Liversedge
Coordinates: 53°42′24″N 1°41′24″W / 53.706667°N 1.69°W
| Liversedge | |
 Liversedge
Liversedge shown within West Yorkshire |
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| OS grid reference | SE186240 |
|---|---|
| Metropolitan borough | Kirklees |
| Metropolitan county | West Yorkshire |
| Region | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LIVERSEDGE |
| Postcode district | WF15 |
| Dialling code | 01274 |
| 01924 | |
| Police | West Yorkshire |
| Fire | West Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| UK Parliament | Batley and Spen |
| List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire | |
Liversedge is a township in the former parish of Birstall,[1] in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Liversedge lies between Cleckheaton and Heckmondwike about 14 miles (23 km) southwest of Leeds.
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[edit] Settlements within Liversedge
Liversedge comprises several smaller village like settlements that are all distinctive. Norristhorpe, originally called Dog gus (local dialect translating as "Dog House"), clings to one side of the Spen Valley, looking over the nearby town of Heckmondwike. Roberttown is on the other side of the A62 from here. Millbridge is the geographical centre of Liversedge and together with the neighbouring village of Flush is where the mills of the woollen industry stood. Towards Cleckheaton are the settlements of Hightown, Littletown and Popeley Hill.
Liversedge has a Wakefield postcode (WF15). Some areas have a Wakefield dialing code (01924) while others have a Bradford dialing code (01274). Council Tax payers pay their bill to Kirklees Council, whose headquarters are in Huddersfield.
[edit] History
Liversedge is recorded in the Domesday Book as Livresec, a manor belonging to Radulf, a vassal of Ilbert de Lacy. There are two possible etymologies for the name: from the Old English Lēofheres-ecg meaning 'a ridge or edge belonging to Lēofhere';[2][3][4] or, alternatively, the first element could have originally been *Lēfer-, related to the Old English word lifer used in the sense of 'thick clotted water', and the second element secg, 'a bed of reeds or rushes'.[4]
In the 15th century, the Lord of the manor was a member of the Neville family. At that time the manor of Liversedge was already involved in the rapidly advancing English woollen manufacture. This trade grew with the centuries and by the 19th century it was very busy in the manufacture of woollen goods. In 1812 it was the scene of a Luddite riot at Rawfolds Mill when the local weavers attacked Edmund Cartwright who was in the process of developing his new power loom. See the entry on Cleckheaton for more details.
Liversedge has a church that was built at the time of the Battle of Waterloo. Nearby Healds Hall, formerly the Spenborough Museum, is now an hotel. In the days of Charlotte Brontë it was home to Hammond Roberson whom she transformed into the Reverend Matthewman Helstone in her novel Shirley.
A river known locally as the Spen Beck and previously The Stink, runs through Liversedge.
[edit] Transport
There is only one road sign in the whole area directing motorists towards Liversedge:[citation needed] on the A649 Halifax Road from Bailiff Bridge, with no directions from either the Huddersfield or Dewsbury and Batley sides of the settlement.
[edit] Politics
Politically, for Kirklees Council, the Leeds/Huddersfield Road acts as a boundary between electoral wards. Roberttown, Hightown and Littletown are within the Liversedge and Gomersal ward, while Norristhorpe and Flush are part of the Heckmondwike ward.
[edit] Sport
[edit] Football
Liversedge F.C. are a football club in the football league pyramid, playing in the Northern Counties East Football League Premier Division for the 10-11 season. They play at Clayborn, 1 km from Cleckheaton town centre.
There are also many Sunday League football teams in and around Liversedge playing in the Heavy Woollen Sunday League.
[edit] Cricket
Liversedge Cricket Club play at Roberttown Lane near to the New Inn and play in the Central Yorkshire League.
[edit] Rugby league
In the late 19th century, and prior to the 1895 schism, Harry Varley, and Robert "Bob" Wood played rugby union for England, and Liversedge FC, who were founded in 1877. When the rugby football schism occurred in 1895, Liversedge FC became founder members of the Northern Rugby Football Union (now Rugby Football League). Liversedge FC played for seven seasons from the 1895–96 season through to the end of 1901–02 season, they finished 15th of 22 in the initial combined league, and then 11th, 16th, 15th, 16th, and 16th of 16, and finally 14th of 14, in the Yorkshire Senior Competition, after which they withdrew from the Northern Rugby Football Union. Rugby league in the town is now represented by Liversedge ARLFC, who play behind Spenborough Swimming Pool off Bradford Road, currently play in the Third Division of the Pennine Amateur Rugby League pyramid.
[edit] Notable people
- Ken Mackintosh (1919-2005), bandleader; accompanied the likes of Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey on stage. Among his fans was the late Queen mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, for whom he played twice at Windsor Castle.
- Norman Field (b. 1939), international rugby league footballer.
[edit] Location Grid
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Gomersal | |
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| Cleckheaton |  |
Heckmondwike | ||
 Liversedge  |
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| Mirfield |
[edit] References
- ^ Genuki.org.uk - BIRSTALL: Geographical and Historical information from the year 1868.
- ^ Mills, A.D. (1998). A dictionary of English place names. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192800744.
- ^ Hanks, Patrick (2002). The Oxford names companion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198605617.
- ^ a b Smith, A.H. (1961). The Place-names of the West Riding of Yorkshire: Part III: Morley Wapentake. English Place-name Society. XXXII. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 27–28.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Liversedge |
