Farnley, West Yorkshire

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

See also Farnley, in North Yorkshire.

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2008)

Farnley village (also known as Old Farnley), is a district in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Farnley is 2 miles (3 km) south west of Leeds City Centre, between Wortley, Bramley and surrounding countryside, in the LS12 Leeds postcode area. The village was mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book as Fernelei. New Farnley is a nearby commuter village.

1 Farnley
2 New Farnley
3 Footnotes
4 External links

[edit] Farnley

At the lower area of Old Farnley sits St Wilfrid's Church. St Michael's church is in Farnley park near the stately home of Farnley Hall.^[1]

Old Farnley has a lower set of shops, consisting of a pizza takeaway, a newsagents, a mini-mart, a butchers and Cow Close library. The area also has an upper set of shops consisting of a hair salon, a newsagents, a mini-mart and a sandwich shop. Farnley has several area schools, Cobden Primary, Lawns Park Primary School and Farnley Park High School.

Old Farnley is the western terminus for First Leeds bus routes 5 and 42. It is likely that past bus operators in Leeds coined the name Old Farnley to avoid confusion with New Farnley, just as earlier New Farnley would have been so named to avoid confusion with the older Farnley.

In 1904, Farnley Civil Parish was abolished to create the Armley and Bramley Civil Parish. The civil parish had included slightly more than the area between the ring road, Wood Lane, Back Lane, Tong Road and Park Spring; in particular it included New Farnley. The population of the civil parish was 4,351 in 1901 and 4,208 in 1911.^[2]

[edit] New Farnley

New Farnley is a commuter village in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, 3½ miles (6 km) south west of Leeds City Centre, on the A58 Leeds-Halifax main road. New Farnley lies about 1 mile (2 km) south west of Farnley and was part of the Farnley Civil Parish.

It is focused on two historic settlements, Upper Moor Side and the modern focus of New Farnley Village, both of which had nucleated settlements recognisable in early estate maps. There are still late 17th and early 18th-century buildings standing in both locations. It was part of the ancient manor of Farnley, ownership of which was split and held by families including the Harringtons, Nevilles, Brudenells, Danbys and finally, the Armitages.

Stray archaeological finds point to activity from Roman times (although the single known Roman find is a coin from the 3rd-century). A field has the name 'Castle Hill' leading to a local tradition (which appears to have originated with an estate manager of Farnley Hall) that it was the site of a Roman marching camp. The field name first appears in early modern estate maps. But due to ploughing any earthworks that may have been present on the site no longer exist. Nor has the site been investigated by field walking. There are also Saxon field names and remains of medieval ridge and furrow. Other evidence of medieval activity may be the place-name Snittels Farm, a possible corruption of spital, indicating the location of a medieval (leper?) hospital. But there is no archaeological or documentary evidence to support this.

Farnley was heavily wooded until the 19th century, and Farnley Wood was the meeting point for a rebellion against Charles II in 1663 which is known as the Farnley Wood Plot.

There was industrial development of the significant natural resources in the area from the early modern period (if not earlier). This industry led to the rapid expansion of settlement with the construction of workers housing in the 19th century. Despite this industrial activity a number of farms are still working in the area.

As the population increased, St James's church and the Lancastrian School were built, both of which originally served as chapels of ease. There was also a methodist chapel. Alms houses were built in the 19th century along with a village school. Local amenities included a recreation ground. There were a number of shops including a Cooperative with grocers, butchers and drapers.

New Farnley now has a village shop, fish and chip shop, doctors' office, pub, barber's, beauty salon, post office, Cobden Primary and Lawns Park Primary Schools, Farnley Park High School, and two churches. The centrally-located community centre is run and owned by the residents of the community on a voluntary basis. It is a hub for the activities of the village, is home to a local Mums and Tots group, and hosts several community nights, e.g. Halloween, Christmas etc.