Shipley, West Yorkshire

Shipley is a historic market town and civil parish^[1] in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.

Located on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Shipley is directly north of the city of Bradford. The population of Shipley at the 2011 Census was 15,483.^[2]

Until 1974, Shipley was an

Shipley appears to have first been settled in the late Bronze Age^[5] and is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, in the form Scipelei(a).^[3]

Its early history relies on the records of a succession of

The Rawsons lived at Over Hall known as the Manor House, on the site of the current town hall. The manor estates extended to Northcliff.^[9] The family had interests in Halifax and moved there in the early 18th century, retaining their Shipley estates until the last male heir died in 1745.^[10]

By the 19th century the Rawson estates and those of the Fields, another prominent land-owning family, had become the property of the Earl of Rosse^[11] who had extensive holdings in Heaton. His legacy has endured in the name of a public house on the main Bradford to Keighley road, and Rossefield School in Heaton. Of the lower orders at this time not much is known, but there was relief housing offered at the town's expense near Crowghyll.^[12]

Industrial Revolution

Shipley was shaped largely by the Industrial Revolution and, in particular, the growth of the textile industry. Textile manufacture dates from pre-industrial times. As the place name indicates, Shipley had a history as sheep grazing land, so wool was plentiful, and the River Aire was a ready source of water for powering water mills and cleaning processes. There was a fulling mill in Shipley by 1500 and two more by 1559.^[13] Another mill was built by the Dixon family on the banks of the Aire in 1635. New Mill on the far side of Hirst Wood was built in the 1740s and by the late 18th century between 9,000 and 10,000 pieces of broadcloth were being fulled annually at Shipley's mills.^[14] Much work was undertaken in workers' cottages which had 'loom shops' for spinning yarn. Home workshops were once a common sight along the River Aire and often had external flights of steps. Examples can be seen in the cottages at Jane Hills along the canal in Saltaire.^[15]

The industrial era ended

The smaller mills gave way to larger premises which could combine all the processes of worsted production on one site. The first was Joseph Hargreaves' Airedale Mills (demolished 1970s), Salts Mill (built 1853 and now a gallery and restaurant complex), an enlarged Well Croft Mill (demolished 1950s) and Victoria Mills near the canal...^[18] Hargreaves employed 1,250, Salt initially 2,500 and by 1876 total employment in the mills was 6,900.^[18]

The growth in textile production stimulated the growth of associated supply industries. Other local employers included loom makers, Lee and Crabtree, WP Butterfield's galvanised containers and J. Parkinson and Sons machine tool makers.^[19]

The other major effect of industrialisation was the vast expansion in housing stock.

It was then the landowning families—the Rosses, the Crompton-Stansfields and the Wainmans—took advantage of the demand for housing by selling their less productive land on Low Moor and High Moor. Houses for the better off were built in Sunny Bank and Hall Royd in the 1840s, 1850s and 1860s.[23] Kirkgate was lined with villas from the 1860s, some of which still stand. Middle-class houses were built in the Nab Wood and Moorhead districts. In 1870 a tranche of land in Moorhead was sold by the Countess of Rosse to build five streets of terraces. The public house on Saltaire Roundabout that bears her name dates from that time.^[24]

Post-war redevelopment

The decline of the textile industry saw the demolition of many mills, only Salts Mill and Victoria Mills remain and have been converted to other uses.

Of more concern in the immediate

A second phase of clearance in 1978 saw the construction of a library, swimming pool and health centre, with Asda added in 1985. Croft House (1729), a stone built farmhouse which was converted to a school and then subsequently used as the Labour Party headquarters was a casualty of this development. By 1970 2,900 slum houses had been demolished.^[30]

The Otley and Leeds Roads were widened in the early 1970s, at the expense of the Fox and Hounds Hotel after which Shipley's main road junction, Fox Corner, was named.^[16]

Geography

Shipley is located at an important crossing of the

In medieval times, Shipley consisted of the settlement around the crossroads, and the unenclosed fields at Shipley Fields and the Hirst which were collectively farmed. Beyond these lay the Low Moor, which ran from the Crowghyll to the former Saltaire roundabout (now a junction on the Bradford to Keighley road), in the approximate area of modern day Wycliffe,^[31] and the wasteland of High Moor (from Saltaire roundabout, through Moorhead, as far as New Brighton and Noon Nick).^[31] These areas were steep, rocky land, unsuitable for farming.^[34] By 1600 at the latest, the open fields had been enclosed and given way to individual farms.^[35] The town was bounded to the north by the River Aire, to the east by Bradford Beck, with Cottingley and Heaton lying beyond its western and southern boundaries.^[7]

Outlying districts, such as Windhill, were not part of Shipley until the 19th century. Saltaire became part of Shipley after its foundation in the 1860s, while Windhill, which had previously been part of Idle, became part of the Shipley Urban District in 1894.^[11]

Governance

Shipley was historically a

For many years, Shipley opposed joining Bradford for local government purposes whenever it was proposed. A large protest march marked the third attempt in 1937.[39] In 1974 after local government reorganisation, merger into Bradford seemed inevitable, and no resistance was offered.^[40]

The

A campaign for Shipley to have a Town Council was launched in 2018,[41] resulting in the creation of Shipley Town Council in January 2020.^[42]

Councillors

Shipley electoral ward is represented on Bradford Metropolitan District Council by three councillors; Anna Watson (Green Party),^[43] Kevin Warnes (Green Party),^[44] and Martin Love (Green Party)^[45]

  indicates seat up for re-election.

The four wards of Shipley Town Council are represented by nine councillors with two vacancies which will be filled by September 2020.^[46]

Economy

Commercial and retail

Shipley is dominantly residential in character serving as a commuter suburb of larger urban employment centres in Bradford and Leeds. Manufacturing activity includes information technology specialist ARRIS located in the Salts Mill complex. Marlin Windows, HC Slingsby and the offices of the Bradford Health Authority also feature among the larger employers in the town.

The town has one large scale supermarket,

The town's secondary commercial centre, Gordon Terrace, part of the historic Saltaire Village development, features independent food and fashion retailers, as well as numerous restaurants and cafes. The town has a large volume of through vehicle traffic as it is on two of the main routes between Bradford, Leeds and the Aire Valley towns of Bingley, Keighley, and Skipton.

Visitor attractions

The village of

To the north across the River Aire, is Shipley Glen ("glen" refers to the little valley beneath a ridge). It has long been a popular beauty spot, and in 1895 the Shipley Glen Tramway was built to carry visitors up to the top. The tramway has weathered periods of neglect and closure, but in 2012 it ran most weekends through the summer, staffed by volunteers.

Parks and gardens

Crowghyll Park was once a quarry and the town's refuse dump.

The Victoria Hall in Saltaire is a concert venue, hosting bands such as Fairport Convention. However, there were once a number of entertainment establishments within the district:

• Queen's Palace – Formerly a temperance coffee house, an institution called Queens' Palace Theatre was sited on Briggate around the turn of the 20th century.^[32] It held twice nightly variety shows at 7 pm and 9 pm. In December 1915 it became Shipley Picture House and remained as a cinema until August 1932.^[50] The building was demolished following a fire in 1960.^[51]
• Glen Royal – The same fate met its successor, the Glen Royal Cinema, which was sited slightly further along Briggate. This 1,200 seat "showpiece super-cinema"
  bingo hall, and later part of it became a snooker club. In time, it became derelict, before being destroyed by fire like its predecessor in 2013.^[53]
• Saltaire Picture House – Saltaire Picture House was on a site opposite the Old Tramshed and opened in 1922, seated 1,500. It later became the
  Gaumont. The cinema closed in 1957 and the building was demolished soon after.^[54]
• Pavilion – The Pavilion Cinema or Pavilion de Luxe on Commercial Street was built in 1912 and known as the 'Bug Ole' or 'Bug Run'.[50] It opened on 2 April 1914.^[55] The small seating capacity, 630, gave rise to the motto 'the little theatre with the big reputation'.^[55] It closed in November 1956.^[26]
• Prince's Hall – Prince's Hall Cinema opened on 24 June 1911^[56] and like the rest of Shipley's cinemas had an organ. It survived for many years, called Unit Four, with half the capacity of the old Prince's Hall^[56] It was the last remaining cinema in Shipley until it closed at the turn of the 21st century.

Shipley Film Society was established in 2010 to bring cinema back to Shipley, and runs a programme of independent and world cinema between September and May each year.

Libraries

The library on Well Croft in the town centre is a branch library of Bradford Central Library. A Carnegie Library on Briggate built with a £3,000 donation by Andrew Carnegie now stands empty^[57] but the name persists in Carnegie Drive and the Carnegie Clinic.

Industry

Shipley used to house the Naylor Cars, Ltd., that produced the Naylor TF 1700, an MG TF replica. Industrial businesses with a presence in Shipley include Denso Marsten, Manor Coatings, Produmax, Teledyne and HC Slingsby.

Religion

Traditionally,

The first place of worship in Shipley was the Bethel

Historically, Shipley was part of the

The Bradford to Bingley Road was constructed in the 1820s[60] and with Otley Road and Saltaire Road form a triangle framing Shipley centre. They connect the town to Bradford, Leeds and the Airedale towns. In September 2022, a clean air zone was launched in Bradford and Shipley. This means any non-private cars entering the city centre and the Canal Road corridor towards Shipley, will be charged dependent on the size of the vehicle and the commercial reason for entering. Exemptions apply for greener vehicles such as low-emission or electric.^[64][65]

There is a small bus station in Shipley Market Place.

Rail

The

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal was once an important navigation linking Shipley to the wider world. The Skipton to Shipley section was completed in 1773 and in 1774 a branch was extended to Bradford. Wharves were established on the north side of Briggate.^[26] The Bradford branch was filled in during the 1920s. The canal is used for pleasure cruising.

Trams

Trams ran along Bradford Road to the south and Saltaire Road to the north^[67] and between Baildon Bridge and the Branch. The intersection of these lines led to the main road junction of Fox's Corner being given the alternative name of Cobweb Square.^[28] The legacy of trams is the terminal building on Saltaire Roundabout, now a public house named Salt Bar & Kitchen. There was a second tram shed off the roundabout at the foot of Moorhead Lane.

Saltaire shed was converted for trolleybuses in 1939 until Bradford scrapped trolleybuses in the 1970s.

Newspapers

The town's first newspaper was the Shipley Times & Express run by stationer and printer, Johnny Walker.^[32] The paper was based in premises at Shipley crossroads, and the junction was sometimes called Johnny Walker's Corner as well as Fox Corner. In 1922, Walker sold out to printer/stationer, Osbaldiston, and the building still stands under his name. The building is now a scuba diving centre called Duck and Dive. The paper closed in 1981.^[68]

Shipley is in the distribution area of the Bradford-based Telegraph & Argus. The Telegraph & Argus produced a free newspaper for the district, the Aire Valley (or Shipley) Target, which was then produced as one of four local editions of the Bradford & District Advertiser.^[69] This no longer prints.

The Saltaire Review was launched by Festival Publications in October 2014. It is published bi-monthly and covers community issues and events, with an estimated readership of over 18,000.^[70]

Notable people

Notable people from Shipley, England, educated there, or otherwise associated with the town.

Academics

• Sir Douglas Mawson, born in Shipley in 1882. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton, a key Antarctic expedition leader.
• phonetic
  notation, was born in Thackley but grew up in Windhill (now east Shipley). He wrote A Grammar of the Dialect of Windhill.

Arts and entertainment

• British dance bands in the 1930s and 1940s^[71]
• Harry Corbett OBE (1918–1989), creator of the long running Sooty glove puppet character, was born in the area.
• Laura Groves (born 1988) singer and songwriter was born in Shipley and now lives in London.
• Steven Hartley (born 1960), actor, born in Shipley
• Bryan Mosley (1931–1999), actor, known for playing Alf Roberts in Coronation Street, who was born in Leeds but lived in Shipley for many years until his death.^[72][73]
• Tony Richardson (1928–1991), film director was born in Shipley. He is known for directing films including, Look Back in Anger in 1959, The Entertainer in 1960, A Taste of Honey in 1961 and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner in 1962.^[74]
• Salt Grammar School
  in Saltaire.

Politicians

• MEP Richard Corbett, Deputy Leader of the Labour MEPs, lives in Shipley, originally in Saltaire, now in Wrose.^{[citation needed}
  ]
• Lord in Waiting
  from 2010 – 2015.

• FRSE. animal geneticist^[75]

• 2007 British Rally Championship Stars of the Future Rally Champion, Luke Pinder.^[76]
• Old Trafford 1956, vs Australia). A street in the Moorhead district of Shipley has been named Jim Laker Place in his memory and a blue plaque on the house he was born in on Norwood Road.^[77]
• Multiple Isle of Man TT winners, Nick Jefferies, Tony Jefferies and Tony's son David Jefferies.

Writers and journalists

• Poet and writer Nick Toczek
• Daily Telegraph columnist Michael Wharton.
• Writer Leo Walmsley^[78]

See also

• Bracken Hall Countryside Centre and Museum
• Saltaire United Reformed Church
• Shipley College
• Esholt
• Airedale line
• Frizinghall railway station

References

Bibliography

• Burrows, Dorothy (c. 1986). Shipley – a look at the past.
  ISBN 0-948423-01-3
  .
• The Edinburgh Gazetteer, or, Geographical Dictionary. Vol. 5. Edinburgh, Scotland: Archibald Constable & Co. 1822. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
• Firth, Gary (1996). Shipley and Windhill.
  ISBN 0-7524-0615-9
  .
• Sheeran, George (1984). Village to Mill Town: Shipley and its Society 1600–1870. Bradford: Bradford Libraries.
• Shipley Fowk Talking. Shipley, West Yorkshire: Shipley Community History Group. 1986.
• Watson, Ian (1989). In The Shadow Of The Rosse. Shipley, West Yorkshire: Shipley and District Local History Society.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shipley, West Yorkshire.

• Shipley at
  Curlie
• The ancient parish of Bradford: historical and genealogical information at GENUKI (Shipley was in this parish)..