Visit Halifax, West Yorkshire Places

Welcome to Visit Halifax, West Yorkshire Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Halifax, West Yorkshire

  

Halifax, West Yorkshire Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Halifax, West Yorkshire

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Halifax, West Yorkshire history

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Halifax is not mentioned in the Domesday Book, and evidence of the early settlement is indefinite. By the 12th century the township had become the religious centre of the vast parish of Halifax, which extended from Brighouse in the east to Heptonstall in the west. Halifax Minster, parts of which date from the 12th century is dedicated to St John the Baptist. The minster’s first organist, in 1766, was William Herschel, who discovered the planet Uranus. The coat of arms of Halifax include the chequers from the original coat of arms of the Earls Warenne, who held the town during Norman times. Halifax was notorious for its gibbet, an early form of guillotine used to execute criminals by decapitation, that was last used in 1650. A replica has been erected on the original site in Gibbet Street. Its original blade is on display at Bankfield Museum. Punishment in Halifax was notoriously harsh, as remembered in the Beggar’s Litany by John Taylor (1580–1654), a prayer whose text included “From Hull, from Halifax, from Hell, ‘tis thus, From all these three, Good Lord deliver us.”. The town’s 19th-century wealth came from the cotton, wool and carpet industries and like most other Yorkshire towns, it had a large number of weaving mills many of which have been lost or converted to alternate use. In November 1938, in an incident of mass hysteria, many residents believed a serial killer, the Halifax Slasher, was on the loose. Scotland Yard concluded there were no attacks after several locals admitted they had inflicted wounds on themselves. Halifax plc started as a building society, the Halifax Permanent Benefit Building and Investment Society, in the town in 1853. Today the bank operates as a trading name of HBOS, part of the Lloyds Banking Group. Yorkshire Bank, based in Leeds and known as the West Riding Penny Savings Bank, was established on 1 May 1859 by Colonel Edward Akroyd of Halifax. Halifax is twinned with Aachen in Germany. The A58 has a stretch called Aachen Way.

Halifax, West Yorkshire culture & places

The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding) Regimental Association, previously based at Wellesley Park, on the junction of Gibbet Street and Spring Hall Road, in the former Wellesley Barracks is located within the Bankfield Museum on Boothtown Road. The former barracks was converted into an educational school in 2005. Former regimental colours of the ‘Duke’s’ are laid up in the Halifax Minster. These include the stand used by the 33rd Regiment between 1761 and 1771, which is one of the oldest in existence in England, plus those carried by the regiment during the Battle of Waterloo and the Crimea. The 1981 stand of colours, was taken out of service in 2002. They were marched through the town from the town hall to the minster, which at that time was still a parish church, accompanied by two escorts of 40 troops, the Regimental Drums and the Heavy Cavalry and Cambrai Band on Sunday 31 March 2007. The troops were then inspected by the Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, Dr Ingrid Roscoe BA, PhD, FSA and the Mayor of Halifax Cllr Colin Stout making a total of eight stands of colours within the Regimental Chapel. The regiment was presented with the “Freedom of Halifax” on 18 June 1945. Eureka! The National Children’s Museum was inspired and opened by Prince Charles in the summer of 1992 and is in part of the railway station. Once the home of the diarist Anne Lister, Shibden Hall is just outside Halifax in the neighbouring Shibden Valley. Dean Clough, a refurbished worsted spinning mill, is the home of Northern Broadsides Theatre Company and the IOU theatre company as well as providing space for eight art galleries. The Artworks is a collection of artists studios, gallery space and an art school housed in an old mill complex just to the south of the town centre.

Halifax, West Yorkshire toponymy

The town’s name was recorded in about 1091 as Halyfax, from the Old English halh-gefeaxe, meaning “area of coarse grass in the nook of land”. This explanation is preferred to derivations from the Old English halig (holy), in hālig feax or “holy hair”, proposed by 16th-century antiquarians. The incorrect interpretation gave rise to two legends. One concerned a maiden killed by a lustful priest whose advances she spurned. Another held that the head of John the Baptist was buried here after his execution. The legend is almost certainly medieval rather than ancient, although the town’s coat of arms carries an image of the saint. Another explanation is a corruption of the Old English hay and ley a clearing or meadow. This etymology is based on Haley Hill, the nearby hamlet of Healey (another corruption), and the common occurrence of the surnames Hayley/Haley around Halifax. The erroneous derivation from halig has given rise to the demonym Haligonian, which is of recent origin and not in universal use. The Earldom of Halifax took the name of the town. Its first creation, in the Peerage of England in 1677, was for George Savile, who was created Baron Savile of Eland and Viscount Halifax in 1668 and later became the Marquess of Halifax (this creation of the earldom became extinct in 1700). George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, (2nd order of the 3rd creation) became the President of the Board of Trade in 1748. In 1749 the city of Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, Canada, was named in his honour. The Halifax River in Central Florida, United States, was also named after him.

Halifax, West Yorkshire landmarks

Halifax Minster Piece Hall is the former cloth hall, where pieces of woollen cloth were traded. Opened on 1 January 1779, trading took place for two hours on a Saturday morning in a total of 315 merchant trading rooms. After the mechanisation of the cloth industry, the Piece Hall became a public market. Piece Hall is host to many arts, crafts and independent shops. The Piece Hall has recently undergone a £19 million conservation and transformation programme. The works were completed in July 2017, after a three year construction plan which overran by a year and over budget, with the building fully reopened in the August (on Yorkshire day) with shops, cafes and events run by the Piece Hall Charity which runs at a £1 million loss each year. Dean Clough Mill located beside the Victorian Gothic Revival North Bridge was built in the 1840s–’60s for Crossley’s Carpets, owned by John Crossley and was once the largest carpet factory in the world. It was converted into a business park in the 1980s by the late Sir Ernest Hall. Halifax Town Hall was designed by Charles Barry, who also designed the Houses of Parliament, in 1863. Borough Market is a Victorian covered market-place in the town centre. Wainhouse Tower, at King Cross, is a late Victorian folly constructed between 1871 and 1875. Originally intended to be the chimney for a dye works, it became a folly after the dye works was sold in 1874 and the new owner refused to pay for its completion. It is the tallest folly in the world and the tallest structure in Calderdale. People’s Park is a public park originally designed by Joseph Paxton, given to the people of Halifax in 1857 by Sir Francis Crossley. The Prescott Street drill hall designed by Richard Coad and completed in 1870. The Magna Via, an ancient footpath from Wakefield to Halifax. Sections are visible in the Shibden Valley area.

Halifax, West Yorkshire geography / climate

Topographically, Halifax is located in the south-eastern corner of the moorland region called the South Pennines. Halifax is situated about 4 miles (6 km) from the M62 motorway, close to Bradford and Huddersfield. The Tees-Exe line passes through the A641 road, which links Brighouse with Bradford and Huddersfield. The Hebble Brook joins the River Calder at Salterhebble.

You can visit Halifax, West Yorkshire places with Walkfo Halifax, West Yorkshire to hear history at Halifax, West Yorkshire’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Halifax, West Yorkshire has 61 places to visit in our interactive Halifax, West Yorkshire 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 Halifax, West Yorkshire, 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 Halifax, West Yorkshire places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Halifax, West Yorkshire & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 61 audio facts unique to Halifax, West Yorkshire places in an interactive Halifax, West Yorkshire map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Halifax, West Yorkshire Places Map
61 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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

  

Best Halifax, West Yorkshire places to visit

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

Eureka! (museum) Eureka! The National Children’s Museum is an interactive educational museum for children in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, with a focus on learning through play. It is run as an educational charity and not-for-profit organisation. Eureka! is based on the North American model of children’s museums, aimed at families with children aged 0–11 and encourages hands-on inter-generational learning.

Borough Market, Halifax Borough Market is a Victorian covered market in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. The market occupies a town centre site between Southgate, Albion Street and Market Street. The glass and wrought iron covered marketplace, surrounded by stone built shops and accommodation, was built between 1891 and 1896 and opened by the future King George V and Queen Mary. The design included three public houses on the Market Street side and fishmongers’ shops on Albion Street with the remaining exterior shops all being butchers’ shops. The award-winning market is open six days a week with some 125 market stalls.

Wellesley Barracks Wellesley Barracks is a military installation in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest military base in the UK and is located in the city of Halifax.

King Cross King Cross is an ecclesiastical parish created in 1845 in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, West Yorkshire. It is located along the top of a ridge above the town of Halifax. During the English Civil War, King Cross was a key outpost for the Parliamentarians.

St Mary’s Church, Halifax St Mary’s Church or St Marie’s Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Halifax, West Yorkshire. It was built from 1836 to 1839. It is situated on the corner of Gibbet Street and Clarence Street, next to Burdock Way.

High Sunderland Hall High Sunderland Hall was a manor house, built c. 1600 just outside Halifax, West Yorkshire. It was demolished in 1951 after falling into dereliction. The house is perhaps best known for having supposedly provided Emily Brontë with her description of Wuthering Heights.

The Shay Halifax Town football and Halifax Panthers rugby league clubs both play home games at the Shay. The North and South stands were built in the mid-1990s. The Shay lies on the south side of Halifax, about a quarter of a mile from the town centre.

Visit Halifax, West Yorkshire plaques