Huddersfield

Coordinates: 53°38′42″N 1°46′47″W / 53.6450°N 1.7798°W / 53.6450; -1.7798
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Huddersfield
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Areas of the town
List
West Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire
53°38′42″N 1°46′47″W / 53.6450°N 1.7798°W / 53.6450; -1.7798

Huddersfield is a

Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into the similar-sized Colne is to the south of the town centre which then flows into the Calder
in the north eastern outskirts of the town.

The rivers around the town provided soft water required for textile treatment in large weaving sheds; this made it a prominent mill town with an economic boom in the early part of the Victorian era Industrial Revolution. The town centre has much neoclassical Victorian architecture. An example is its railway station, which is a Grade I listed building described by John Betjeman as "the most splendid station façade in England".[2] It won the Europa Nostra award for architecture.

Huddersfield hosts the

Championship, as well as two Rugby Union clubs Huddersfield R.U.F.C. and Huddersfield YM RUFC. Notable people from the town include two-time British Prime Minister Harold Wilson (for Labour), film star James Mason born in the town and Jodie Whittaker, the 13th actor to play Doctor Who, was born in Skelmanthorpe
.

The town has been classed under Yorkshire, the West Riding of Yorkshire and West Yorkshire for statistics throughout its history. The town's population in 1961 was 130,652 with an increase to 162,949 at the 2011 census; it is in the West Yorkshire Built-up Area.[3][4] The town is 14 miles (23 km) south-west of Leeds, 12 miles (19 km) west of Wakefield, 23 miles (37 km) north-west of Sheffield and 24 miles (39 km) north-east of Manchester.

History

Iron age and Roman

Local settlement dates back over 4,000 years.

Slack near Outlane, west of the town.[6]

Toponymy

The earliest surviving record of the place name is in the Domesday Book of 1086, Oderesfelt. It appears as Hudresfeld in a Yorkshire charter from 1121 to 1127, and as Huderesfeld in subsidy rolls in 1297. The name meaning has not complicated with the shifts of English, remaining 'Hud(d)er's field'.[7]

The modern name is pronounced without a word-initial /h/ in the local dialect, a trait ironically and independently shared by many Norman scribes' dialects of the Domesday Book era (see Old and modern French).

Market town and manor

Huddersfield has been a market town since Anglo-Saxon times. The market cross is on Market Place.

The manor of Huddersfield was owned by long lease by the

de Lacy becoming Lacey family until its 1322 takeback by the Crown. In 1599, William Ramsden bought it, and the Ramsden family continued to own the manor, which came to be known as the Ramsden Estate
, until 1920. During their ownership they supported the development of the town.

Huddersfield from Castle Hill

Closest wooded uplands in the inner part of the town's green belt, the town centre and the crest of the Pennines to the west: semi-panorama from Castle Hill. Three converted neoclassical mill sheds are in the foreground.

Sir John Ramsden's Canal in 1780. The Ramsdens endorsed the railway in the first wave of national railway building, in the 1840s.[8]

Industrial Revolution

Britannia, Parkwood and Newsome textile mills

Huddersfield was a centre of civil unrest during this phase of the

weavers faced starvation and losing their livelihood due to the new, mechanised weaving sheds
.

Luddites began destroying the great mills, sheds and machinery at such times; one of the most notorious attacks was on Cartwright – a Huddersfield mill-owner, who had a reputation for cruelty – and his Rawfolds Mill. Kirkpatrick Sale describes how an army platoon was stationed at Huddersfield to deal with these; at its peak, having about a thousand soldiers and ten thousand civilians. Luddites thus began to focus criminal damage on nearby towns and villages (less well-protected); their most damaging act was to destroy Foster's Mill at Horbury – a village about 10 miles (16 kilometres) east.[9] The government campaign that crushed the movement was provoked by a murder that took place in Huddersfield. William Horsfall, a mill-owner and a passionate prosecutor of Luddites, was killed in 1812.[10] Although the movement faded out, Parliament began to increase welfare provision for those out of work, and introduce regulations to improve conditions in the mills.

H. H. Asquith and H. Wilson

Two Prime Ministers spent part of their childhood in Huddersfield:

Royds Hall School, and H. H. Asquith. Wilson is commemorated by a statue on the large front square (forecourt
) to the town's station.

Aristocratic interest discharged

In 1920, the Corporation bought the Ramsden Estate from that family, that had owned much of the town at least as to the reversion of long leases (a minor, overarching interest) since 1599, for £1.3 million. The town became "the town that bought itself". Most of the keynote central building freeholds belong to the local authority, as in a few towns in Britain such as Basingstoke.[8]

St George's Square and the railway station

Governance

Coat of arms of the former County Borough

Huddersfield was incorporated as a

civil parishes of Almondbury, Dalton, Huddersfield, Lindley-cum-Quarmby and Lockwood, later dissolved. When the West Riding County Council was formed in 1889, Huddersfield became a county borough
, exempt from its control. A more confined Huddersfield seat than the early 20th century scope has been represented by Labour since its creation in 1983 and is, by size of majority and length of tenure, a strongly-Labour leaning seat.

Sir Harold Wilson
on St George's Square

Kirklees was the first part of the country to have a

deposit
, reaching more than 5% of the vote in the last general election (for an MP who serves in the House of Commons).

Huddersfield expanded in 1937, assimilating parts of the Golcar, Linthwaite, and South Crosland urban districts.[12] The county borough was abolished in 1974 and its former area was combined with that of other districts to form the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire.

Council bids to gain support for city status were rejected by the people in a poll held by the Huddersfield Daily Examiner; the council did not apply for that status in the 2000 or 2002 competitions.[13]

Huddersfield had a strong Liberal tradition up to the 1950s reflected in several Liberal social clubs. The current Member of Parliament (MP) for the

Labour Co-operative
MP.

Demographic change

The town's population in 1961 had reached 130,652.[14]

Per the

West Yorkshire Urban Area
was 146,234, and that of the former extent of the county borough was 121,620. The wider South Kirklees had a population of 216,011.

Geography

Huddersfield has the merger of the shallow valley floors of the River Colne and the Holme south of the town centre. This is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines which blend into the moorlands of the South Pennines west of the town.

Climate

As with all of West Yorkshire a temperate

East Yorkshire but drier than Cumbria. It is mild for the latitude – overnight frosts are quite frequent in winter yet daytime tends to exceed such temperatures due to onshore breezes from around Britain and as the Gulf Stream moderates temperatures. Summers are usually warm, punctuated by frequent rainy and hot spells. Winters are usually cool and damp, punctuated by frequent cold spells where snow is possible, especially on higher ground. According to the Köppen climate classification
, Huddersfield is certified as Cfb.

Climate data for Huddersfield/Oakes 1981–2010 (210 metres elevation)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 6.0
(42.8) 		6.2
(43.2) 		8.8
(47.8) 		11.6
(52.9) 		15.3
(59.5) 		18.1
(64.6) 		20.1
(68.2) 		19.1
(66.4) 		17.0
(62.6) 		12.9
(55.2) 		8.7
(47.7) 		6.1
(43.0) 		15.5
(59.9)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 0.8
(33.4) 		0.5
(32.9) 		2.3
(36.1) 		3.7
(38.7) 		6.1
(43.0) 		8.7
(47.7) 		10.9
(51.6) 		10.9
(51.6) 		9.1
(48.4) 		6.4
(43.5) 		3.3
(37.9) 		1.0
(33.8) 		5.3
(41.5)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 111.5
(4.39) 		70.3
(2.77) 		82.2
(3.24) 		76.9
(3.03) 		62.4
(2.46) 		78.2
(3.08) 		63.7
(2.51) 		81.4
(3.20) 		75.8
(2.98) 		107.7
(4.24) 		104.5
(4.11) 		114.0
(4.49) 		1,028.4
(40.49)
Average rainy days (≥ 1.0 mm) 15.7 13.2 13.7 10.9 10.9 11.5 10.1 11.9 11.4 14.1 15.8 15.2 154.4
Mean monthly sunshine hours 51.5 64.8 96.0 134.2 167.1 153.5 172.5 161.0 126.6 101.3 57.8 50.2 1,336.3
Source: Met Office[15]

Divisions and suburbs

After boundary changes in 2004, Huddersfield now covers eight of the twenty-three

Newsome ward
of councillors. Eight wards make up Huddersfield proper; these with populations, extent and constituent suburbs (mid-year 2005 estimates) are:

Ward Population Area (sq mi (km2)) Population density (per sq mi (km−2)) Places covered
Almondbury[16] 16,610 3.863 (10.01) 4,299 (1,660) Almondbury, Fenay Bridge, Lascelles Hall, Lepton
Ashbrow[17] 17,470 4.366 (11.31) 4,001 (1,545) Ashbrow, Brackenhall, Bradley, Deighton, Fixby, Netheroyd Hill, Sheepridge
Crosland Moor & Netherton[18] 17,400 2.856 (7.40) 6,092 (2,352) Beaumont Park, Crosland Moor, Lockwood, Longroyd Bridge, Netherton, South Crosland, Thornton Lodge
Dalton[19] 17,520 4.975 (12.89) 3,521 (1,359) Colne Bridge, Dalton, Kirkheaton, Moldgreen, Rawthorpe, Upper Heaton, Waterloo
Golcar[20] 17,370 2.375 (6.15) 7,313 (2,824) Cowlersley, Golcar, Longwood, Linthwaite (part of), Milnsbridge, Salendine Nook
Greenhead[21] 17,620 1.706 (4.42) 10,328 (3,988) Birkby, Edgerton, Fartown, Hillhouse, Marsh, Paddock
Lindley[22] 17,020 2.737 (7.09) 6,218 (2,401) Ainley Top, Birchencliffe, Lindley, Mount, Oakes
Newsome[23] 17,110 3.233 (8.37) 5,292 (2,043) Armitage Bridge, Berry Brow, Hall Bower, Lowerhouses, Newsome, Primrose Hill, Springwood, Taylor Hill

Green belt

Further information: South and West Yorkshire Green Belt

Huddersfield is within a

brownfield reuse, and preserve nearby countryside. This is achieved by restricting inappropriate development within the designated areas, and imposing stricter conditions on permitted building.[24]

The green belt surrounds the Huddersfield built-up area, a much-wooded buffer zone. Larger outlying communities such as Upper Hopton, Grange Moor, Highburton, Farnley Tyas, Netherton, Honley, Outlane, Slaithwaite, Wellhouse are exempt from this. Nearby smaller villages, hamlets and rural areas such as Thurgory, Gawthorpe Green, Bog Green, Upper Heaton, Wilberlee, South Crosland, Rushfield Bridge, and Bank End see their unbuilt land included in the designation. Much semi-rural land on the fringes forms the rest. It was chiefly defined in the 1960s,[24] and across Kirklees covers about 70%, i.e. 23,050 hectares (57,000 acres) (2017, excluding the Peak District National Park).[25][24]

A subsidiary aim is to encourage play, sport and leisure,[24] through woodland, moor, streams, green meadows, fields, small bogs. Features are:

  • Castle Hill with Victoria Tower
  • Coal Pit Scrog and Hall Wood in Lepton
  • Blackmoorfoot reservoir
  • Longwood reservoir
  • Huddersfield Narrow Canal and the Colne
  • The Holme (river and paths)
  • Storthes Hall
  • Kirkheaton cricket ground
  • Beaumont Park.

West of

Peak District National Park
.

Demography

Ethnicity

Apartment Block housing in Berry Brow

As of 2021, the town of Huddersfield's population was enumerated at 141,692, and its ethnic makeup was 66% White, 20.4% Asian, 5.6% Black, 5.2% Mixed, 2% Other and 1% Arab.[26]

Religion

The town has many churches, mosques, temples and synagogues. These include Christian denominations: the

Baptists, Presbyterians and Congregationalists (sometimes as their main fusion the United Reformed Church), Methodism, Quakers,[27] and the Roman Catholic Church. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, the Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism and Sikhism
all have congregational buildings.

The town's religious makeup was 39%

Christian, 37.4% No Religion, 20.4% Muslim, and has small Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Jewish communities.[26]

Economy

The bridge carrying the railway entering the station, the stadium, gas holder and Kilner bank viewed from the top of Fitzwilliam Street

Industry

Huddersfield is a manufacturing town, despite the university being the largest employer. Historically the town produced woollen textiles. This area of business, along with the chemical and engineering industries that emerged to support the manufacture of textiles, was the basis of the town's nineteenth and early twentieth century prosperity. The number of people who work in textiles has declined greatly, but the surviving companies produce large quantities of

Mamas and Papas
, a manufacturer and retailer of prams, pushchairs and related items and specialist pneumatics supplier Shelley Automation Ltd.

Health

Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.

maternity facilities until the risks of not being able to get an ambulance to A&E in the event of complications were judged to outweigh the benefits of specialist service provision. It now functions as a day clinic, family planning consultation centre and GUM Clinic. A decision to move most maternity services provided by the Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust to the Calderdale Royal Hospital ended the provision in 2007, despite strong local opposition. The campaign was led by Save Huddersfield NHS which elected a councillor, Dr Jackie Grunsell in the Crosland Moor ward. In January 2016 plans were announced to close the A&E department of Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and have all emergency cases go to Calderdale Royal instead. This sparked uproar in local communities as it would mean journeys from some areas of over 40 minutes to and from the hospital assuming that the main road into Halifax was not congested, as it frequently is.[31]

The former

psychiatric
care. It closed in 2011 and the land was sold to a developer, this land is now home to Fitzwilliam Grange, a housing estate.

Platform 1 is a charity established in 2018 and provides a space and advice for men struggling with mental health.

Entertainment

Lawrence Batley Theatre

The Lawrence Batley Theatre, opened in 1994, in what was once the largest Wesleyan Chapel in the world,[32] and presents dance, drama, comedy, music and exhibitions and is the base for Full Body & the Voice, a company focusing on the integration of disabled people into mainstream theatre. Kelly Rowlands also holds the 2003 Line Dancing championship Record.

The

John Smith's Stadium, (formerly the Galpharm Stadium and Alfred McAlpine Stadium), is a multi-use sports stadium with a gym, swimming pool, spa and offers sporting classes. The stadium is home to Huddersfield Giants and Huddersfield Town football team. Adjacent the stadium is an Odeon cinema
(formerly UCI).

There are many pubs, restaurants and night clubs, one of which,

Grade II listed building. The oldest pub is The Parish,[a]
trading since 1720.

Shopping

Lord Street Indoor Market
The Piazza Centre
Byram Arcade

Huddersfield has a large and diverse retail shopping area, enclosed within the town's ring road, compared with other towns of its size. There are three shopping areas:

Kingsgate, The Packhorse Precinct and The Piazza Centre. The Piazza offers an outdoor shopping mall near the public library, with a grassed area, used for relaxation and events throughout the year such as entertainment, international markets and iceskating in winter. Through the adjacent Market Arcade is a covered market hall, which has listed building status, due in part to its distinctive roof formed by hyperbolic paraboloids. It is adjacent to the town hall and public library. An open market trades next to Tesco
, on the other side of the town centre.

The town centre is home to several national high street retailers and chain stores. There are also a variety of small specialist and independent shops, many in the three-storey Victorian shopping arcade, Byram Arcade, on street, Westgate.

However over the last decade many shops have closed down causing a general decline of the town centre.[33] Most notability the closure of British Home Stores (BHS) in 2016 left a large shopping unit empty in The Piazza Centre. In 2019 Marks & Spencer announced 17 closures within the UK, one of these was the Huddersfield store.[34]

Community and culture

Music

See also: Beaumont Street Studios and The Marsh Ladies Choir

Huddersfield Choral Society founded in 1836, claims to be the UK's leading choral society. Its history was chronicled in the book 'And The Glory',[35] written to commemorate the society's 150th anniversary in 1986 – its title derived from a chorus in Handel's landmark Oratorio Messiah.

The annual Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival is held in the town which is also home to the Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra and the Huddersfield Singers.

On Christmas Day 1977, the

hip hop
and rock music.

There are other annual music festivals held in the town and surrounding area, examples being the

Neo and Gillan
.

Further information on the future soul band: Extra Curricular

Art

Huddersfield Library & Art Gallery

Huddersfield Art Gallery occupies the top floor of the library at Princess Alexandra Walk. It has an extensive collection featuring

L.S. Lowry and Henry Moore
, as well as significant regional artists. It has other halls for its temporary exhibitions for established and emerging artists.

Ian Berry was born in Netherton, Huddersfield and was educated in the town and went to Greenhead College[40][41] and is internationally renowned for his art using only denim jeans and was named as one of the top 30 artists under 30 in the world in 2013.[42][43] In 1996 aged 11 he won the Huddersfield Daily Examiner 125th Birthday competition that saw his design printed on to mugs, tea towels and posters.[44][45]

Festivals

Huddersfield Festival of Light takes place annually in December,[46] usually in the town centre adjacent to the railway station. Each year there is a performance by a theatre company. The finale is a firework display. The 2007 show was performed by French company Plasticiens Volants, which used large inflatable sea creatures in a parade through the streets as they told the story of 'Pearl'. The 2005 and 2008 performances were by the Valencian artists Xarxa Teatre. The 2010 festival featured Belgian company Company Tol and their suspension act – Corazon de Angeles (Angels' Heart) and ended on 5 December with fireworks in St George's Square.

Huddersfield has a long-established Saint Patrick's Day Parade on c. 17 March.

Hudawi Cultural Centre

Huddersfield Caribbean Carnival in mid-July, begins with a procession from the Hudawi Cultural Centre in Hillhouse, through the town centre to Greenhead Park where troupes display their costumes on stage. Caribbean food, fairground rides and various stalls and attractions are available. A "young blud" stage presents Hip Hop, UK garage, RnB and bassline.[47]

The Huddersfield Literature Festival is held annually in the town,[48] and features author events, creative writing classes and poetry nights, and sometimes creative writing competitions.

Since 2016 the town has a growing one-day Onwards Festival for music and arts.[49] It celebrates local music, art, food and drink. Its spirit is organisation like a pub crawl, moving between venues to experience different tastes of culture. Its first year saw 10 live music acts, an exhibition and some live art performances, with payment for the later events.

Landmarks and architecture

See also: Listed buildings in Huddersfield and Listed buildings in Huddersfield (Ashbrow Ward)
The Victoria Tower at Castle Hill

Huddersfield has an abundance of

Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Year in 1897. A picture of the Victoria Tower features on the New Zealand
wine Castle Hill.

The Ramsden Building
Lion chambers building on St George's Square

Huddersfield Town Hall is a municipal building in the town: it seats up to 1,200 people and hosts events ranging from classical to comedy and from choral to community events.[51]

The

stately home with trains in it', and by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as "one of the best early railway stations in England".[52] A bronze statue of Huddersfield-born Sir Harold Wilson
, Prime Minister 1964–1970 and 1974–1976 stands in front of its entrance.

The George Hotel designed by William Wallen was built by Wallen and Charles Child in 1850. The hotel's Italianate façade became Huddersfield's adopted architectural style as the town developed over following decade.[53] The hotel was the site of the birthplace of Rugby league in August 1895.[54]

St Peter's Church
The Tolson Memorial Museum

Parish Church) replaced a church of the 11th century and is adjacent to the town centre, on Byram Street near the Pack Horse Centre. The church was built in 1838. Holy Trinity Church
, just outside the town centre was built between 1816 and 1819.

The Pack Horse Centre is a covered

Pack horses carried merchandise over pack-horse routes across the Pennines before turnpike roads and railways improved transportation. The pedestrian link passes from Kirkgate, across King Street and along Victoria Lane, by the Shambles, to the Piazza and the distinctive market hall at Queensgate, which was built to replace the old Shambles Market Hall in the early 1970s.[55]
Next to the Piazza is the Victorian town hall and the 1930s public library.

Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont (Duke and Duchess of Albany). It is a fine example of a Victorian era
public park with water cascades, bandstand and woodland.

The former St Paul's Church on Queensgate has statutory recognition and protection,[b] used for worship from 1831 to 1956. Sir John Ramsden gave its land and his family helped its extension to be built in 1883. The foundation stone was laid by Lady Guendolen Ramsden. The building is now part of the University of Huddersfield.[56]

The St Paul's Street drill hall was designed by Captain William Willey Cooper and completed in 1901.[57]

Greenhead Park, 3⁄8 mile (600 metres) west of the town centre, is lined with copses of various trees. A multimillion-pound restoration project, funded by the Heritage Lottery fund[58] was finished in autumn 2012.

Ravensknowle Hall, built in the late-1850s, houses the Tolson (Memorial) Museum. The museum was founded in 1919, and was originally a natural history museum. It now also holds galleries on different historical fields, like transport, textiles and the history of the town.[59]

Filmography and media

The Media Centre

The feature films Between Two Women and The Jealous God were filmed in and around Huddersfield. There is a Serbian film from 2007 called Hadersfild, a Serbian phonetic spelling of Huddersfield, where a character is from the town. Television productions in and around the town include:

Transport

Map of Huddersfield from 1954

Road

Chapel Hill

Huddersfield is connected to the motorway network via the

A644
, J25).

Huddersfield Corporation built an inner

pedestrianised
.

Main radial roads are the:

  • A62 Leeds Road
  • A641
    Bradford Road
  • A629 Halifax Road,
  • A640 New Hey Road
  • A642 Wakefield Road (in east branching into the A629: Penistone Road)
  • A62 Manchester Road

Bus

Huddersfield Free Town Bus

A trolleybus network operated from 1933 to 1968. Huddersfield bus station was opened by the Mayor, Councillor Mernagh on 26 March 1974, although it had not been completed.[64] It is the busiest bus station in West Yorkshire with a daily footfall of almost 35,000. Most bus services pass through the bus station. Many services are subsidised by Metro.

Huddersfield bus station

Huddersfield's bus operators reflect the national situation; local subsidiaries of three dominant national operators provide most services in the area:

zero-fare town centre bus service, the Free Town Bus
, was launched run by K-Line in partnership with Kirklees Council and Metro. Today this is run by Team Pennine.

Rail

Huddersfield in St George's Square

Sheffield and Wakefield Kirkgate
.

The Penistone Line passes through mainly rural stations towards Barnsley and Sheffield: Lockwood, Berry Brow, Honley,Brockholes, Stocksmoor, Shepley and Denby Dale.

At the station, there are two internet famous cats: black & white Felix and younger pure black Bolt. They have released merchandise and have published a book.[67]

Canal

The Huddersfield Broad Canal, originally the Sir John Ramsden Canal, and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal are both navigable by narrowboat, and the broad canal by wider craft, wind around the south side of town. To the rear of the YMCA in the Turnbridge section is an electrically operated road bridge, which is still in use, to raise the road and allow boat traffic to pass. This bridge originally used a windlass.

Education

University of Huddersfield
Kirklees College

As well as primary and secondary schools, which cover compulsory and sixth form education for the town's population, Huddersfield has two sixth form colleges: Huddersfield New College at Salendine Nook and Greenhead College west of the town centre. Huddersfield Grammar School is the only independent school for secondary education up to age 16. The town has a further education college, Kirklees College formed following the merger of Dewsbury College and Huddersfield Technical College. Its one establishment of higher education is the University of Huddersfield, whose chancellor until 2019 was the Duke of York. The actor Patrick Stewart from Mirfield is emeritus chancellor.

Sport

John Smith's Stadium
, also known as the Kirklees Stadium and the Huddersfield Giants' Stadium

football play off promotion final
.

Association Football

Huddersfield away at Chelsea in the Premier League (2018)

Its professional association football team,

Championship
, the second highest league of the sport nationally. In 1926, the club became the first in England to win three successive league titles, a feat only three other clubs have matched.

In 1921–22 Huddersfield won the FA Cup and between 1923 and 1926 became the first club to win the League Championship three times in a row, an achievement matched only by three other teams. After several decades in lower divisions, Huddersfield Town FC returned to top flight football in 2017 when the club entered the Premier League for the first time.

Notable ex-players include Scottish international Denis Law, Ray Wilson, a World Cup winner with England in 1966 and Trevor Cherry, England international. Herbert Chapman, Bill Shankly, Neil Warnock and Steve Bruce are notable former Huddersfield Town managers.

Emley A.F.C. play at the Welfare Ground

Also within the town boundaries is

Shelley are also within the town's boundaries and most recently played in the West Yorkshire Association Football League having previously played alongside Emley and Golcar in the North West Counties Football League
Division 1 North.

Rugby

Rugby was first played in the town in 1848 and the Huddersfield Athletic Club, formed in 1864 and played its first rugby game in 1866. The town was the birthplace of rugby league. On 29 August 1895, 22 northern clubs met in the George Hotel and voted to secede from the Rugby Football Union and set up the 'Northern Rugby Football Union' which became the Rugby Football League in 1922. The Rugby League Heritage Centre was in the George Hotel's basement before the hotel closed in 2013.

League

Following the split of 1895, Huddersfield became a focus for rugby league. HAC's direct successors, the

Rugby Football League Championship seven times, most recently in 1961–62, and the Challenge Cup
six times, the last time in 1952–53.

The town is also home to the

Huddersfield Underbank Rangers, who play in the Rugby League Conference. The club is based in Holmfirth and formed in 1884. It has launched the careers of many professional players including Harold Wagstaff, Paul Dixon and Eorl Crabtree
.

Union

Huddersfield RUFC's Lockwood Park, under the viaduct carrying the Penistone Line

After 1895 rugby union was played exclusively under the Northern Rugby Football Union until 1909 when Huddersfield Old Boys were formed to play under

Huddersfield RUFC. In 1969 the club was at the forefront of a revolution in English rugby when it became the first club in the country to organise mini and junior rugby teams. The innovation spread and almost every club in the country has a thriving junior section providing a production-line of home-grown talent. Junior players at Huddersfield number over 200. In 1997 the Waterloo junior grounds were sold and the 26-acre (11-hectare) former Bass Brewery site at Lockwood Park was purchased for its replacement. With the assistance of a £2 million grant from Sport England
, the club has transformed it into a major sports complex, conference centre and business park.

Aussie rules

Aussie Rules UK
National League – Central Division and took part in the North West Division in 2010.

Other

The

Yorkshire CCC cricketers including 14 internationals, such as Alec Coxon, Billy Bates and Chris Balderstone
.

Huddersfield has a number of field hockey teams, many of which train at the Lockwood Park sports complex on the all-weather pitch.[69]

Motorcycle speedway racing was staged in Huddersfield in the UK pioneer year of 1928. A venue in the town staged four or five meetings. James Whitham, is a former 'British Superbike Champion'. Lepton born Tom Sykes joined the Yamaha Motor Italia World team in the 2009 World Superbike season[70] after spells in British Supersports & British Superbikes in which he finished 4th in the 2009 Season. He won his first race in World Superbikes in one of two wildcard meetings and is the 2013 World Superbike Champion.

On 6 July 2014, Stage 2 of the 2014 Tour de France from York to Sheffield passed through the town.[71]

List of civic honours and freedoms

Thirty-four people and one military (infantry) regiment have been granted the Freedom of Huddersfield, between 1889 and 1973.[72]

  • Wright Mellor JP DL – (25 September 1889)
  • Henry Frederick Beaumont JP DL – (28 August 1894)
  • Lt Col Sir Albert Kaye Rollit LLD DLC LittD JP DL – (28 August 1894)
  • James Nield Sykes JP – (12 March 1895)
  • Joseph Woodhead JP – (28 October 1898)
  • Sir Joseph Crosland Knt JP DL – (28 October 1898)
  • Major Charles Brook – (23 May 1901)
  • Major Harold Wilson – (23 May 1901)
  • Sir Thomas Brooke Bart JP DL – (25 July 1906)
  • Rev Robert Bruce MA DD – (25 July 1906)
  • William Brooke JP – (15 October 1913)
  • John Sykes JP – (15 October 1913)
  • William Henry Jessop JP – (18 September 1918)
  • Earnest Woodhead MA JP – (18 September 1918)
  • George Thomson JP – (18 September 1918)
  • Benjamin Broadbent CBE MA JP – (18 September 1918)
  • John Arthur Brooke MA JP – (18 September 1918)
  • James Edward Willans JP – (18 September 1918)
  • Admiral of the Fleet Earl Beatty GCB OM GCVO DSO – (24 July 1920)
  • The Rt Hon H. H. Asquith Earl of Oxford and Asquith, and Viscount Asquith – (6 November 1925)
  • Sir William Pick Raynor Knt JP – (17 December 1926)
  • Wilfrid Dawson JP – (25 July 1934)
  • Rowland Mitchell JP – (25 July 1934)
  • James Albert Woolven JP Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur – (25 July 1934)
  • Sir
    Bernard Law Montgomery
    Field-Marshal GCB DSO – (26 October 1945)
  • Joseph Barlow JP – (23 June 1949)
  • Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) – (2 July 1952)
  • Sidney Kaye LLB – (19 November 1957)
  • Alderman Arthur Gardiner OBE JP – (11 October 1960)
  • Alderman Harry Andrew Bennie Gray CBE JP – (11 October 1960)
  • Sir Malcolm Sargent MusD(Dunelm) MusD(Oxon)(Hons) LLD(Liverpool) Hon RAM Hon FRCO FRCM FRSA – (13 October 1961)
  • The Rt Hon Harold Wilson OBE MP Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury – (1 March 1968)
  • Alderman Douglas Graham CBE – (5 March 1973)
  • Alderman Reginald Harmley MBE JP – (5 March 1973)
  • Alderman Clifford Stephenson – (5 March 1973)
DWR Freedom Scroll

On 2 July 1952, in recognition of historic ties and links with the

Territorial Army
unit.

Yorkshire Regiment
25 October 2008

When the 'Dukes' were amalgamated with the

Yorkshire Regiment on 6 June 2006 the right to march became extinct. The Regiment requested a resumed right to march. The right given by Kirklees to the 3rd battalion of the Yorkshire Volunteers did not permit any transfer to heirs or successors and effectively ceased when the battalion was amalgamated into the East and West Riding Regiment
(since 2006 being the Yorkshire Regiment's 4th Battalion). Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council amended the original 'Freedom' and transferred it to the Yorkshire Regiment, at a Freedom parade on 25 October 2008.

Notable people

See also: Category: People from Huddersfield

A number of national and internationally famous people originate from Huddersfield. Actors include Joanna Christie, James Mason, Gorden Kaye and Keith Buckley. TV playwright Sally Wainwright's award-winning dramas such as Happy Valley have made the Colne and Calder valley towns well known to television viewers. Some people have also become known through their association with Huddersfield, though they were not born there. These include the Mirfield-born actor ("life-long" Huddersfield Town F.C. supporter[73] and Chancellor of Huddersfield University from 2004 to 2015[74][75]), Patrick Stewart; the dancer, entertainer and TV presenter Roy Castle, who was born in Scholes;[76][77] the York-born Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer, Anita Lonsbrough;[78][79] and the Brighouse born inventor Wilf Lunn, who was raised in Rastrick.[80] Other famous people whose association with Huddersfield is not as notable or well-known, though they were raised there, include H. H. Asquith (born in Morley), who served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom between 1908 and 1916. The actress Lena Headey, who was born in Bermuda, grew up in Shelley from the age of five.[81][82]

Royds Hall Grammar School (now a comprehensive school).[83]

Notable people born in and near to Huddersfield

Film actor James Mason

See also

Notes and references

Footnotes
  1. ^ formerly the Fleece Inn
  2. ^ Being a listed building in the initial, mainstream, Grade II class
Citations
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Further reading

E.A. Hilary Haigh ed. (1992) Huddersfield: A Most Handsome Town – Aspects of the History and Culture of a West Yorkshire Town. Kirklees MC, Huddersfield, pp. 704.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Huddersfield.
Wikisource has the text of the Encyclopædia Britannica (9th ed.) article Huddersfield.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Huddersfield.
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