Visit Batley Places

Welcome to Visit Batley Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Batley

  

Batley Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Batley

---

Batley history

---

Batley is recorded in the Domesday Book as ‘Bateleia’. After the Norman conquest, the manor was granted to Elbert de Lacy and in 1086 was within the wapentake of Morley. It subsequently passed into the ownership of the de Batleys, and by the 12th century had passed by marriage to the Copley family. Their residence at Batley Hall was held directly from the Crown; at this time the district was part of the Duchy of Lancaster. Howley Hall in Soothill was built during the 1580s by Sir John Savile, a member of the great Yorkshire landowners, the Savile family. The house was besieged during the English Civil War in 1643 before the Battle of Adwalton Moor but appears to have sustained no serious damage. It continued to be occupied during the 17th century but fell into disrepair. Howley Hall was demolished in 1730. Many ruins exist including the cellars of its great hall. During the late 18th century the main occupations in the town were farming and weaving. The Industrial Revolution reached Batley in 1796 with the arrival of its first water powered mills for carding and spinning. During the next half century the population grew rapidly, from around 2,500 at the start of the 19th century to 9,308 at the 1851 census. The parish of Batley at this point included Morley, Churwell and Gildersome, with a total population of 17,359. Before the industrial revolution, wool was made in Batley for centuries as a cottage industry. Samuel Jubb, a 19th century mill owner and local historian, noted that this was “a manufacture for which the place is well adapted, on account of its possessing a good supply of water and coal, and its central situation in relation to the principal local markets, being about equidistant from Leeds, Huddersfield, Bradford, Halifax, and Wakefield.” The water he referred to was the large aquifer beneath the town, which was tapped for cleaning and dying wool. A toll road built in 1832 between Gomersal and Dewsbury had a branch to Batley (the present day Branch Road) which allowed for “the growing volumes of wool, cloth and coal” to be transported. Until then there had only been foot and cart tracks. Around the same time there were strikes in the mills, which led to an influx of Irish workers who settled permanently. Initially this led to antagonism from residents, due to the lower wages paid to the Irish workers and general anti-Roman Catholic sentiment, but this faded in time. By 1853 Catholic services were held regularly in the town; its first Roman Catholic church, St Mary of the Angels, was not built until 1870 and is still in existence. By 1848 there was a railway station in Batley, and in 1853 Batley Town Hall was erected. It was enlarged in 1905, and is in the Neoclassical style, with a corbelled parapet and pilasters rising to a centre pediment. In 1868 Batley was incorporated as a municipal borough, the former urban district of Birstall was added to it in 1937. 1853 also saw the establishment of a small confectionery shop by Michael Spedding. His business expanded, moving to larger premises in 1927 becoming Fox’s Biscuits. Today, along with Tesco, it is one of the largest employers in the town. During the late 19th century, Batley was the centre of the shoddy and mungo trade in which wool, rags and clothes were recycled by reweaving them into blankets, carpets and uniforms. In 1861 there were at least 30 shoddy mills in Batley. The owners of the recycling businesses were known as the “shoddy barons”. There was a “shoddy king” and a “shoddy temple”, properly known as the Zion Chapel. This imposing building in the town centre was opened in 1870, and reflected the popularity of the Methodist movement. The chapel is still active today. At the close of the 19th century, growth in population changed the form of governmental institutions above the parish of Batley; the Morley division of the wapentake of Agbrigg and Morley was disused as special purpose districts were formed. The library was built in 1907 with funds donated by the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The library has been modernised, with a new microfilm viewer, and reels of the Batley News dating back over 120 years. The newspaper was founded by James Fearnsides – a local printer. His grandson Clement, later became the mayor of Batley. There was coal mining in Batley at this time. The first records of coal mining in Batley date back to the 16th century at White Lee; the last pit in the town closed in 1973. In 1974 responsibility for local government passed to Kirklees Metropolitan Council, with its headquarters in Huddersfield.

Religion

Batley Parish Church was built in 1485 and contains parts of a 13th century predecessor. Methodism came to Batley in the 1740s through the evangelism of John Nelson, a lay preacher from Birstall.

Batley culture & places

Wilton Park (Batley Park) is a large park between the town centre and Birstall. In its grounds are the Milner K. Ford Observatory (built in 1966 and home to the Batley & Spenborough Astronomical Society) and Bagshaw Museum. The Yorkshire Motor Museum had a collection of cars dating back to 1885.

Batley landmarks

Landmarks around Batley include Oakwell Hall, Bagshaw Museum, Wilton Park, Mount Pleasant stadium, and All Saints Church, a Grade I listed building.

Batley geography / climate

Batley includes the districts of Batley Carr, Carlinghow, Cross Bank, Hanging Heaton, Healey, Lamplands, Carlton Grange Mount Pleasant, Soothill, Staincliffe, Upper Batley and White Lee.

You can visit Batley places with Walkfo Batley to hear history at Batley’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Batley has 48 places to visit in our interactive Batley map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Batley, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Batley places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Batley & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 48 audio facts unique to Batley places in an interactive Batley map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Batley Places Map
48 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

---

–

Batley historic spots	Batley tourist destinations	Batley plaques	Batley geographic features
Walkfo Batley tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Batley

  

Best Batley places to visit

---

Batley has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Batley’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Batley’s information audio spots:

Healds Hall Healds Hall was built in 1764 and was a private residence for several notable people. In 1926 it became the headquarters and museum for the Spen Valley Literary and Scientific Society. It is now a hotel, restaurant and function venue.

St Peter’s Church, Birstall St. Peter’s Church in Birstall, West Yorkshire, is an active Anglican parish church. It is in the archdeaconry of Leeds and the Diocese of Leeds.

Foxsons Mill, Staincliffe Foxsons Mill, Staincliffe was a doubling mill in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. It doubled yarns of count’s 4’s to 40’s. It was taken over by Lancashire Cotton Corporation in the 1930s and passed to Courtaulds in 1964.

HWD Hospital Radio HWD Hospital Radio broadcasts to patients and staff of Mid Yorkshire Trust hospitals. The station is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, number 227515.

Birstall, West Yorkshire Birstall is a large village in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire. It is situated between Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield and Wakefield. The town is approximately 6 miles (10 km) south-west of Leeds and situated close to M62 motorway.

Oakwell Hall Oakwell Hall is an Elizabethan manor house in Birstall, West Yorkshire. The Grade I listed hall is set in period gardens surrounded by 110 acres of country park. It was immortalised in literature as “Fieldhead” by Charlotte Brontë, in her novel Shirley.

Batley Town Hall Batley Town Hall is a municipal facility in the Market Place in Batley, West Yorkshire, England. It is a Grade II listed building.

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees. It lies on the River Calder and an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Huddersfield and south of Leeds. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, after undergoing a period of major growth in the 19th century as a mill town.

Batley Batley is a market and mill town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire. In 2011 the population of Batley including Hanging Heaton, Staincliffe, Carlinghow and Birstall Smithies, Copley Hill and Howden Clough was 48,730.

Dewsbury bus station The bus station is situated in Dewsbury town centre next to Aldams Road (A638 road) and can be accessed there and from South Street. The station was rebuilt in 1994 with a main passenger concourse and 19 bus stands.

Visit Batley plaques