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===Christ Church===
===Christ Church===
The Anglican [[parish church]], Christ Church, situated on Wharf Street, is a Grade II [[listed building]]. It was built in 1819 by John Oates The [[chancel]] was rebuilt in 1873-74 and the church was re-roofed 1894.<ref>{{cite web|author=Good Stuff |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-339436-christ-church-#.VZMYaPlVhHx |title=Christ Church - Sowerby Bridge - Calderdale - England |publisher=British Listed Buildings |date=15 November 1966 |accessdate=30 June 2015}}</ref> The church is still active and the vicar is Revd. Canon Angela Dick<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.christchurchsb.org.uk/home |title=Christ Church, Sowerby Bridge |publisher=Christchurchsb.org.uk |date= |accessdate=30 June 2015}}</ref>
The Anglican [[parish church]], Christ Church, situated on Wharf Street, is a Grade II [[listed building]]. It was built in 1819 by John Oates The [[chancel]] was rebuilt in 1873-74 and the church was re-roofed 1894.<ref>{{cite web|author=Good Stuff |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-339436-christ-church-#.VZMYaPlVhHx |title=Christ Church - Sowerby Bridge - Calderdale - England |publisher=British Listed Buildings |date=15 November 1966 |accessdate=30 June 2015}}</ref> The church is still active and the vicar is Revd. Canon Angela Dick<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.christchurchsb.org.uk/home |title=Christ Church, Sowerby Bridge |publisher=Christchurchsb.org.uk |date= |accessdate=30 June 2015}}</ref>

The first organ was installed in 1825, four years after the church opened, in the gallery above what is now the parish room. It was built by John Ward of [[York]], who had also built the organ in the Halifax Square Chapel in 1821. This organ was dismantled in 1865 by Conacher of [[Huddersfield]], who provided a "replacement" at a cost of £266. In 1873-74 the church was extended and the organ was moved to its present location from the gallery. But in 1894 a major fire, which started form a candle in the organ, destroyed most of the chancel and nave roof, as well as the organ itself. As part of the reconstruction a new organ, considerably larger than its predecessor, was provided by Abbott & Smith of [[Leeds]]. The organ saw no repairs until 1979, by when the church was unable to afford any restoration. Between 1979 and 1983 a very fine replacement organ, from the closed Bolton Brow [[Methodist Church]], was installed. This had been originally built by [[James Jepson Binns]] of [[Bramley, Leeds]]. Its bellows had originally been pumped by a water engine connected to the [[Rochdale Canal]] below, where the church owned and leased out stables. The present organ retains the fine oak case and just four stops of pipes from the Abbott and Smith organ and incorporates three stops from the organ at [[Warley Town|Warley]] [[Congregational Church]]. The instrument was also converted to electric control between the keyboards and pipes. Some restoration work was completed in 2006. A recent bequest, from the late Fred Seed, has been used to cover the cost of further work.<ref>[http://www.christchurchsb.org.uk/history-of-the-building-2/organ].</ref>


==Government==
==Government==

Revision as of 18:31, 2 July 2015

Sowerby Bridge
Sowerby Bridge skyline
Population9,948 (2001)
OS grid referenceSE058233
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townSOWERBY BRIDGE
Postcode districtHX6
Dialling code01422
PoliceWest Yorkshire
FireWest Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire

Sowerby Bridge /ˌsɔːrbi ˈbrɪdʒ/ is a market town in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England.

History

Always pronounced Sorby Bridge, the town was originally a fording point over the once much-wider River Calder where it joins the River Ryburn. The town takes its name from the historic bridge which spans the river in the town centre. Before the Industrial Revolution the area was divided between the parishes of Sowerby, Norland, Skircoat and Warley. The boundaries between them being the rivers Calder and Ryburn and Warley Clough, which is now largely culverted. Textiles and engineering industry grew up around the bridge. By the mid-19th century the population had grown and the settlement became an urban district in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1894.

From 1892 to 1930 Pollit & Wigzell manufactured stationary steam engines for the cotton and woollen mills of Yorkshire, Lancashire and India. Wood Brothers, an engineering and millwright company, also produced engines from its Valley Iron Works. The Markfield Beam Engine is an example for its work.

Council buildings on Hollins Mill Lane, the old swimming pool, council offices and fire station will be transferred to the community group, Sowerby Bridge Fire and Water, and will be renovated for community use.[1]

Christ Church

The Anglican parish church, Christ Church, situated on Wharf Street, is a Grade II listed building. It was built in 1819 by John Oates The chancel was rebuilt in 1873-74 and the church was re-roofed 1894.[2] The church is still active and the vicar is Revd. Canon Angela Dick[3]

Government

The town is part of the Sowerby Bridge ward of the Metropolitan borough of Calderdale, part of the Metropolitan county of West Yorkshire.[4]

Geography

Sowerby Bridge is situated about 3 miles (4.8 km) from Halifax town centre. It is at the confluence of the River Calder and River Ryburn, and the name Sowerby Bridge references its situation as a crossing point over the River Calder to the older settlement at Sowerby.

The town had a population of 9,948 at the 2001 Census.

Education

There are two high schools in Sowerby Bridge.

Transport

The town is served by Sowerby Bridge railway station, which sees a regular service to Manchester, Bradford and Leeds on the Caldervale Line.

The town is at the junction of the Calder and Hebble Navigation and the Rochdale Canal; Tuel Lane Lock on the Rochdale Canal is the deepest lock in the United Kingdom.[5] The canal basin and warehouses where the canals meet, Sowerby Bridge Wharf, are listed buildings and house the Moorings Bar and Restaurant, 12-04 Restaurant and Temujin Mongolian Restaurant. The basin is the headquarters of the 12th Halifax Sea Scouts (M.o.D. No. 54 Royal Navy recognised) where Prince Charles opened the William Andrew Memorial Headquarters. Shire Cruisers run holiday hire canal barges, build narrow boats and provide mooring facilities.

The canal basin was used as a filming location for the ITV comedy-drama Stay Lucky, and the ITV drama Dead Clever was set in the town. The 2014 BBC One drama Happy Valley was also filmed in the area.

Notable residents

See also: Category:People from Sowerby Bridge

Traditions

Rushbearing, the annual ceremony of (now nominally) taking rushes to churches for covering the floors throughout winter, still takes place here over the first weekend of September.

References

  1. ^ Information
  2. ^ Good Stuff (15 November 1966). "Christ Church - Sowerby Bridge - Calderdale - England". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  3. ^ "Christ Church, Sowerby Bridge". Christchurchsb.org.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  4. ^ "Sowerby Bridge". 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  5. ^ "Deepest Canal Locks". Pennine Waterways.
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