Dewsbury
Dewsbury | |
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Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Areas of the town | List
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West Yorkshire | |
Ambulance | Yorkshire |
UK Parliament | |
Dewsbury is a
History
Toponymy
The Domesday Book of 1086 records the name as Deusberie, Deusberia, Deusbereia, or Deubire, literally "Dewi's fort", Dewi being an old Welsh name (equivalent to David) and "bury" coming from the old English word "burh", meaning fort.[2]
Other, less supported, theories exist as to the name's origin. For example, that it means "dew hill", from Old English dēaw (genitive dēawes), "dew", and beorg, "hill" (because Dewsbury is built on a hill). It has been suggested that dēaw refers to the town's proximity to the water of the River Calder.[3]
In the past other origins were proposed, such as "God's fort", from Welsh Duw, "God". "Antiquarians supposed the name, Dewsbury, to be derived from the original planter of the village, Dui or Dew, who … had fixed his abode and fortified his "Bury". Another conjecture holds, that the original name is Dewsborough, or God's Town" (1837)[4]
Early history
In
Dewsbury Minster lies near the River Calder, traditionally on the site where Paulinus preached. Some of the visible stonework in the nave is Saxon, and parts of the church also date to the 13th century. The tower houses "Black Tom", a bell which is rung each Christmas Eve, one toll for each year since Christ's birth, known as the "Devil's Knell", a tradition dating from the 15th century. The bell was given by Sir Thomas de Soothill, in penance for murdering a servant boy in a fit of rage. The tradition was commemorated on a Royal Mail postage stamp in 1986.[6]
In the Domesday Book of 1086, Dewsbury was in Morley wapentake, but with a recorded population of only nine households it was a relatively small settlement at that time.[7] The Agbrigg and Morley wapentakes were administratively combined into the Agbrigg and Morley wapentake in the 13th century. When they were separated for administrative purposes in the mid-19th century, Dewsbury parish had grown to straddle the border between both wapentakes, hence being mainly in the Lower Division of the Wapentake of Agbrigg.[8]
Dewsbury market was established in the 14th century for local clothiers. Occurrences of the plague in 1593 and 1603 closed the market and it reopened in 1741.[9]
Throughout the
Industrial Revolution
In 1770, a short branch of the
The town's rapid expansion and commitment to industrialisation resulted in social instability. In the early 19th century, Dewsbury was a centre of
Recent history
Massive immigration after the 1960s left a huge demographic impact on the town, which continues today. Asian British and Muslims now make up a third of the population, and the percentage is expected to grow in the coming years.
After 2005, following negative press reports, Dewsbury was labelled a troubled town[13] and became "the town that dare not speak its name"[14] after high-profile crimes brought it into the media spotlight. In June, a girl of 12 was charged with grievous bodily harm after attempting to hang a five-year-old boy from Chickenley.[15] Mohammad Sidique Khan, ringleader of the group responsible for the 7 July 2005 London bombings, lived in Lees Holm, Dewsbury.
On 19 February 2008,
In October 2010, the Dewsbury Revival Centre opened, in the refurbished former St Mark's Church on Halifax Road, the church attended by Wallace Hartley, bandmaster of the Titanic.[16]
In July 2014, Kirklees Council enforced a media ban covering the visit of
Governance
Dewsbury was incorporated as a
In 1974, responsibility for local government passed to Kirklees Metropolitan Council, its headquarters being in Huddersfield. The population of Dewsbury has remained broadly static over the past century: the 1911 census recorded 53,351 people,[19] and the 1971 census 51,326 people, making it the fourth-least populous county borough in England (after Canterbury, Burton upon Trent and Great Yarmouth).
The town's current MP is Mark Eastwood, a member of the Conservative Party, who was elected in the 2019 general election.[20]
Geography
Dewsbury is situated between
Dewsbury is part of the
Geologically, the town is situated on rocks of the
Divisions and suburbs
Dewsbury has a number of districts with different geographical and socio-economic patterns, they are, Chickenley, Crackenedge,
Demography and economy
The Westtown area has the large and imposing Our Lady and St. Paulinus
The town has a large Muslim community.
The local market once consisted of 400 stalls and was one of the busiest [
Ethnic groups
As of 2021, Dewsbury's population was enumerated at 63,722, and its ethnic makeup was 50.8% White, 44.4% Asian, 2.3% Mixed, 0.8% Black, and 1.4% Other.[26]
Religions
As of 2021, Dewsbury's religious makeup was 46%
Transport
Dewsbury bus station serves the town of Dewsbury. The bus station is managed and owned by West Yorkshire Metro. The bus station was rebuilt in 1994 with a main passenger concourse and 19 bus stands. The town is served on the railway network by Dewsbury railway station, with services operated by Northern Trains and TransPennine Express.
Sport
Dewsbury Rams, formerly Dewsbury R.L.F.C., play in rugby league's Championship. They are based at Crown Flatt, on Owl Lane, towards Ossett, on the site of the old Savile & Shaw Cross Colliery. Shaw Cross Sharks is an amateur Rugby League club. The club was founded in 1947 and has produced several players into the professional game, including Mike Stephenson, Nigel Stephenson and David Ward. They operate from Shaw Cross Club for Young People and play their home fixtures at the adjacent Paul Lee Hinchcliffe Memorial Playing Fields. The open age first team is the National Conference League. Dewsbury Celtic play in National League 3; their ground is on the west side of the town, in Crow Nest Park. The club's headquarters are at the Dewsbury Irish National Club on Park Parade. Dewsbury is also the home of Dewsbury Rangers Football Club. With over 300 members from the ages of six through to the old boys' teams, it is one of the largest in the area.
Culture
Dewsbury Museum was located within the mansion house in
Dewsbury Town Hall contains a 700-seater concert hall and regularly hosts concerts, exhibitions, live music, cabaret evenings and weddings.
The town also has an annual event called Spirit, a street theatre show every winter which takes place in the town centre.
2018 comedy film Destination: Dewsbury was filmed and part set in the town. The production was shot in 2016 and premiered at the 2018 Beverly Hills Film Festival.
Local media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire. Television signals are received from the Emley Moor TV transmitter. [28]
Dewsbury's local radio stations are
The Dewsbury Reporter is the town's local weekly newspaper.[30]
Education
Dewsbury had two
Notable people
- Due to the placement of Dewsbury and District Hospital, many notable people have been born in the town. For a fuller list, see Category:People from Dewsbury
The following people are or were from Dewsbury:
- Sir Thomas Clifford Allbutt (1836–1925), physician; inventor of the medical thermometer.
- Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd (1929–2023), politician; first female Speaker of the House of Commons between 1992 and 2000.[33]
- Roger Burnley (born 1966), businessman, CEO of Asda[34]
- Tim Fountain (born 1967), playwright and author.
- Joel Graham (born 1977), bassist for thrash metal band Evile.
- Brendon Grimshaw, (1925–2012), managing editor, the Standard, Dar es salaam, Tanzania.
- Bob Hardy (born 1980), bassist for popular Scottish post-punk revival band, Franz Ferdinand.
- Philip Hinchcliffe (born 1944), retired television producer, screenwriter and script editor.
- Tom Kilburn (1921–2001), computer engineer; co-inventor of the first stored-program computer.
- Betty Lockwood, Baroness Lockwood (1924–2019), politician and activist for women's rights.
- royaltyand celebrities.
- Hafiz Patel (1926–2016), Muslim religious leader who founded the Markazi Masjid
- Kazia Pelka (born 1960), actress famous for roles in soap-operas.
- Valentine Pelka (born 1956) is an English actor who has starred in film and on television
- Sir Owen Willans Richardson (1879–1959), physicist, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1928 for his work of thermionic emission.
- Sayeeda Warsi, Baroness Warsi of Dewsbury (born 1971), Conservative politician.
Sportspeople
- Caitlin Beevers (born 2001), rugby league footballer for Leeds Rhinos Women.
- Leigh Bromby (born 1980), footballer for Leeds United.
- triathlete, having won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
- George Burgess (born 1992), professional rugby league player for South Sydney Rabbitohs of the National Rugby League and for England
- Luke Burgess (born 1987), former professional rugby league footballer
- National Rugby League and for England, he is a dual-code rugby international.
- Tom Burgess (born 1992), professional rugby league player for South Sydney Rabbitohs of the National Rugby League and for England
- Francis Cummins (born 1976), professional rugby league coach and former player. He played for Leeds Rhinos and represented Great Britain, England and Ireland at international level.
- Matt Diskin (born 1982), rugby league footballer for Bradford; his career began at the amateur Dewsbury Moor ARLFC.
- cricketer and captain for Yorkshire.
- Keith Mason (born 1982), actor and former rugby league footballer. He represented England (Under-21) and Wales at international level.
- John Pitt (born 1939), first-class cricketer
- Mike "Stevo" Stephenson (born 1947), Sky Sports commentator and former rugby league footballer.
- cricketer for Sussex.
- Gary Sykes (born 1984), former super featherweight boxing champion.
- Richard Tracey (born 1979), footballer.
- Eddie Waring (1910–1986), rugby league coach, commentator and television presenter.
- Tommy Weston (1902–1981), jockey who rode eleven English Classic winners and was Champion Jockey in 1926.
References in popular culture
Dewsbury is referenced in
The 1960 book A Kind of Loving is set in a fictional city named "Cressley", but its description was based upon Dewsbury. The author, Stan Barstow, was born in Horbury and grew up in Ossett – both of which are just to the east of Dewsbury.
More recently, the phrase "Dewsbury noir" has been used to describe the violent novels of David Peace, who was born in Dewsbury but lives in neighbouring Ossett.[36]
See also
References
- ^ "United Kingdom: Major Cities in England - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ "Key to English Place-names". kepn.nottingham.ac.uk.
- ^ "Calderdale: Halifax to Pontefract". Yorkshire. Retrieved 5 January 2006.
- ^ "Dewsbury". White's History. 1837. Retrieved 5 January 2006. "Antiquarians supposed the name, Dewsbury, to be derived from the original planter of the village, Dui or Dew, who … had fixed his abode and fortified his "Bury". Another conjecture holds, that the original name is Dewsborough, or God's Town" (1837).
- ^ Piwowarski, Pete. "Huddersfield One – Tolson Museum Booklets – Angles, Danes and Norse in the District of Huddersfield". Huddersfield1.co.uk. Archived from the original on 22 June 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
- ^ "Eric Shackle's eBook – Bells". Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- ^ Open Domesday: Dewsbury. Accessed February 2021.
- ^ DEWSBURY: Geographical and Historical information from the year 1837. GENUKI.org website, accessed February 2021.
- ^ "Dewsbury Kirklees Cousins". Retrieved 3 May 2022.
- ^ "Nowthen Dewsbury: Central Methodist Church". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 30 December 2005.
- ^ "Calder & Hebble Navigation". Canal & River Trust. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ^ "Nostalgia: Days when the Dewsbury ten o'clock gun was fired every night". Batley News. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ Wainwright, Martin (29 May 2008). "The name's Dewsbury". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
- ^ Norfolk, Andrew (28 May 2008). "Dewsbury: Kidnap, lynching and a suicide". The Times. London. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
- ^ "Hanging case girl spared custody". BBC News. 3 October 2005. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
- ^ "The Building". Dewsbury Revival Centre. Archived from the original on 23 January 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- ^ Shaw, Martin (5 July 2014). "Princess Royal in Dewsbury – but media banned from reporting visit until she left". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- ^ "Dewsbury MB/CB through time – Census tables with data for the Local Government District". Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- ^ "Dewsbury MB/CB through time – Census tables with data for the Local Government District". Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- ^ Lavigueur, Nick (13 December 2019). "Conservatives take the Dewsbury constituency". YorkshireLive. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
- ^ "Destination Dewsbury : Geographical Data". 20 February 2004. Archived from the original on 20 February 2004. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Hungarians referred to in these articles http://www.thepressnewspaper.co.uk/NewsDetails.asp?id=1169 Archived 4 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bradford/7261208.stm Kurds referred to in this article http://www.dewsburyreporter.co.uk/news?articleid=2737475
- ^ "Muslims accused of running Islamic court – More Local News". Dewsbury Reporter. 1 May 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 April 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2006. Retrieved 20 February 2006.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Dewsbury (West Yorkshire, Yorkshire and the Humber, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map, Location, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ "Dewsbury (West Yorkshire, Yorkshire and the Humber, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map, Location, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ "Emley Moor (Kirklees, England) Full Freeview transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
- ^ "Christian Radio Station - Dewsbury West Yorkshire UK - Branch FM". www.branchfm.com. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
- ^ Foundry, The Theme (17 May 2014). "Dewsbury Reporter | British Newspapers Online". Retrieved 22 September 2023.
- ^ Ltd, Website designed by Assembly Studios and developed by Assembly Studios and Hexydec. "Creative Kirklees / Directory / Kirklees College / Huddersfield and Dewsbury". creativekirklees.com. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
- ^ "The best and worst results". BBC News. 19 December 2005. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
- ^ Tominey, Camilla (27 February 2023). "Betty Boothroyd, first female Speaker, dies aged 93". The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- ^ ""Born and bred Yorkshireman" gets top job at Asda". The Yorkshire Post. 30 October 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ^ "Über unsere Welt". Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- ^ "Tim Adams interviews David Peace, author of The Damned Utd". The Guardian. 22 February 2009.
External links
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. VII (9th ed.). 1878. p. 146. .
- Area profile and statistics