Lindley, Huddersfield

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Lindley is a suburb of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom, situated approximately 2 miles from the town centre in a North-Westerly direction. The name for Lindley comes from the Saxon for "flax meadow" or possibly from the Germanic word lind denoting an area of linden (or lime) trees

Probably established by the Angles in the 600s as a farming community, it is mentioned in the Domesday Book under the names "Lilleia". In the reign of Edward the Confessor it was owned by Godwin, and in the reign of William the Conqueror it was being cultivated by Ulchel for Ilbert de Lacy, the Sheriff of Hertfordshire and descendant of the French noble family from Lassy. At that time, Lindley consisted of two farmsteads totalling "5 quarantens by 2 quarantens".

Lindley is the location for the Huddersfield's main hospital, the Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, which is in the Central Huddersfield Primary Care Trust, a part of the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust. In 1951, the scheme for building the new Infirmary was announced, with the initial cost being five and a half million pounds. Work started in 1957 but progress was slow with the hospital's official opening being in 1967 by Huddersfield born Harold Wilson, the Prime Minister at that time.

The Lindley Clock Tower is the most prominent landmark in Lindley, standing at the junction between Lidget Street and Daisy Lea Lane. This Art Nouveau clock tower was designed by the Manchester architect Edgar Wood in 1900 and erected by James Nield Sykes (a local JP) in 1902. The tower also features four buttress figures, four gargoyles and four friezes.

Lindley Clocktower.

The top of the tower is accessible via the doorway at its foot.

Lindley is also the home of Huddersfield-born song writer/producer Pádraig. Actress Zoe Lucker spent her childhood in Lindley.

Lindley topped the bill in a survey carried out in 2006 by the Royal Bank of Scotland. By creating an algorithm factoring aspects such as desirability, return on investment and affordability, the survey results claimed to list the top 10 locations throughout the UK for first time buyers to get on the property ladder.

[edit] Schools

Lindley is home to Lindley Junior and Infants School on George Street. It is for 4 to 11 year olds and is next to a busy housing estate. There are around 500 pupils in the school and the number is growing.