Churwell

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Churwell is a small village in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England between Leeds City Centre and Morley. It is 3 miles (5 km) southwest of Leeds City Centre and 1.5 miles (2 km) away from the Leeds United Elland Road Football Ground.

Churwell is centred around "Churwell Hill" which is made up of two roads - Elland Road and Victoria Road. The road changes name roughly three quarters of the way up. Local ale houses; 'The Commercial', 'Golden Fleece' and 'New Inn', also known locally as 'top oyle', 'middle oyle' and 'bottom oyle', relating to their position on the hill down Elland Road.

Churwell once had a poor house. The building still exists but has since been converted into the community centre. The old poor house, now a Grade 2 listed building is at risk of being lost. Councillors (Morley Borough Independent Party) are wanting to sell the property off and build a new community centre elsewhere.

The village expanded considerably in the early 1960s with new private and council housing developments, particularly to the north on land between School Street and the then-Leeds City boundary. In the 1980s, the old stone Churwell Primary School in School Street was demolished and relocated to modern premises in the village. Houses now stand on the old school site.

Despite this, Churwell still retains its semi-rural feel with farms nearby cultivating, in particular, vegetables and rhubarb.

Tragedy hit the village in 1962, when a motorcyclist ploughed into a group of girls returning from Sunday school on Churwell Hill, killing two and injuring several others.

In 1923, a runaway tram ran down Churwell Hill and ended in tragedy. Six people were killed and 35 injured when the brakes failed and the tram crashed into a field wall at Cottingley.^[1]

[edit] Churwell New Village

During recent years, since 2001, a considerable amount of housing development has taken place, one notable area is Churwell New Village a development with more than 350 new residencies, planners estimate 0.5 cars per household. The development is on an old industrial area, that once had a pit, brick works and later a junk yard, some of the area was green field and the development was opposed by residents.

The development is near to the Cottingley railway station on the Huddersfield Line towards Leeds. This has been one factor in the increased useage of station.