| Horsforth | |
Town Street, Horsforth |
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Horsforth
Horsforth shown within West Yorkshire |
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| Population | 18,928 (2001) |
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| OS grid reference | SE236376 |
| Parish | Horsforth |
| Metropolitan borough | City of Leeds |
| Metropolitan county | West Yorkshire |
| Region | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LEEDS |
| Postcode district | LS18 |
| Dialling code | 0113 |
| Police | West Yorkshire |
| Fire | West Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| UK Parliament | Pudsey |
| Leeds North West | |
| List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire | |
Horsforth is a town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England, lying to the north west of Leeds. It has a population of 18,928.[1] Horsforth was considered to have the largest population of any village in the United Kingdom during the latter part of the nineteenth century. It became part of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in 1974, and became a civil parish with town council in 1999.
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Horsforth was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Horseford, Horseforde, Hoseforde and its name derives from horse and ford. This refers to a river crossing on the River Aire, probably used for the transportation of woollen goods to and from Pudsey, Shipley and Bradford. The original ford was situated off Calverley Lane (near the Calverley Bridge Zero Waste Sort Site), but was replaced by a stone footbridge at the turn of the 19th century.
The three unnamed Saxon thegns that held the land at the conquest gave way to the king and then lesser Norman nobles, but it was not long after this that most of the village came under the control of Kirkstall Abbey, a Cistercian house founded in 1152 on the bank of the River Aire downstream of Horsforth.
After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, Horsforth was partitioned and sold to five families, one was the Stanhopes who achieved supremacy and controlled the village for the next 300 years. The estate record of the Stanhopes is regarded as one of the most extensive and important collections of its kind, complementing the extensive mediaeval record associated with Kirkstall Abbey.
Until the mid 19th century Horsforth was an agricultural community which expanded rapidly with the growth of the nearby industrial centre of Leeds. At Woodside was founded in about 1820 the tannery business of the Watson family, at the eastern edge of their small family farm, now memorialised by Tanhouse Hill Lane. [2]The business transformed into a soap manufacurer which moved in 1861 to Whitehall Road in Leeds and under the chairmanship of Joseph Watson junior, created Baron Manton in 1922, as Joseph Watson & Sons Ltd, became the largest soap supplier to the NE of England, second in size nationally only to the Liverpool firm of Lever Brothers.[3]Industrially, Horsforth has a long history of producing high quality stone from its quarries. Not only did it supply Kirkstall Abbey with building materials and millstones in the medieval period, it provided the stone for Scarborough seafront and sent its prized sandstone from its Golden Bank quarry as far afield as Egypt. Situated on Horsforth Beck (Oil Mill Beck) were a string of mills serving the textile trade, but a large area of the town still reflects its original function as an agricultural community.
Between 1861 and 1862, there was an outbreak of typhoid in Horsforth.[4]
In the late nineteenth century it achieved note as the village with the largest population in England. Railways, turnpike roads, tramways, and the nearby canal made it a focus for almost all forms of public and commercial transport and sealed its fate as a dormitory suburb of Leeds. Despite its large population and extensive commercial activity this role appears to have stopped it achieving independent town status and it remained a village (as Horsforth urban district) until its inclusion in the City of Leeds metropolitan district when this was created in 1974. However, in 1999 a parish council was created for the area, which then exercised its right to declare Horsforth a town.[5]
Horsforth Village Museum[6] has collections and displays that aim to illustrate aspects of life set against the backdrop of the changing role of the village.
During World War II the £241,000 required to build the corvette HMS Aubretia was raised entirely by the people of Horsforth. In 2000 the then US President Bill Clinton acknowledged Horsforth's contribution to the war effort in a letter sent to local MP Paul Truswell.[7] The letter now resides in the museum.
Horsforth railway station is on the Harrogate Line between Harrogate and Leeds City. The station lies just outside the Horsforth parish boundary, on the Cookridge side of Moseley beck.
Newlay station, which was built as part of the Midland Railway, was renamed Newlay & Horsforth station in 1889. This station was situated south of the River Aire and was accessible from Horsforth on Pollard Lane (the road connecting Horsforth to Bramley).[8] The station, which was on the Airedale Line (Leeds-Shipley-Skipton), was renamed Newlay station in 1961. It closed on 22 March 1965, along with other stations on the Airedale Line: Armley Canal Road, Kirkstall, Calverley & Rodley and Apperley Bridge.
The town is served by First Leeds bus routes:
The nearest airport to Horsforth is Leeds Bradford International Airport, located in Yeadon
Leeds Trinity University College (formerly Leeds Trinity & All Saints College) is now an independent higher education college after a period as an accredited college of the University of Leeds. The residential campus is located off Brownberrie Lane, Horsforth.
The main secondary school is Horsforth School.[9]
Horsforth's state sector primary schools are West End Lane Primary School, St Margaret's Primary School, Newlaithes Primary School, Westbrook Lane Primary School, Broadgate Lane Primary School, St. Mary's Catholic Primary School and Featherbank Primary School.
Featherbank School opened in 1911 as a primary school, replacing the Grove Day School. The school's Infant Department was moved to the Grove Methodist Church on Stanhope Drive in 1933, but in 1960 transferred to the Featherbank School annexe. In 1972 Featherbank juniors (7–11 years) were allocated places at the newly-built Newlaithes Junior School, at which point Featherbank became purely an infants' school (4–7 years).[10] In September 2011 Featherbank reverted to a full primary school.
There is also the independent primary school, Froebelian School (ages 3–11).
Horsforth is notable for having a large percentage of sandstone buildings sourced from local quarries, more than any other part of Leeds. A draft design statement[11] was produced in 2010, which summarizes much of the architectural and historical character, to help when considering new planning applications.
The main churches in Horsforth are;
Horsforth has an ever increasing number of pubs and bars. Longstanding pubs in Horsforth include:
and on New Road Side:
A regular event in Horsforth is the 'Horsforth Mile' pub crawl.[12] This usually starts off at the Fox and Hounds next to the railway station, although this is regarded by many as being in Cookridge, so an alternative is to begin at The Old Ball, and meander through at least 10 pubs in the town.
More pictures available from the Horsforth LS18 group on flickr More pictures also at Horsforth action group on flicker
| Yeadon | ||||
| Rawdon | Cookridge | |||
| Horsforth | ||||
| Bramley |
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