Chickenley

Chickenley is a large council estate in the east of Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England. It was originally a farming hamlet, half-way between Ossett and Dewsbury. An old story is that when the May Pole was built in the Gawthorpe area of Ossett in 1840, some men from Chickenley came to tear it down again.

After the Second World War, a large estate was built on the landscape. The estate is by far the largest in the town and has few shops within it. Chickenley has a local reputation as one of the few areas of Dewsbury to have remained almost entirely White. At times, local support for the British National Party has been high; the local elections of 4 May 2006 saw the BNP gain the "Dewsbury East" ward, which includes the estate - but the seat was regained by Labour in the 5 May 2007 election.

An oddity of the area is that it has no Church of England church, although there is St Thomas More Catholic Church, opposite Chickenley Community School on Chickenley Lane. Until recently, Chickenley was linked with the Gawthorpe area of Ossett in a Church of England parish. The C.ofE. St Mary's Church lies right at the border, on the Ossett side. However, the estate is now part of the large parish of Dewsbury, which has several churches within its area.

It`s name originates from the ley lines that are said to run across the country, and was a chicken farm that was built onto the line.It is mentioned in the Doomsday Book, which will verify this addition.And that is how it became Chickenley.