| Sowerby | |
St Peter's Church, Sowerby |
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Sowerby
Sowerby shown within West Yorkshire |
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| OS grid reference | SE042234 |
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| - London | 170 mi (270 km) SSE |
| Metropolitan borough | Calderdale |
| Metropolitan county | West Yorkshire |
| Region | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SOWERBY BRIDGE |
| Postcode district | HX6 |
| Dialling code | 01422 |
| Police | West Yorkshire |
| Fire | West Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| UK Parliament | Calder Valley |
| List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire | |
Sowerby is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies amongst the Pennines, contiguous with Sowerby Bridge, 3.7 miles (6.0 km) west-southwest of Halifax and 7.6 miles (12.2 km) west-northwest of Huddersfield.
Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Sowerby appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, and was one of the most important settlements in its immediate region, long before Halifax began to dominate. The ancient district of Sowerbyshire, a large stretch of forest centred around the town of Sowerby leading down the Ryburn and Calder valleys and almost up to Halifax itself, was at one time an important Royal chase.
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The name Sowerby, is made up from the Norse Sor for sour and suffixed with by representing a parished area.[1] Although outsiders persistently follow the cartographers error in pronunciation, the local pronunciation follows the original Norse. (saw+bi as in 'biscuit').
The town appears in the Domesday Book and was one of Calderdale's most important, long before Halifax assumed the role of district capital. The area formerly known as Sowerbyshire, a large stretch of forest centred around the town of Sowerby leading down the Ryburn and Calder valleys and almost up to Halifax itself, was at one time an important Royal chase.
There long existed a local legend describing the former existence of a castle in Sowerby, the truth of which has since been confirmed by excavations upon 'Castle Hill' at the high end of the old town. Archaeologists there uncovered the decayed foundations of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle, a notably unusual find for West Yorkshire.
Sowerby was the centre of the Sowerby parliamentary constituency until the 1983 general election, when the constituency was expanded and renamed Calder Valley.
Once home to many chapels and churches of several Christian denominations, St. Peter's, an Anglican church of remarkable architectural interest, is now the main focus of religious worship in the town.
John Tillotson, 'The people's priest', Archbishop of Canterbury between 1691 and 1693, was a native of Sowerby. A statue of Tillotson still exists in St. Peter's church and an avenue is named after him in the lower end of the town.
The summer home of the MP for Great Grimsby, Austin Mitchell, is situated within the town, and the mansion of Fieldhouse was the seat of the illustrious Stansfeld family, who contributed much to the local community, including building St. Peter's church. Sowerby Hall, close to the church, was built by Josiah Horton in 1650 and the Rawson family who owned Brockwell contributed a lot to the town in the 18th century.
Another character of note was a certain Robert Hood who lived in the early 13th century and who was established as an outlaw in local magistrates records, this for the crime of hunting the King's deer in a Royal chase. It seems he continued this pursuit without much fear of reprisal as his two sons Richard and John were also later accused of the same crimes. Some amateur historians have pointed out the possibility that in these three we could be looking at another example of the ubiquitous Robin Hood character. However, what marks them apart is that they represent Robin Hood for the first time as a righteous rebel, rather than the brigand he began life as and remained for so long. There has even been low-level speculation as to whether John Hood was in fact the 'Little John' of Robin Hood legend, little referring to the fact he was the younger brother of the two.
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