Rastrick

Rastrick

St Matthew's Church, Rastrick.
Rastrick

 Rastrick shown within West Yorkshire
OS grid reference SE140217
Metropolitan borough Calderdale
Metropolitan county West Yorkshire
Region Yorkshire and the Humber
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town BRIGHOUSE
Postcode district HD6
Dialling code 01484
Police West Yorkshire
Fire West Yorkshire
Ambulance Yorkshire
EU Parliament Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament Calder Valley
List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire

Rastrick is a village in the county of West Yorkshire, England, near Halifax. It is perhaps best known for its association, along with its neighbour Brighouse, with the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band. Along with Brighouse, it is part of Calderdale, but shares a Huddersfield postcode and phone number.

The village is on an incline facing north-east, the Parish Church, is vertically in the middle.

The area around the Parish Church is known as "Top o' t'Town" and the area around the Junction public house is known as "Bottom o' t'Town", this reflects the days when Rastrick had its own governance in the form of a Town Board whose Offices and lock-up were situated halfway between the two, on Ogden Lane.

Remains of a fort have been found at Castle Hill, just below Top o' Town.

Contents

History

The name Rastrick is thought to be Viking in origin, with the "..ick" formation being common to many Norwegian Viking placenames, including "Jorvick", the Viking name for York.

Rastrick is well known for its pubs and the "Rastrick Run" is a popular pub crawl.

Rastrick, and the variation Raistrick are English surnames, originating from the area of the town.

Geography

Geographically Rastrick comprises all the part of the old Borough of Brighouse situated South of the Calder and currently is bordered by the M62 motorway and the Elland Edge boundary with the former Elland U.D.C. It is neighboured by the towns of Brighouse and Elland and villages of Fixby and Ainley Top.

Community facilities

Rastrick has its own Library which can be found on Crowtrees Lane and a Doctors at Rastrick Health Centre which is on Chapel Croft. A second Doctors surgery is situated at the junction of Castle Avenue and Field Top Road.

Landmarks

The highest point in the village is Round Hill which adjacent to the grounds of Rastrick Cricket Club. This appears man made but is thought to be of natural origin.[1]

Transport

The nearest railway station is named Brighouse but it is actually situated in Rastrick. An extensive bus service is provided by several operators under the guidance of the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive.

Education

Rastrick has two secondary schools, Rastrick High School and Rastrick Independent School. Rastrick has several primary schools, including Carr Green Junior, Infant and Nursery School, Castlefields Infants School, Field Lane Primary School and Longroyde Junior School. The William Henry Smith residential SEBD School is on Boothroyd Lane.

Religious sites

There are two Anglican churches in the village. St Matthew's Church, which is used jointly by the Anglicans and the Methodists and is situated on Church Street. Across the road from this Church is Rastrick Parish Centre, the Church hall for St Matthew's Church. The Church of St John the Divine is located off Gooder Lane close to Brighouse railway station.[2] Both St Matthew's and St John's share the same Church of England vicar.

Sport

The Cricket Club in Rastrick, Rastrick CC, is found next to Round Hill, the highest point in Rastrick. Round Hill is a popular playing area for children in the area.

Rastrick Bowling Club is situated at the bottom of Toothill Bank which has many local bowling teams and entertainment nights, and is also a good venue for parties.

Notable people

Rastrick was the birthplace of religious writer Margaret Barber who wrote under the pseudonym Michael Fairless, and the hard to pigeonhole polymath Wilf Lunn

References

The history of Brighouse, Rastrick, and Hipperholme; with monorial notes on Coley, Lightcliffe, Northowram, Shelf, Fixby, Clifton and Kirklees (1893), Turner, J. Horsfall (Joseph Horsfall)

External links