Warley Town
Encyclopedia
Warley Town is a town near Halifax
in the county
of West Yorkshire
, England
.
as Werlafeslei.
Warley township, one of 23 townships in the ancient parish of Halifax, was also one of the biggest, stretching as far as Luddenden
and what was to become Sowerby Bridge
.
The township consisted of many tiny settlements essentially based on the local farmsteads, places such as Lane End, Warley Edge, Winterburn Hill, Cliff Hill and Warley itself.
Warley remained a small settlement until the beginning of the 18th century. Then the consolidation of the Cliff Hill estate into a major land holding, coupled with the establishment of the Congregational
chapel, formed the core round which the present village grew. In 1977 the Chapel was closed and converted housing now called Chantry House.
In front of the chapel, cottages were built for agricultural workers as well as larger houses for local businessmen who preferred to live in the country away from the smog
of Halifax.
Warley Town is home to the amateur football team Warley Rangers. Wilfred Pickles
and his wife Mabel were residents of Warley for many years, and Wilfred could occasionally be seen enjoying a pint of Webster's beer in the village pub, The Maypole. During the late 1960s and 1970s The Maypole was run by Jack Wilkinson
and his wife June; Jack had previously been a well-known rugby league player and had played for Wakefield Trinity
and Halifax
rugby league football clubs. He also appeared as himself on the rugby pitch in the film 'This Sporting Life
'. Before Jack and June took over at The Maypole the landlord and landlady were Mr and Mrs Fred Kitchen.
The writer Dr Phyllis Bentley
was also a famous and long-term Warley resident.
Patrick Brontë
, father of the writers Charlotte
, Emily
and Anne Brontë
, and of Branwell Brontë
, lived for a time in Warley Town in a house called "The Grange" next to the congregational chapel.
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...
in the county
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
of 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...
.
History
It was listed in the Domesday bookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
as Werlafeslei.
Warley township, one of 23 townships in the ancient parish of Halifax, was also one of the biggest, stretching as far as Luddenden
Luddenden
Luddenden is a district of Calderdale west of Halifax on the river Ludd in the county of West Yorkshire, England.The name means Ludd valley, or valley of the loud stream and refers to the Luddenden Brook....
and what was to become Sowerby Bridge
Sowerby Bridge
Sowerby Bridge is a market town that lies within the Upper Calder Valley in the district of Calderdale in the county of West Yorkshire, in northern England.-Geography:Sowerby Bridge is situated on the edge of Halifax, about three miles from its centre...
.
The township consisted of many tiny settlements essentially based on the local farmsteads, places such as Lane End, Warley Edge, Winterburn Hill, Cliff Hill and Warley itself.
Warley remained a small settlement until the beginning of the 18th century. Then the consolidation of the Cliff Hill estate into a major land holding, coupled with the establishment of the Congregational
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
chapel, formed the core round which the present village grew. In 1977 the Chapel was closed and converted housing now called Chantry House.
In front of the chapel, cottages were built for agricultural workers as well as larger houses for local businessmen who preferred to live in the country away from the smog
Smog
Smog is a type of air pollution; the word "smog" is a portmanteau of smoke and fog. Modern smog is a type of air pollution derived from vehicular emission from internal combustion engines and industrial fumes that react in the atmosphere with sunlight to form secondary pollutants that also combine...
of Halifax.
Warley Town is home to the amateur football team Warley Rangers. Wilfred Pickles
Wilfred Pickles
Wilfred Pickles OBE was an English actor and radio presenter.Born in Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Pickles was a proud Yorkshireman, and having been selected by the BBC as an announcer for its North Regional radio service, went on to be an occasional newsreader on the BBC Home Service...
and his wife Mabel were residents of Warley for many years, and Wilfred could occasionally be seen enjoying a pint of Webster's beer in the village pub, The Maypole. During the late 1960s and 1970s The Maypole was run by Jack Wilkinson
Jack Wilkinson (rugby league)
Jack Wilkinson was an English professional Rugby League World Cup winning footballer of the 1940s, '50s and '60s, and coach of the 1960s. A classmate of wrestler Shirley Crabtree, he was a Great Britain international , who played at club level for Halifax, Wakefield Trinity and Bradford Northern...
and his wife June; Jack had previously been a well-known rugby league player and had played for Wakefield Trinity
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are a professional rugby league club that plays in the European Super League and is based in Wakefield. They achieved promotion in 1999 and have remained in the League since. They are known to their fans as Wakey, Trinity, Wildcats, or historically The Dreadnoughts...
and Halifax
Halifax RLFC
Halifax RLFC is one of the most historic rugby league clubs in the game, formed over a century ago, in 1873 in the Yorkshire town of Halifax. Known as 'Fax', the official club colours are blue and white hoops, blue shorts and blue socks . They share The Shay stadium with football club FC Halifax Town...
rugby league football clubs. He also appeared as himself on the rugby pitch in the film 'This Sporting Life
This Sporting Life
This Sporting Life is a 1963 British film based on a novel of the same name by David Storey which won the 1960 Macmillan Fiction Award. It tells the story of a rugby league footballer, Frank Machin, in Wakefield, a mining area of Yorkshire, whose romantic life is not as successful as his sporting...
'. Before Jack and June took over at The Maypole the landlord and landlady were Mr and Mrs Fred Kitchen.
The writer Dr Phyllis Bentley
Phyllis Bentley
Phyllis Eleanor Bentley, OBE , was an English novelist.The youngest child of a mill owner, she grew up in Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and was educated at Halifax High School for Girls and Cheltenham Ladies' College. During World War I she worked in the munitions industry...
was also a famous and long-term Warley resident.
Patrick Brontë
Patrick Brontë
The Reverend Patrick Brontë was an Irish Anglican curate and writer, who spent most of his adult life in England and was the father of the writers Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, and of Branwell Brontë, his only son....
, father of the writers Charlotte
Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards...
, Emily
Emily Brontë
Emily Jane Brontë 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet, best remembered for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature. Emily was the third eldest of the four surviving Brontë siblings, between the youngest Anne and her brother...
and Anne Brontë
Anne Brontë
Anne Brontë was a British novelist and poet, the youngest member of the Brontë literary family.The daughter of a poor Irish clergyman in the Church of England, Anne Brontë lived most of her life with her family at the parish of Haworth on the Yorkshire moors. For a couple of years she went to a...
, and of Branwell Brontë
Branwell Brontë
Patrick Branwell Brontë was a painter and poet, the only son of the Brontë family, and the brother of the writers Charlotte, Emily, and Anne.-Youth:...
, lived for a time in Warley Town in a house called "The Grange" next to the congregational chapel.