Swillington

Swillington
Swillington  Swillington shown within West Yorkshire
Population	3,530 (2001)
OS grid reference	SE385305
Civil parish	Swillington
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	LS26
Dialling code	0113
Police	West Yorkshire
Fire	West Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
EU Parliament	Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament	Elmet
List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire

Swillington is a small village and civil parish near Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough. It is located east of the River Aire and surrounded by streams including Fleakingley Beck. As of 2001, Swillington had a population of about 3,530.

Swillington used to be a coal mining village until the pit closed, which caused major upsets in the community. Where Primrose Hill pit once stood is now a housing estate with streets taken from the collieries name (Primrose Hill Drive, Primrose Hill Green etc). Most residents commute^{[citation needed]} to the nearby cities of Leeds and Wakefield or the towns of Rothwell and Castleford to work.

The Old Church School in Swillington

Swillington has had quite a strong community spirit in the past which probably dates back to the mining days. However, there has been an influx of people from outside of the village in recent years which has detracted this. The village school, the sporting clubs and the drinking establishments are now the vital links keeping the community together.

The village facilities include news agents called the boozeTesco express, kurry king and another take away on Alstly lane, St. Mary's Church, a Post Office, one pub called "The Swillington", a doctors surgery, two Social Clubs, (The Miners Welfare and the Labour Club), a fish and chip shop, a Horse riding centre, a garden centre, a gun shop, a cafe (baugette me not), sun tanning rooms,a garage, a community centre and a parade of shops. The major roads through the village are Wakefield Road (the A642), Swillington Lane and Astley Lane. There are also recreational grounds surviving from the mining days which are used by local people to play sports such as Football, Cricket, Rugby League and Lawn Bowls. Unfortunately the grandstand of the football pitch has not been maintained in recent times and is currently seriously dilapidated.

St.Mary's Church in Swillington

"The Swillington" as it is called is not legally a pub because the historical land owners in the area (the Lowther family) decreed^{[citation needed]} that no pub could ever be built on their lands after they had sold them. Consequently "The Swillington" is a hotel, although its main function is as a licensed bar. Swillington Hall, the seat of the Lowthers was demolished in 1952.

Leventhorpe Vineyard is near the village, and has been recommended by Rick Stein. It was until recently the most northerly commercial vineyard in Britain. (There is now one further north, near Malton.) It was established in 1986 by George Bowden.

Another well recommended local business is Swillington Organic Farm, a fully Soil Association certified farm on the former Lowther estate which has been frequented by celebrity chefs and has produce that was voted the 'Best Meat In Yorkshire' in 2007.

The local school, Swillington Primary School is a medium sized school with around 270 pupils. Swillington does not have its own secondary school so pupils normally go to either Brigshaw High School (which is a specialist language college) or Garforth Community College (which is a specialist performing arts college).

YEDL, the local electricity distribution company, has its overhead line school at Swillington where it trains its apprentice linesmen and qualified linesmen in the correct techniques required to work on the electricity network throughout its license area.

There are several walks which can be taken in the area including the Leeds Country Way which passes through the village.

Nearby villages and towns include Austhorpe, Garforth, Kippax, Castleford, Great Preston, Little Preston, Allerton Bywater, Oulton, Woodlesford, Rothwell, Colton, Swillington common and Methley.

Etymology

The name Swillington is derived from Old English swin "pig" + lēah "wood" + tun "farm". The name was recorded as Svilentone in 1147. Historically Swillington's full title was Swillington-in-Elmet, which refers to the village being part of the former Celtic kingdom of Elmet. However as with many other places the "-in-Elmet" has been lost in modern times with only a few exceptions such as Barwick-in-Elmet and Sherburn-in-Elmet surviving. Nowadays Elmet only exists as a political constituency. Many local people, mainly of the younger generations have taken to abbreviating Swillington to "Swilly".

Sport

The village boasts four local football teams, Swillington Saints Welfare First and Reserves (Saturday) and Swillington Welfare (Sunday), as well as a bowls team, several snooker teams and Swillington Storm RLFC, a rugby league team.

Swillington Saints Welfare AFC first team plays in the West Yorkshire League Division One. The reserve team plays in the Selby District Football League Division Two and in recent seasons has triumphed in the Scania (North East) Cup in 2005 and finished runners-up in the Hardy Cup in 2009. The third team plays in the Leeds Red Triangle Football League.

Swillington Welfare plays in Division One of the Leeds Combination Association Football League.

External links

• Official Swillington Parish Council Website
• Garforth and Swillington Community Website
• LS26 Community website
• The Ancient Parish of Swillington at GENUKI