Elland
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Coordinates: 53°40′59″N 1°50′24″W / 53.683°N 1.840°W
| Elland | |
 A view of Elland |
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 Elland
Elland shown within West Yorkshire |
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| Population | 14,554 |
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| OS grid reference | SE106208 |
| Metropolitan borough | Calderdale |
| Metropolitan county | West Yorkshire |
| Region | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ELLAND |
| Postcode district | HX5 |
| 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 | |
Elland is a market town in Calderdale, in the county of West Yorkshire, England, south of Halifax, by the River Calder and the Calder and Hebble Navigation. The area of Elland was called Elant in the Domesday Book. The town's name is derived from Old English meaning 'land by the water, river or land partly or wholly surrounded by water'.[1] It had a population in United Kingdom Census 2001 of 14,554.[2]
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[edit] History
Mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book as Elant, Elland was a centre of wool production. The decline of the woollen industry had a significant effect on the town, with many of the mills having been demolished or converted to residence.
Elland is one of the relatively few cases retaining continuity of tenure from before the Norman Conquest into the Middle Ages, as the Elland family were, in origin, Anglo-Saxon thegns. The Manor of Elland, with Greetland and Southowram, forms an island of the Honour of Pontefract in the surrounding Manor of Wakefield. In 1350 Sir John de Eland was murdered, as was his son in the following year, which extinguished the family in the male line and the Manor of Elland passed into the hands of the Savile family. From this period, the manor house ceased to be the principal dwelling of a gentry family, as the Saviles had their seat at the moated manor of Thornhill. Elland manor house was therefore never completely reconstructed and, when it was dismantled and excavated in 1975 by the West Yorkshire Archaeology Unit, it was found to incorporate a 13th century solar wing – one of the earliest secular buildings in the county. The manor house stood on a knoll aligned with the bridge over the River Calder and was destroyed during the construction of Calderdale Way bypass. The farm buildings, however, survive.
At the request of John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey, Edward II granted a charter, to John de Eland, for a free market on Tuesday at his Manor of Elland, and two fairs.
Elland has been famous for its durable flagstones which, thanks to the nearby canal, could be transported very economically all over the county.[3][4] Elland was also the main manufacturer of Gannex products[5] and is the home of the sweet factory Dobsons, which is still producing traditional boiled sweets.
Buildings of interest in the town include the Parish church of St Mary's the Virgin, the former Rose and Crown Inn in Northgate, the Old Town Hall off Southgate, Southgate Methodist Church, the reputedly haunted Fleece Inn at the top of Westgate,[6] and Waxman ceramics on Elland Lane.
[edit] Elland power station
Elland power station was a small coal fired power station located by the River Calder. The power station was decommissioned and closed in 1991 and demolished in 1996 keeping with the trend of generating power at fewer but larger power stations away from towns.
[edit] Transport
Elland is served by the Calder and Hebble Navigation, opened to the town in the late 16th century to serve the growing industrialisation of the Calder Valley.
It was served by Elland railway station until closure in 1962; however, the line is still in use as a passenger service for the Caldervale Line.
The A643 road begins in Leeds and used to end in Elland. The A643 Elland Road goes past the Leeds United AFC football ground, which is also named Elland Road. It now ends at junction 23 of the M62 Motorway.
[edit] See also
- Ellands, a surname
- Elland (UK Parliament constituency)
[edit] References
- ^ Calderdale.gov.uk
- ^ Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Urban Areas : Table KS01 : Usual Resident Population Retrieved 2009-08-26
- ^ "Coal Measure Sandstones (Westphalian)". English Stone Forum. http://www.englishstone.org.uk/documents/dimension%20stone%207.html. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
- ^ "A guide to Elland". Information Britain. http://www.information-britain.co.uk/county97/townguideElland/. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
- ^ Martin Wainwright (20 March 2002). "Historic Gannex factory may make for a supermarket". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/mar/20/martinwainwright. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
- ^ "History of The Fleece Inn". Greater Elland Historical Society. http://www.gehs.org.uk/Local%20Stories/fleece_inn.htm. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
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