...

was erected outside Morley Post Office to divided opinion and unveiled by his widow, Doreen. Wise had performed in the old nearby cinema, just around from the Post Office, which is now a

Wetherspoons J D Wetherspoon (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a British pub company operating in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim ...

. On 25 June 2012, the

Olympic Torch The Olympic flame is a Olympic symbols, symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony s ...

paused at the Morley Academy on its tour of Britain ahead of the London Olympic Games 2012.

Transport

Morley railway station is half a mile (800 m) from the town centre on the Huddersfield Line. There is a service seven days a week to and from

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 ...

, but on Sundays, the service is less frequent. Buses go to Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield and other West Yorkshire towns from bus stops near the Town Hall. The

M621 motorway The M621 is a loop of motorway in West Yorkshire, England that takes traffic into central Leeds between the M1 motorway, M1 and M62 motorway, M62 motorways. History The first section of the M621 to open, known at the time as the 'South West Ur ...

runs to the west of the town and 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, ...

to the south. Junctions 27 and 28 of the M62 are closest to Morley.

Education

There are numerous primary schools in Morley including Morley Newlands Academy, Churwell Primary, Seven Hills Primary School, Morley Victoria Primary School, Asquith Primary, Fountain Primary and St Francis Catholic Primary School. It also has an independent preparatory school; Queenswood School. Three secondary schools serve pupils from Morley: The Morley Academy (formerly Morley High and Morley Grammar), Bruntcliffe Academy and Woodkirk Academy (formerly Woodkirk High and technically in

, but has a large proportion of students from Morley due to its catchment area).

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by

BBC Yorkshire BBC Yorkshire is one of the English regions of the BBC. It was formed from the division of the former BBC North region into BBC Yorkshire and BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, based in Kingston upon Hull. Serving West, North and South Yorkshir ...

and

ITV Yorkshire ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

. Television signals are received from the

Emley Moor The Emley Moor transmitting station is a telecommunications and broadcasting facility on Emley Moor, west of the village centre of Emley, in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It is made up of a concrete tower and apparatus that began ...

TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Leeds, Heart Yorkshire,

Capital Yorkshire Capital Yorkshire was a regional radio station owned by Global as part of the Capital network. It broadcast to South Yorkshire & North Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire. Capi ...

, Hits Radio West Yorkshire and Greatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire. The town is served by the local newspaper, ''Morley Observer & Advertiser''.

Sport

Morley R.F.C. was founded in 1878. When the Northern Union clubs broke away from the RFU to form the

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

, the Morley representatives missed the train to

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 ...

due to being in the pub. The club's heyday was in the 1970s when it won the Yorkshire Cup on five occasions. In April 2005 the club won the Powergen Intermediate Cup at

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

. Morley CC

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 ...

club plays in the Bradford League, Morley Town AFC (currently of Yorkshire FA Premier Division) and Morley Amateur FC are the towns

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club and Morley Borough play rugby league. Morley Leisure Centre is newly built after undergoing a £33 million joint project with Armley Leisure Centre completed 22 June 2010 boasting a main 25-metre swimming pool, 10-metre learner pool, 150-station Bodyline gym, numerous sports halls, a dance studio and a cafe. Independent Wrestling company Dynamic Pro Wrestling (DPW) is based in Morley and put on shows at Ackroyd Street Working Mens Club and around West Yorkshire until its closure in 2011. Morley was the home of seven times World Cycling Champion Beryl Burton. Scatcherd Park Bowling club compete in 9 leagues

Filmography

Morley is a setting for David Peace's ''Red Riding Quartet'' novel and 2009 television series which explore West Yorkshire police corruption during the 1970s, and 1980s. ''Emmerdale'' often use Morley for filming court and wedding scenes in the town hall.

Twin towns

Morley is twinned with

Siegen Siegen () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg region. The university town (n ...

, Germany, since 1966 continuation of partnership with amalgamated

as of 1974.

Notable people

Natives of the town refer to themselves as Morleians. Notable Morleians include: *

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...

, British

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

* John Barstow, pianist *

Brian Bedford Brian Bedford (16 February 1935 – 13 January 2016) was an English actor. He appeared in film and on stage, and was an actor-director of Shakespeare productions. Bedford was nominated for seven Tony Awards for his theatrical work, winning once ...

, actor, nominated for 7 Tony Awards, Disney's voice of Robin Hood, veteran Shakespearian actor *

Beverley Callard Beverley Jane McEwan (''née'' Moxon; previously Atkinson, Sowden and Callard; born 28 March 1957) is an English actress, known for her role as Liz McDonald in the long-running ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (1989–1998, 2000–2001, 2 ...

, actress * Mark Crook, professional footballer *

Helen Fielding Helen Fielding (born 19 February 1958) is a British journalist, novelist and screenwriter, best known as the creator of the fictional character Bridget Jones. Fielding’s first novel was set in a refugee camp in East Africa and she started wr ...

, author of ''

Bridget Jones's Diary ''Bridget Jones's Diary'' is a 2001 romantic comedy film directed by Sharon Maguire from a screenplay by Helen Fielding, Andrew Davies and Richard Curtis. It is based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Fielding, which was itself a loose ...

'' * Jonathan Howson, professional footballer * Joe Seddon, technology entrepreneur and founder of Zero Gravity * Ben Kaye, Batley Bulldogs Rugby League Player *

Aaron Murphy Aaron Murphy is an English rugby league footballer who plays for Sheffield Eagles in the Championship, as a or . He previously played for the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. Background Murphy was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Career ...

Huddersfield Giants The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league sy ...

player *

Jack Popplewell Jack Popplewell (22 March 1909 – 16 November 1996) was an English writer and playwright. Life Popplewell was born and grew up in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire. He published his first song in 1940, and his first play, ''Blind Alley'' was sta ...

, playwright, composer *

Titus Salt Sir Titus Salt, 1st Baronet (20 September 1803 – 29 December 1876) was an English manufacturer, politician and philanthropist in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, who is best known for having built Salt's Mill, a large textile mill ...

, the creator of

Saltaire Saltaire is a Victorian model village near Shipley, West Yorkshire, England, situated between the River Aire, the railway, and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Salts Mill and the houses were built by Titus Salt between 1851 and 1871 to allo ...

* Alice Cliff Scatcherd, pioneer for women's rights and philanthropist who donated Scatcherd Park to the town. Scatcherd is buried in St Mary in the Wood

churchyard In Christian countries, a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church (building), church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster S ...

, Morley. * Nick Scruton, professional rugby league player * Lee Smith, Leeds RLFC player * Stevie Ward,

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

player *

John R. Womersley John Ronald Womersley (20 June 1907 – 7 March 1958) was a British mathematician and computer scientist who made important contributions to computer development, and hemodynamics. Nowadays he is principally remembered for his contribution to Hem ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

and

computer scientist A computer scientist is a scientist who specializes in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation. Although computer scientists can also focus their work and research on ...

References

External links

Beyond Church at St Peter's Morley
– Morley Parish Church
Morley Town Council

* Morley was in this parish
Morley Community Archives
* http://www.mmtrust.org.uk/mausolea/view/220/Scatcherd_Mausoleum Scatcherd Mausoleum * http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/e2d61b0c-a8ea-418a-ab9c-55f3033b2055 Scatcherd Collection, Morley Library {{authority control City of Leeds Market towns in West Yorkshire Heavy Woollen District Civil parishes in West Yorkshire Towns in West Yorkshire