Drighlington

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Drighlington is a small village 5 miles (9 km) south west of Leeds and 4 miles (6 km) south east of Bradford in the county of West Yorkshire, England. The village is at the junction of the A58 Leeds-Halifax road and the B6135 Tong to Gildersome Street road which used to be part of the A650 Bradford to Wakefield road. The junction is known as the Drighlington Crossroads. The A650 now the bypasses Drighlington to the west of the village.

Since local government changes in 1974, Drighlington has been in the City of Leeds metropolitan district, in the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire. The metropolitan district includes many other towns and villages with their own clear identity, such as Morley and Otley as well as the city of Leeds. Drighlington is in the Morley North ward, which elects three councillors to Leeds City Council, and is in the Morley and Rothwell parliamentary constituency. Drighlington has a Bradford postcode of "BD11" and the Royal Mail preferred address is "Drighlington, BRADFORD", while the village telephone numbers are "0113", the Leeds prefix.

Historically, Drighlington was in the West Riding of Yorkshire in the ancient parish of Birstall. The Ecclesiastical Parish of Drighlington was created in 1817. Drighlington was an Urban district 1894-1937, and was then part of Morley Municipal borough 1937-1974.^[1] Drighlington was part of the Bradford Registration district from 1837-1891 and North Bierley Registration district from 1892-1937.^[2]

In this small village there are a few shops, pubs and one school (Drighlington Primary School) and a Post Office. Drighlington has football, rugby and cricket teams, and a golf course called "The Manor". In Drighlington there is also a new skate park and multi courts.

The name of the village is often shortened to "Drig".

Bradford residents like to think of Drighlington as a part of Bradford as it's closer to Bradford centre than Leeds and also has a Bradford post code.^{[citation needed]} This quiet picturesque, leafy middle class village would raise the profile of Bradford, but as above it is a part of Leeds.

[edit] History

The earliest mention of Drighlington is to be found in the Domesday Book where it is described as “Dreslin(g)tone", and its modern name is derived from this root. The old Roman road from York to Chester ran through the village

In 1576 Queen Elizabeth I granted Letters of Patent to one James Brooke allowing him to hold a market every second Thursday and two horse and cattle fairs annually. These fairs took place at the White Hart Public House (now demolished).

The village is also the site of the Battle of Adwalton Moor fought on 30 June 1643 in the First English Civil War between the armies of King Charles I and the Parliamentarians. The Royalist army under the Earl of Newcastle defeated that of Parliament under the command of Lord Ferdinando Fairfax and his son Sir Thomas. There are four commemorative stones with plaques depicting the battle at strategic points around the common and there is an information board on the wall of the community hall.

James Margetson was a native of Drighlington of humble origins who eventually became Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland. He built the Drighlington Free Grammar School and he endowed the school to the extent of £60.00 a year, a significant sum in 1678. This school was superseded in 1875 by the Drighlington Board School.

St Paul’s Church was built in 1878 and the foundation stone was laid by the Lord of the Manor on 9th September 1876