Alverthorpe
Encyclopedia
Alverthorpe is a suburb
of, and former village
in Wakefield
, West Yorkshire
, England.
woollen and worsted
yarns were spun and woollen and worsted cloth woven in
the mills and factories that were built in the valley. Rope and twine were also manufactured.
A. Talbot & Sons manufactured sweets for many years in a factory with a landmark chimney which was originally a rag mill. The company originated in 1890, selling wholesale groceries from a horse-drawn vehicle
, but moved into boiled sweet manufacture when its sweet supplier, John Kay of Flushdyke, retired and gave it his recipes. The company's humbugs
, mint imperials, toffee
s and Yorkshire mixtures became popular throughout Yorkshire and further afield. The Talbots ran the business until the mid 1960s, when it was sold to Victory V
Gums and lozenges.
and Silcoates in the ecclesiastical parish of Wakefield
in the wapentake of Agbrigg and Morley
in the West Riding of Yorkshire
. The town hall was in Green Lane, and it had a workhouse
off Light Lane, as well as its own sewage farm and slaughterhouse.
After the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, Alverthorpe became one of the 17 constituent parishes of the Wakefield Poor Law Union
formed in 1837.
of the South Yorkshire Coalfield
.
Much of the meadowland between Alverthorpe and the neighbouring village of Wrenthorpe
is a designated Local Nature Reserve
, comprising 52 acres (25 ha).
and rug wool, was established in Alverthorpe over 200 years ago.
The company's 1791 Hebble Mill was replaced after being destroyed by fire in 1905. Thomas and Henry Harrap developed the business as Messrs Harrap Bros. Ltd. from 1880 onwards and the buildings and equipment continued to be upgraded and extended throughout the twentieth century. Now operating as Sirdar Spinning Ltd, the mill is one of Britain’s foremost worsted
spinning mills for hand knitting wool.
In the early 20th century, rhubarb
was grown in the surrounding area, the region known as the Rhubarb Triangle
. Forcing sheds were surrounded by fields of rhubarb plants.
. It lies just over a kilometre north of the A638 road
from Wakefield to Dewsbury
, which intersects with the M1 motorway
(at junction 40), about 5 km from Alverthorpe.
A railway line ran through the village, and Alverthorpe railway station
, close to the village centre, was opened in October 1872 by the Great Northern Railway
. In 1923 it became part of the London and North Eastern Railway
. The line passed to the Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948 and closed in April 1954. The railway, bridges and embankments have all now been removed.
built in 1826 to accommodate 1590 worshippers, at a cost of £7828 16s. 8d, (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £6,490,000 in 2009). The graveyard on the south, north and west sides of the church is specifically for church burials; there was a Local Authority graveyard to the south.
There was a Methodist chapel in the centre of the village, but the building is now used for business purposes.
A Presbyterian congregation met in a disused malt kiln
in Flanshaw Lane from 1672, but moved to a new chapel in 1697 which combined the Flanshaw and Wakefield congregations. A Presbyterian burial ground with over a hundred graves remained in the village until the tombstones were removed around 1905 and the ground was used for market garden
ing.
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of, and former village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England.
History
After the start of the Industrial RevolutionIndustrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
woollen and worsted
Worsted
Worsted , is the name of a yarn, the cloth made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from the village of Worstead in the English county of Norfolk...
yarns were spun and woollen and worsted cloth woven in
the mills and factories that were built in the valley. Rope and twine were also manufactured.
A. Talbot & Sons manufactured sweets for many years in a factory with a landmark chimney which was originally a rag mill. The company originated in 1890, selling wholesale groceries from a horse-drawn vehicle
Horse-drawn vehicle
A horse-drawn vehicle is a mechanized piece of equipment pulled by one horse or by a team of horses. These vehicles typically had two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers and/or a load...
, but moved into boiled sweet manufacture when its sweet supplier, John Kay of Flushdyke, retired and gave it his recipes. The company's humbugs
Humbug (sweet)
Humbugs are a traditional hard boiled sweet available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. They are usually flavoured with peppermint and striped in two different colours . They have a hard outside and a soft toffee centre...
, mint imperials, toffee
Toffee
Toffee is a confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of 300 to 310 °F...
s and Yorkshire mixtures became popular throughout Yorkshire and further afield. The Talbots ran the business until the mid 1960s, when it was sold to Victory V
Victory V
Victory V is a British brand of liquorice-flavoured lozenges. Originally manufactured in Nelson, Lancashire they were devised by Thomas Fryer and Edward Smith MD in the mid-19th century and were initially made by hand to ensure that each sweet contained the correct amount of therapeutic...
Gums and lozenges.
Governance
Alverthorpe and Thornes was anciently a township which included Westgate Common, Flanshaw, KirkhamgateKirkhamgate
Kirkhamgate is a village, north-west of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England.It originated as a hamlet in the Alverthorpe township in the parish of Wakefield in the West Riding of Yorkshire.-Geography:...
and Silcoates in the ecclesiastical parish of Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
in the wapentake of Agbrigg and Morley
Agbrigg and Morley
Agbrigg and Morley was a wapentake of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was split into two divisions, which in the mid-nineteenth century became wapentakes in their own right....
in the West Riding of Yorkshire
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
. The town hall was in Green Lane, and it had a workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
off Light Lane, as well as its own sewage farm and slaughterhouse.
After the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, Alverthorpe became one of the 17 constituent parishes of the Wakefield Poor Law Union
Poor Law Union
A Poor Law Union was a unit used for local government in the United Kingdom from the 19th century. The administration of the Poor Law was the responsibility of parishes, which varied wildly in their size, populations, financial resources, rateable values and requirements...
formed in 1837.
Geography
Alverthorpe is 1½ miles north west of Wakefield in the valley of the Alverthorpe Beck which supplied water for the mills. The underlying rocks are the coal measuresCoal Measures
The Coal Measures is a lithostratigraphical term for the coal-bearing part of the Upper Carboniferous System. It represents the remains of fluvio-deltaic sediment, and consists mainly of clastic rocks interstratified with the beds of coal...
of the South Yorkshire Coalfield
South Yorkshire Coalfield
The South Yorkshire Coalfield is defined by a triangle lying between Barnsley, Doncaster and Sheffield, though a few mines within the coalfield lie outside this area. It is part of the larger Midland coal field which stretches from Nottingham in the south to Bradford and Leeds in the north...
.
Much of the meadowland between Alverthorpe and the neighbouring village of Wrenthorpe
Wrenthorpe
Wrenthorpe is a village north-west of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England.It is located in the Rhubarb Triangle.-History:Although earlier remains, such as Roman coins and pottery, have been found in the area, the current settlement dates from after the Domesday Books compilation in 1086.Pottery...
is a designated Local Nature Reserve
Local Nature Reserve
Local nature reserve or LNR is a designation for nature reserves in the United Kingdom. The designation has its origin in the recommendations of the Wild Life Conservation Special Committee which established the framework for nature conservation in the United Kingdom and suggested a national suite...
, comprising 52 acres (25 ha).
Economy
Bective Mills, which now produces Sirdar hand knittingKnitting
Knitting is a method by which thread or yarn may be turned into cloth or other fine crafts. Knitted fabric consists of consecutive rows of loops, called stitches. As each row progresses, a new loop is pulled through an existing loop. The active stitches are held on a needle until another loop can...
and rug wool, was established in Alverthorpe over 200 years ago.
The company's 1791 Hebble Mill was replaced after being destroyed by fire in 1905. Thomas and Henry Harrap developed the business as Messrs Harrap Bros. Ltd. from 1880 onwards and the buildings and equipment continued to be upgraded and extended throughout the twentieth century. Now operating as Sirdar Spinning Ltd, the mill is one of Britain’s foremost worsted
Worsted
Worsted , is the name of a yarn, the cloth made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from the village of Worstead in the English county of Norfolk...
spinning mills for hand knitting wool.
In the early 20th century, rhubarb
Rhubarb
Rhubarb is a group of plants that belong to the genus Rheum in the family Polygonaceae. They are herbaceous perennial plants growing from short, thick rhizomes. They have large leaves that are somewhat triangular-shaped with long fleshy petioles...
was grown in the surrounding area, the region known as the Rhubarb Triangle
Rhubarb Triangle
The Rhubarb Triangle is a triangle in West Yorkshire, England located between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell famous for producing early forced rhubarb. It includes Kirkhamgate, East Ardsley, Stanley, Lofthouse and Carlton. The Rhubarb Triangle was originally much bigger covering an area between...
. Forcing sheds were surrounded by fields of rhubarb plants.
Transport
The village is located on the road from Wakefield to BatleyBatley
Batley is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies southeast of Bradford, southwest of Leeds and north of Dewsbury, near the M62 motorway. It has a population of 49,448 . Other nearby towns include Morley to the northeast, Ossett to the southeast...
. It lies just over a kilometre north of the A638 road
A638 road
The A638 is a main road in England that runs between the A1 at Markham Moor in Nottinghamshire and Chain Bar Junction 26 of the M62 motorway south of Bradford in West Yorkshire....
from Wakefield to Dewsbury
Dewsbury
Dewsbury is a minster town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Huddersfield and south of Leeds...
, which intersects with the M1 motorway
M1 motorway
The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
(at junction 40), about 5 km from Alverthorpe.
A railway line ran through the village, and Alverthorpe railway station
Alverthorpe railway station
Alverthorpe railway station served the village of Alverthorpe near Wakefield in the English county of West Yorkshire.-History:Opened by the Great Northern Railway, it became part of the London and North Eastern Railway during the Grouping of 1923...
, close to the village centre, was opened in October 1872 by the Great Northern Railway
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
. In 1923 it became part of the London and North Eastern Railway
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...
. The line passed to the Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948 and closed in April 1954. The railway, bridges and embankments have all now been removed.
Religious sites
The stone built Anglican church of St Paul stands at the top of a hill, north of the village. It is a Commissioners' ChurchCommissioners' Church
A Commissioners' church is an Anglican church in the United Kingdom built with money voted by Parliament as a result of the Church Building Act of 1818 and 1824. They have been given a number of titles, including Commissioners' churches, Waterloo churches and Million Act churches...
built in 1826 to accommodate 1590 worshippers, at a cost of £7828 16s. 8d, (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £6,490,000 in 2009). The graveyard on the south, north and west sides of the church is specifically for church burials; there was a Local Authority graveyard to the south.
There was a Methodist chapel in the centre of the village, but the building is now used for business purposes.
A Presbyterian congregation met in a disused malt kiln
Malthouse
A malt house, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain foods. The traditional malt house was largely phased out during the...
in Flanshaw Lane from 1672, but moved to a new chapel in 1697 which combined the Flanshaw and Wakefield congregations. A Presbyterian burial ground with over a hundred graves remained in the village until the tombstones were removed around 1905 and the ground was used for market garden
Market garden
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. It is distinguishable from other types of farming by the diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically, from under one acre ...
ing.