Chickenley
Encyclopedia
Chickenley was predominantly a large council estate in the east of Dewsbury
, West Yorkshire
, England
. It was originally a farming hamlet
, half-way between Ossett
and Dewsbury. An old story is that when the May Pole was built in the Gawthorpe area of Ossett in 1840, some men from Chickenley came to tear it down again.
After the Second World War, a large estate was built on the landscape. The estate is by far the largest in the town and has few shops within it. The local elections of 4 May 2006 saw the BNP gain the "Dewsbury East" ward, which includes the estate - but the seat was regained by Labour in the 5 May 2007 election.
An oddity of the area is that it has no Church of England church, although there is St Thomas More Catholic Church, opposite Chickenley Community School on Chickenley Lane. Until recently, Chickenley was linked with the Gawthorpe area of Ossett in a Church of England
parish
. The C.ofE. St Mary's Church lies right at the border, on the Ossett side. St Mary's Church has now been demolished March 2011. However, the estate is now part of the large parish of Dewsbury, which has several churches within its area.
Its name probably originates from a family name during the early settlement period whose name has been corrupted to "chicken" over the years.
Some of the early settlers to the area were a family of famous Scotish Tinkers, The Cascarino's with the family name still in the area to this day sixty five years on.
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...
, 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
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It was originally a farming hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
, half-way between Ossett
Ossett
Ossett is a market town within the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on junction 40 of the M1 motorway, half-way between Dewsbury, to the west, and Wakefield, to the east. In the 2001 census, it was classified as part of the West Yorkshire...
and Dewsbury. An old story is that when the May Pole was built in the Gawthorpe area of Ossett in 1840, some men from Chickenley came to tear it down again.
After the Second World War, a large estate was built on the landscape. The estate is by far the largest in the town and has few shops within it. The local elections of 4 May 2006 saw the BNP gain the "Dewsbury East" ward, which includes the estate - but the seat was regained by Labour in the 5 May 2007 election.
An oddity of the area is that it has no Church of England church, although there is St Thomas More Catholic Church, opposite Chickenley Community School on Chickenley Lane. Until recently, Chickenley was linked with the Gawthorpe area of Ossett in a Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
. The C.ofE. St Mary's Church lies right at the border, on the Ossett side. St Mary's Church has now been demolished March 2011. However, the estate is now part of the large parish of Dewsbury, which has several churches within its area.
Its name probably originates from a family name during the early settlement period whose name has been corrupted to "chicken" over the years.
Some of the early settlers to the area were a family of famous Scotish Tinkers, The Cascarino's with the family name still in the area to this day sixty five years on.