Birstall, West Yorkshire

infobox UK place

country = England
official_name= Birstall
map_type= West Yorkshire
latitude= 53.717
longitude= -1.6351
population = 8,740
metropolitan_borough= Kirklees
metropolitan_county = West Yorkshire
region= Yorkshire and the Humber
post_town= BATLEY
postcode_district= WF17
postcode_area=WF
dial_code= 01924
os_grid_reference= SE241242
static_

static_image_caption = The Joseph Priestley Statue at Birstall Market Place

Birstall is a large village roughly 6 miles south-west of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England and part of the metropolitan borough of Kirklees. It features a quaint triangular Victorian marketplace, which replaced an earlier market on High Street in the Georgian area of the village further up the hill. There is still a market on Thursdays.

Situated centrally between Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield and Wakefield close to the M62 motorway, Birstall has always benefited from good transport links but more recently has seen massive growth because of the expansion of Leeds resulting in a growth of commuters wishing to live in more rural surroundings. At its outskirts, there is also a retail park featuring an IKEA store, Borders bookshop, Habitat, Next and Showcase Cinemas complex.

Birstall does not feature in the Domesday Book but is alluded to as one of two main settlements within Gomersal, and was listed in 'Pigot's National Commercial Directory for 1828-29' as one of the four villages which make up the township of Gomersal.

Prior to 1937, Birstall had its own Urban District Council when financial discrepancies forced an unpopular merger with the UDC of neighbouring Batley. Just over 30 years later, this, in turn was merged into Kirklees when the metropolitan councils were formed.

The Yorkshire Dictionary stated that there was once a common phrase "cahr quiet li' the' do i' Birstall". However, no reason was given for why Birstall was associated with keeping quiet, although locals insist that it is because no Birstall Luddites were ever arrested. A more recent version of this phrase is "tha bess says nowt lahk fowk in Birstall do".

History

Birstall is most famously the birthplace of Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of Oxygen amongst many other things. Priestley was tutored extensively by the then Vicar of Birstall, a highly educated Edinburgh man with a keen interest in science. He was also a pupil at Batley Grammar School for Boys, founded in 1612 by the Rev. William Lee, and the school still remains on Carlinghow Hill (approximately one mile from Birstall).

Also born here was John Nelson, a stonemason who was converted by Charles Wesley to Methodism whilst working in London and who returned to Birstall and became one of Wesley's most important preachers.

Birstall enjoyed prosperity even before the Industrial Revolution, being within a small area that was a centre of excellence for the English white cloth industry. However, the Industrial Revolution saw massive growth, and the architecture of the period still dominates today. The wider area became known as the Heavy Woollen District, although the decline in textile production has led to a decline in its usage; it is still used in local sport however. Most notable of the features of this period is the cobbled market place sporting a statue of Priestley which was erected in 1912 by public subscription and sculpted by Frances Darlington. It is one of very few pieces of her work on public display.

The local council's area committee has recently committed to investing £900,000 in refurbishing Birstall marketplace and "regenerating" the village after a long, hard campaign by locals. The marketplaces original stone cobbles will be removed in the regeneration project and replaced with newer, smoother stone setts due to the original stones being a health and safety risk. It has been suggested that some of the older cobbles may be used in the new design, around the Joseph Priestley Statue. [http://www.birstalltoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=372&ArticleID=2696376 Birstall News] "Historic cobbles may be kept in village revamp"]

Birstall features the picturesque St Peter's church dating to the time of Henry VIII, although the original tower is much earlier and may have been part of the original "Burgh Stall" or "Fortified Place". Nearby, sits Oakwell Hall, an Elizabethan manor house romanticised by Charlotte Brontë as 'Fieldhead' in her novel "Shirley".

Also of interest is an 18th century windmill which stands in the grounds of St Saviour's Junior School and has provided local names such as 'Windmill Estate' and 'Millers Croft'.

Anyone interested in the history of Birstall should pay a visit to the Black Bull Inn, situated directly behind [http://www.stpetersbirstall.co.uk/ St Peter's church] on Kirkgate. The pub has dozens of photographs of the village, most dating from around the 1900 to 1930 period, and its upstairs room once housed a debtors' Court room for Birstall and Batley.

Location grid

References

External links

* [http://www.lostrailwayswestyorkshire.co.uk/leeds%20new%20line%205.htm#Birstall%20town Upper Birstall Railway Station]
* [http://www.lostrailwayswestyorkshire.co.uk/Birstall%20Goods.htm Lower Birstall Railways Station]
* [http://www.birstalltoday.co.uk/ Birstall News]
* [http://www.oakwellhall.f9.co.uk/ Oakwell Hall]
* [http://www.stpetersbirstall.co.uk/ St Peters Church, Birstall]
* [http://www.mikewood.org.uk/ Website of Mike Wood, the village's Member of Parliament]