HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Shipley is a historic market town and
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 ...
in the
City of Bradford Bradford (), also known as the City of Bradford, is a metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Bradford, but covers a larger area which includes the towns and villages of Keighley, Shipley, Wes ...
,
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. Located on the River Aire and the
Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...
, Shipley is directly north of the city 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 ...
. The population of Shipley at the 2011 Census was 15,483. Until 1974, Shipley was an urban district in the
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 ...
. The town forms a continuous urban area with Bradford.


History


Toponymy

The place-name ''Shipley'' derives from two words: 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 ...
('sheep', a
Northumbrian dialect Northumbrian dialect or Northumbrian English is any one of several traditional English dialects spoken in the historic counties of Northumberland and County Durham. The term ''Northumbrian'' can refer to the region of Northumbria but can also ...
form, contrasting with the Anglian dialect form which underlies modern English ''sheep'') and meaning either 'a forest, wood, glade, clearing' or, later, 'a pasture, meadow'. It has therefore been variously defined as 'forest clearing used for sheep' or 'sheep field'.


Early history

Shipley appears to have first been settled in the late
Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
and is 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 ...
'' of 1086, in the form . Its early history relies on the records of a succession of
Lords of the Manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...
, not all of whom were in permanent residence. The rolls of the manor court have been missing since the 18th century, leaving the records incomplete. In the 12th century, 'Adam, son of Peter', an early Lord of the Manor, granted
grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...
and
iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...
mining rights to the monks of Rievaulx Abbey. Through 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 ...
the Lords were the 'Earls of Ormande' (sic), possibly the Irish Earls of Ormond, followed by the Gascoigne family. In 1495, Rosamund Gascoigne, a daughter of one of the William Gascoignes who held the title, married Robert Rawson, thought to be related to the Rawson family 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 ...
, after whom one of the city's markets is named. Their son, William, married a cousin, Agnes Gascoigne, and through the marriage the Rawson family inherited the manor in 1570. The Rawsons lived at Over Hall known as the Manor House, on the site of the current
town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
. The manor estates extended to Northcliff, to the south of Shipley. The family had interests in Halifax and moved there in the early 18th century, retaining their Shipley estates until the last male heir died in 1745. By the 19th century the Rawson estates and those of the Fields, another prominent land-owning family, had become the property of the Earl of Rosse who had extensive holdings in Heaton. His legacy has endured in the name of a public house on the main Bradford to Keighley road, and Rossefield School in Heaton. Of the lower orders at this time not much is known, but there was relief housing offered at the town's expense near Crowghyll.


Industrial Revolution

Shipley was shaped largely by 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 ...
and, in particular, the growth of the
textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing. Industry process Cotton manufacturing Cotton is the world's most important natural fibre. In the year 2007, th ...
. Textile manufacture dates from pre-industrial times. As the place name indicates, Shipley had a history as sheep grazing land, so wool was plentiful, and the River Aire was a ready source of water for powering water mills and cleaning processes. There was a
fulling Fulling, also known as tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelt waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate ( lanolin) oils, ...
mill in Shipley by 1500 and two more by 1559. Another mill was built by the Dixon family on the banks of the Aire in 1635. New Mill on the far side of Hirst Wood was built in the 1740s and by the late 18th century between 9,000 and 10,000 pieces of broadcloth were being fulled annually at Shipley's mills. Much work was undertaken in workers' cottages which had 'loom shops' for spinning yarn. Home workshops were once a common sight along the River Aire and often had external flights of steps. Examples can be seen in the cottages at Jane Hills along the canal in Saltaire. The industrial era ended
cottage industry The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work, like a tailor. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the p ...
. Providence Mill, one of the first steam-driven mills was built for Denby Bros. in 1796. Other spinning mills followed, including Ashley Mill, Prospect Mill, Red Beck Mill on Heaton Beck (c. 1815), Well Croft Mill (c. 1840s) and Whiting Mill on Briggate. The smaller mills gave way to larger premises which could combine all the processes of worsted production on one site. The first was Joseph Hargreaves' Airedale Mills (demolished 1970s), Salts Mill (built in 1853, now a gallery and restaurant complex), an enlarged Well Croft Mill (demolished 1950s) and Victoria Mills, near the canal. Hargreaves employed 1,250, Salt initially 2,500, and by 1876 total employment in the mills was 6,900. The growth in textile production stimulated the growth of associated supply industries. Other local employers included
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 ...
makers, Lee and Crabtree, WP Butterfield's galvanised containers and J. Parkinson and Sons machine tool makers. The other major effect of industrialisation was the vast expansion in housing stock. Titus Salt's Saltaire is an example of a
model village A model village is a mostly self-contained community, built from the late 18th century onwards by landowners and business magnates to house their workers. "Model" implies an ideal to which other developments could aspire. Although the villages ...
, and Hargreaves had cottages built for his workers around the town centre and his mill. He built 92 back-to-back houses along Market Street and Central Avenue in an area which came to be called ''Hargreaves Square'' or ''The Square''. The houses were built by filling in the old courtyards. The population of the township grew from 1,214 in 1822 to just over 3,000 in 1851 to 10,000 by 1869. It was then the landowning families—the Rosses, the Crompton-Stansfields and the Wainmans—took advantage of the demand for housing by selling their less productive land on Low Moor and High Moor. Houses for the better off were built in Sunny Bank and Hall Royd in the 1840s, 1850s and 1860s. Kirkgate was lined with villas from the 1860s, some of which still stand. Middle-class houses were built in the Nab Wood and Moorhead districts In 1870 a tranche of land in Moorhead was sold by the Countess of Rosse to build five streets of terraces. The public house on Saltaire roundabout that bears her name dates from that time.


Post-war redevelopment

The decline of the textile industry saw the demolition of many mills, only Salts Mill and Victoria Mills remain and have been converted to other uses. Of more concern in the immediate
post-war A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...
period was the deteriorating housing stock. In the 1950s, the back-to-backs of Hargreaves Square were condemned as slums and the site redeveloped. The redevelopment removed several historic buildings – Shipley Old Hall (1593), at the junction of Kirkgate and Manor Lane and of which a few fragments of roof drainage and a roof truss survive in Crowgill Park (formerly Crowghyll Park), Shipley Hall (1734), which stood at the junction of Market Street and Otley Road became the headquarters of Windhill Cooperative Society and possibly Hudson Fold House (1629). Of the major Victorian town centre buildings, only the Old Bradford Bank (now Barclays) and Sun Hotel remain. The slums were replaced with low-rise modern retail outlets, a central square serves as an outdoor market and an underground indoor market is situated beneath a tall, brutalist market hall tower which is a visible landmark for many miles around. Until recently the tower had a 'man' striking a bell to mark the hours. A second phase of clearance in 1978 saw the construction of a library, swimming pool and health centre, with Asda added in 1985. Croft House (1729), a stone built farmhouse which was converted to a school and then subsequently used as the Labour Party headquarters, was a casualty of this development. By 1970 2,900 slum houses had been demolished. The Otley and Leeds Roads were widened in the early 1970s, at the expense of the Fox and Hounds Hotel after which Shipley's main road junction, Fox Corner, was named.


Geography

Shipley is located at an important crossing of the River Aire, where the route from
Otley Otley is a market town and civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the population was 13,668 at the 2011 c ...
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 ...
crosses the route from
Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...
to
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 ...
. It is sheltered by the millstone crags of Wrose and Windhill to the east, and to the north by Baildon and Hawksworth Moors. Early development in Shipley was centred on the crossroads, locally known today as Fox Corner after the former Fox and Hounds pub that stood there. Here, as today, the route from
Otley Otley is a market town and civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the population was 13,668 at the 2011 c ...
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 ...
crossed the route from
Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...
to
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 ...
at an important crossing of the River Aire. The present Kirkgate and Manor Lane (then known as Sower Lane) were probably no more than tracks. In
medieval times 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 t ...
, Shipley consisted of the settlement around the crossroads, and the unenclosed fields at Shipley Fields and the Hirst which were collectively farmed. Beyond these lay the Low Moor, which ran from the Crowghyll to the former Saltaire roundabout (now a junction on the Bradford to Keighley road), in the approximate area of modern day Wycliffe, and the wasteland of High Moor (from Saltaire roundabout, through Moorhead, as far as New Brighton and Noon Nick). These areas were steep, rocky land, unsuitable for farming. By 1600 at the latest, the open fields had been enclosed and given way to individual farms. The town was bounded to the north by the River Aire, to the east by Bradford Beck, with Cottingley and Heaton lying beyond its western and southern boundaries. Outlying districts, such as Windhill, were not part of Shipley until the 19th century. Saltaire became part of Shipley after its foundation in the 1860s, while Windhill, which had previously been part of Idle, became part of the Shipley Urban District in 1894.


Governance

Shipley was historically 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 large ancient parish of Bradford. Shipley Local Board was formed in 1853. Originally the board met at the Sun Hotel near the market. In 1880, it moved to the old Manor House, until it was demolished in 1915. Shipley 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 ...
in 1866. In 1894, Shipley Urban District Council was constituted with 15 councillors, and Shipley incorporated the Windhill district, formerly part of Idle. An attempt was made to gain borough status in 1898, but failed. Shipley Town Hall was built in 1932, as part of a scheme to relieve high unemployment during the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
and was opened by the
Earl of Harewood Earl of Harewood (), in the County of York, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The title was created in 1812 for Edward Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood, a wealthy sugar plantation owner and former Member of Parliament fo ...
. It became the seat of Shipley's administration for the next four decades. For many years, Shipley opposed joining Bradford for local government purposes whenever it was proposed. A large protest march marked the third attempt in 1937. In 1974 after local government reorganisation, merger into Bradford seemed inevitable, and no resistance was offered. The Shipley parliamentary constituency was created in 1885, and its first MP was Joseph Craven. A campaign for Shipley to have a Town Council was launched in 2018, resulting in the creation of Shipley Town Council in January 2020. ;Councillors Shipley electoral ward is represented on Bradford Metropolitan District Council by three councillors; Anna Watson ( Green Party), Kevin Warnes ( Green Party), and Martin Love ( Green Party) indicates seat up for re-election. The four wards of Shipley Town Council are represented by nine councillors with two vacancies which will be filled by September 2020.


Economy


Commercial and retail

Shipley is dominantly residential in character serving as a commuter suburb of larger urban employment centres in Bradford and Leeds. Manufacturing activity includes information technology specialist ARRIS located in the Salts Mill complex. Marlin Windows, HC Slingsby and the offices of the Bradford Health Authority also feature among the larger employers in the town. The town has one large scale supermarket,
Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...
in the town centre, but also supports smaller scale supermarkets and convenience shops. An open air market is a feature of the main commercial centre of the town as well as a covered market hall known for its landmark clock tower and 1960s brutalist architecture. Other shops in the same precinct include an Arndale Centre, retailers such as
Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearl ...
. A pedestrian precinct with some shops and leisure businesses links Asda and its multi-storey free car park with Market Square. This area also includes the Shipley Library and th
Kirkgate Centre
the town's main cultural focus offering regular a range of community activities in addition to holding cultural events such as live music, a regular alternative market and world cinema. The town's secondary commercial centre, Gordon Terrace, part of the historic Saltaire Village development, features independent food and fashion retailers, as well as numerous restaurants and cafes. The town has a large volume of through vehicle traffic as it is on two of the main routes between Bradford, Leeds and the Aire Valley towns of Bingley,
Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...
, and
Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...
.


Visitor attractions

The village of Saltaire located in Shipley is a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
designated
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
incorporating the Victorian era Salts Mill and associated residential district. Located by the River Aire and
Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...
the model village was planned by industrialist Sir Titus Salt as a processing facility for
alpaca The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. Traditionally, alpacas were kept in herds that grazed on the level heights of the Andes of Southern Peru, Western Bolivia, Ecuador, and Northern Chile. More recentl ...
woollen cloth and as residential accommodation for his workforce. Salts Mill is no longer used for textile production, but now contains the 1853 Gallery, housing many works by the 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 ...
, a variety of shops, restaurants and local businesses, including Pace Micro Technology (now Arris). Salts Mill is accessed via the nearby Saltaire railway station and together with the stone built terraced houses, ornate Victorian era civic buildings and Roberts Park, draws significant numbers of tourists to the area. To the north across the River Aire, is Shipley Glen ("glen" refers to the little valley beneath a ridge). It has long been a popular beauty spot, and in 1895 the Shipley Glen Tramway was built to carry visitors up to the top. The tramway has weathered periods of neglect and closure, but in 2012 it ran most weekends through the summer, staffed by volunteers.


Parks and gardens

Crowghyll Park was once a quarry and the town's refuse dump. The land was given to church wardens in lieu of common rights when Shipley Common was enclosed and in 1889 it was landscaped. A public playground was opened by Mrs Titus Salt in 1890. A larger recreation area with playing fields, allotments, woods, and a private golf club is situated on the hill at Northcliffe. The woods and playing fields were opened to the public by Norman Rae MP and the playing fields are named after him. In the village of Saltaire is Roberts Park, built by Sir Titus Salt for his workers' recreation.


Theatre and cinema

The Victoria Hall in Saltaire is a concert venue, hosting bands such as
Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English British folk rock, folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson (musician), Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Marti ...
. However, there were once a number of entertainment establishments within the district: * ''Queen's Palace'' – Formerly a temperance coffee house, an institution called Queens' Palace Theatre was sited on Briggate around the turn of the 20th century. It held twice nightly variety shows at 7 pm and 9 pm. In December 1915 it became Shipley Picture House and remained as a cinema until August 1932. The building was demolished following a fire in 1960. * ''Glen Royal'' – The same fate met its successor, the Glen Royal Cinema, which was sited slightly further along Briggate. This 1,200 seat "showpiece super-cinema" opened with a showing of Emma on 5 September 1932 and was Shipley's premier cinema during the
Golden Age of Hollywood Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome, Stroud#Golden Val ...
. A
Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...
was installed in 1936 and it became the first cinema in the area after the Ritz in Bradford to show
3D film 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. 3D films were prominently featured in the 1950s in American cinema and later experienced a worldwide r ...
. In 1963 it followed the path of many former cinemas, by becoming a
casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...
and bingo hall, and later part of it became 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 ...
club. In time, it became derelict, before being destroyed by fire like its predecessor in 2013. * ''Saltaire Picture House'' – Saltaire Picture House was on a site opposite the Old Tramshed and opened in 1922, seated 1,500. It later became the Gaumont. The cinema closed in 1957 and the building was demolished soon after. * ''Pavilion'' – The Pavilion Cinema or Pavilion de Luxe on Commercial Street was built in 1912 and known as the 'Bug Ole' or 'Bug Run'. It opened on 2 April 1914. The small seating capacity, 630, gave rise to the motto 'the little theatre with the big reputation'. It closed in November 1956. * ''Prince's Hall'' – Prince's Hall Cinema opened on 24 June 1911 and like the rest of Shipley's cinemas had an organ. It survived for many years, called Unit Four, with half the capacity of the old Prince's Hall It was the last remaining cinema in Shipley until it closed at the turn of the 21st century.
Shipley Film Society
was established in 2010 to bring cinema back to Shipley, and runs a programme of independent and world cinema between September and May each year.


Libraries

The library on Well Croft in the town centre is a branch library of Bradford Central Library. A Carnegie Library on Briggate built with a £3,000 donation by
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...
now stands empty but the name persists in Carnegie Drive and the Carnegie Clinic.


Industry

Shipley used to house the Naylor Cars, Ltd., that produced the Naylor TF 1700, an MG TF replica. Industrial businesses with a presence in Shipley include Denso Marsten, Manor Coatings, Produmax, Teledyne and HC Slingsby.


Religion

Traditionally, non-conformist churches have predominated in Shipley and this is still the case to some extent today. There are four
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 ...
churches, which feature
Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the st ...
. These are: Northcliffe on the site of a 'tin chapel', Crag Road, Saltaire and Christ Church at Windhill. Saltaire United Reformed Church was built in the
Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...
style at the behest of Sir Titus Salt in 1859. It is a
Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
building. The first place of worship in Shipley was the Bethel
Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
Chapel in 1758, it was rebuilt in 1836 and demolished in the early 1970s and only part of the graveyard survives. A second Baptist chapel was built at Rosse Street near the town centre in 1865 and is still in use. There is a Victorian
Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...
Citadel on Rhodes Place. Historically, Shipley was part of the
parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
of Bradford and did not have a church until well into the 19th century. The first
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
church was the Gothic St Paul's on Kirkgate, consecrated by Edward Harcourt,
Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the ...
in 1826. It was built at a cost of £7,687.19s.3d, a gift of the nation under the Million Act, on land donated by John Wilmer Field, from the Shipley land-owning family. The parish of Shipley cum Heaton was created on 30 May 1828 by an
order in council An Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom, this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' ...
of
King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...
. St Paul's is one of an identical pair of churches with Wilsden Church. A graveyard was added in 1860, but by 1895 this was full and additional land at Hirst Wood was consecrated. The church seated 1,488 and has an organ built by Binns of Bramley in 1892. Other Anglican churches in the town are St Margaret's, Frizinghall and St Peter's in Moorhead Lane. The later was commissioned in 1888 as a daughter church for St Paul's and consecrated in 1909 by the Bishop of Ripon. The
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
of St Theresa Benedicta and St Walburga, usually referred to as St Walburga's is situated on Kirkgate.


Transport


Road

The Bradford to Bingley Road was constructed in the 1820s and with Otley Road and Saltaire Road form a triangle framing Shipley centre. They connect the town to Bradford, Leeds and the Airedale towns. In September 2022, a clean air zone was launched in Bradford and Shipley. This means any non-private cars entering the city centre and the Canal Road corridor towards Shipley, will be charged dependent on the size of the vehicle and the commercial reason for entering. Exemptions apply for greener vehicles such as low-emission or electric. There is a small bus station in Shipley Market Place.


Rail

The
Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...
's Leeds and Bradford line opened on 2 July 1846 and was extended to
Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...
by March 1847. The
Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is an area in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-west ...
branch opened on 4 December 1876 and in the same year completion of the Settle-Carlisle Line put Shipley on the London to Scotland route. In 1885, the old Midland Railway station was replaced, and by 1900, 400 trains were passing through Shipley each month, carrying 50,000 passengers. Shipley railway station has an unusual triangular layout, serving trains on the
Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...
to Leeds line, the Leeds to Bradford Forster Square line, and the Bradford to Skipton/Ilkley lines. Saltaire railway station, reopened in 1984 on the Settle-Carlisle Line, serves the heritage village of Saltaire. Long-distance trains run south to London King's Cross and north to
Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...
, while local trains connect the town with Leeds, Bradford and Skipton.


Canals

The
Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...
was once an important navigation linking Shipley to the wider world. The Skipton to Shipley section was completed in 1773 and in 1774 a branch was extended to Bradford. Wharves were established on the north side of Briggate. The Bradford branch was filled in during the 1920s. The canal is used for pleasure cruising.


Trams

Tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
s ran along Bradford Road to the south and Saltaire Road to the north and between Baildon Bridge and the Branch. The intersection of these lines led to the main road junction of Fox's Corner being given the alternative name of ''Cobweb Square''. The legacy of trams is the terminal building on Saltaire Roundabout, now a public house named ''Salt Bar & Kitchen''. There was a second tram shed off the roundabout at the foot of Moorhead Lane. Saltaire shed was converted for trolleybuses in 1939 until Bradford scrapped trolleybuses in the 1970s.


Newspapers

The town's first newspaper was the ''Shipley Times & Express'' run by stationer and printer, Johnny Walker. The paper was based in premises at Shipley crossroads, and the junction was sometimes called Johnny Walker's Corner as well as Fox Corner. In 1922, Walker sold out to printer/stationer, Osbaldiston, and the building still stands under his name. The building is now a scuba diving centre called Duck and Dive. The paper closed in 1981. Shipley is in the distribution area of the Bradford-based ''
Telegraph & Argus The ''Telegraph & Argus'' is the daily newspaper for Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is published six times each week, from Monday to Saturday inclusive. The newspaper has offices in Newhall Way, Bradford, from where its journalists work ...
''. The ''Telegraph & Argus'' produced a free newspaper for the district, the ''Aire Valley (or Shipley) Target'', which was then produced as one of four local editions of the '' Bradford & District Advertiser''. This no longer prints. The Saltaire Review was launched by Festival Publications in October 2014. It is published bi-monthly and covers community issues and events, with an estimated readership of over 18,000.


Notable people

Notable people from Shipley, England, educated there, or otherwise associated with the town.


Academics

* Sir Douglas Mawson, born in Shipley in 1882. Along with
Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegians, Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Am ...
,
Robert Falcon Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott (6 June 1868 – ) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–04 and the Terra Nova Expedition ...
, and
Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarcti ...
, a key
Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...
expedition leader. * Joseph Wright, author of the '' English Dialect Dictionary'' and one of the earliest users of
phonetic Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds or, in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians ...
notation, was born in Thackley but grew up in Windhill (now east Shipley). He wrote ''A Grammar of the Dialect of Windhill''.


Arts and entertainment

* Helen Clare (1916–2018), singer who broadcast on
BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...
and performed with British dance bands in the 1930s and 1940s *
Harry Corbett Harry Corbett Order of the British Empire, OBE (28 January 1918 – 17 August 1989) was an English Magic (illusion), magician, puppeteer and television presenter. He was best known as the creator of the glove puppet character Sooty in 1952 ...
(1918–1989), creator of the long running Sooty glove puppet character, was born in the area. * Laura Groves (born 1988) singer and songwriter was born in Shipley and now lives in London. *
Steven Hartley Steven Hartley (born 12 August 1960) is an English actor who has appeared in television, film, and theatre. Early life Hartley was born in Shipley and grew up in Yorkshire. He was a successful Amateur Boxer for York He worked for two years a ...
(born 1960), actor, born in Shipley * Bryan Mosley (1931–1999), actor, known for playing Alf Roberts in ''
Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...
'', who was born in Leeds but lived in Shipley for many years until his death. *
Tony Richardson Cecil Antonio Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director, producer and screenwriter, whose career spanned five decades. He was identified with the "angry young men" group of British directors and play ...
(1928–1991), film director was born in Shipley. He is known for directing films including, '' Look Back in Anger'' in 1959, '' The Entertainer'' in 1960, '' A Taste of Honey'' in 1961 and '' The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner'' in 1962. * Rebecca Storm (born 1957), musical theatre actress and singer known for her roles in Blood Brothers Evita and Les Miserables * Marie Studholme (1872–1930), actress and singer known for her supporting and sometimes starring roles in Victorian and Edwardian musical comedy. Raised in Baildon and Shipley and educated at Salt Grammar School in Saltaire.


Politicians

*
Yorkshire and the Humber Yorkshire and the Humber is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It is one of the three regions covering Northern England, alongside the North West England and North East England regio ...
MEP Richard Corbett, Deputy Leader of the Labour MEPs, lives in Shipley, originally in Saltaire, now in Wrose. * William Wallace, Baron Wallace of Saltaire, Liberal Democrat politician and Lord in Waiting from 2010 – 2015.


Science

* Roger Burton Land, animal geneticist


Sport

* 2007 British Rally Championship Stars of the Future Rally Champion, Luke Pinder. * Jim Laker, England spin bowler from Frizinghall holds the world record for the number of wickets taken by one player in a
first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...
match: 19 out of a possible 20 ( Old Trafford 1956, vs
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
). A street in the Moorhead district of Shipley has been named Jim Laker Place in his memory and a blue plaque on the house he was born in on Norwood Road. * Multiple Isle of Man TT winners, Nick Jefferies, Tony Jefferies and Tony's son David Jefferies.


Writers and journalists

* Poet and writer Nick Toczek * ''Daily Telegraph'' columnist
Michael Wharton Michael Wharton (19 April 1913 – 23 January 2006) was a British newspaper columnist who wrote under the pseudonym Peter Simple in the British ''Daily Telegraph''. He began work on the "Way of the World" column with illustrator Michael ffolk ...
. * Writer Leo Walmsley


Criminals

* Peter Sutcliffe (1946-2020), serial killer dubbed in press as the 'Yorkshire Ripper'.


See also

* Bracken Hall Countryside Centre and Museum * Saltaire United Reformed Church * Shipley College * Esholt * Airedale line * Frizinghall railway station


References


Bibliography

* * * * * *


External links

* . {{authority control Towns in West Yorkshire Wards of Bradford Civil parishes in West Yorkshire Geography of the City of Bradford