Cragg Vale | |
---|---|
Location within West Yorkshire | |
Population | 650 (2001) |
OS grid reference | SE005225 |
Civil parish | |
Metropolitan borough | |
Metropolitan county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | HEBDEN BRIDGE |
Postcode district | HX7 |
Dialling code | 01422 |
Police | West Yorkshire |
Fire | West Yorkshire |
Ambulance | Yorkshire |
UK Parliament | |
Cragg Vale is a village in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England, located south of Mytholmroyd on the B6138 road which joins the A58 and the A646. The village is part of Luddendenfoot Ward of Calderdale Council.
There is evidence of human activity on the Yorkshire moors around Cragg from c. 10,000 BC. Flints, not native to West Yorkshire, have been found on Blackstone and Midgley Moors – implying movement of peoples and long-distance trade by this period at the latest.
Later flint spear heads and arrow tips, hunting weapons, have been found in quantity over Manshead and Rishworth moors. So we know Mesolithic tribes hunted around both the Turvin and Cragg areas.
Hunters were constrained to move across the high reaches, which were less heavily wooded, rather than the steep sided valleys – but to cross from top to top they must descend to ford the streams and rivers of the valley bottoms.
Although prehistoric and later peoples were responsible for extensive tree felling and land clearance this did not create the peat moors above Cragg Vale.
Around 5000 BC the climate changed and became much wetter and remained so for over 2,000 years. Soil deteriorated as minerals were washed away, and the land around Cragg became waterlogged. The trees and plant life died away and the peat moors on the tops were created.
We know from place naming and language conventions that ancient Britons (the Brigantes tribe), Anglo Saxons, Vikings, and Romans had a large input into the area of Cragg.
The Romans left little except their (disputed) road over Blackstone Edge as evidence – but there would have been extensive forced population relocation as the engineers and troops pushed forwards.
We know the Romans made a pact with the Brigantes tribe, and that this whole area of West Yorkshire – the centre of the ancient kingdom of Elmet – was ruled by them. Little remains of Elmet but the ancient names. Close by Cragg lies the hamlet of Warley, and not much further away to the west lies Walsden – both names relate to the 'Walh' – a term used for the Britons. This implies a residual British culture after the invasion and takeover by the victorious Anglo Saxons
The Britons were annexed by the Romans by 100 AD, and c. 700 AD the Saxons arrived. Around 1000 AD, the Vikings gained control. They in turn were overcome by the Normans by 1100 AD. Leading into the Medieval period
The primary industry was agriculture, but iron was smelted too, good timber and charcoal was produced, and grain was milled. Local craftsmen produce some cloth, make clothing, farm implements, and utensils while others provide transport services and labour.
Cragg was part of a township called Cruttonstall (later called Erringden) and adjacent to the township of Sowerby (Sorebi from the Norse). All the land between Cragg and Sowerby was gradually cleared of dense forest to make way for agriculture as the population grew.
The land to the West, and a large part of Cragg Vale, was soon to be partly cleared and 'impaled' as a huge deer park and royal hunting ground.
In late Medieval times the deer park fell into disrepair and was finally dispaled. Knights no longer took the rough ride down The Withens toward Wakefield tourney. The wild boars, stags and wolves were in serious decline and sheep were now the major local industry.
During the late 18th century, the area was the home of a band of counterfeiters known as the Cragg Coiners.
Having a good supply of water from the moors, Cragg was always a likely home for industry based on water power. From mid-1700 onwards, water then steam power, and combined water wheel and steam engines dominated the valley with the cloth mills.
There were a number of families involved in mill ownership during this time. Sutcliffes, Greenwoods, and Hinchliffes amongst others. Yet in 1758 there were but 3 mills in Cragg. A paper mill (just up from and on the opposite side of the main road [1] the Robin Hood Inn), [2] a corn mill (at Hoo Hole), and a mill for fulling woven cloth from the farms.
The water driven mills that flourished at Turvin, Marshaw Village (by the Hinchliffe Arms pub) and on Elphin Brook (down Cragg Vale) posed no real threat to local farm based weavers at that time.
However, from 1808 onwards things began to change alarmingly for the worse. Steam power was heavily adopted from around 1805 on. Child labour became the norm. Now began the mill owners infamous abuses.
At one time or another from 1740 to the early 20th century there have existed around 11 mills in Cragg.
Turvin, Victoria, and Pepper Bank mills on Turvin Brook; [3] Marshaw (opposite the Hinchliffe Arms) with New and Vale mills in Withens Clough. Next down Elphin Brook were Castle, Paper (opposite the Robin Hood Inn), Cragg, Hoo Hole, and Scar Bottom mill (Mytholmroyd). By the 1820s these were said to be no place for "any decent human, let alone the children of the poor". [4]
"If there is one place in England that needed legislative interference it is this place; for they work 15 and 16 hours a day frequently, and sometimes all night. Oh! it is a murderous system and the mill owners are the pest and disgrace of society...!" [5]
It is on record that children died at their work in the mills of Cragg. Died from long hours and harsh treatments handed out. While the mill owners William Greenwood ('Old Billy Hard Times') and the Hinchliffe family amassed their fortunes. It took the 1833 factory act just to begin to address the appalling abuse of child labour and workers [6]
A turnpike known as the Mytholmroyd Bridge & Blackstone Edge Turnpike, and also as the Cragg Vale Turnpike [7] was established in 1815:
"... to open a better and more easy communication than there is at present between the very populous and manufacturing town or villages of Hebden Bridge, Heptonstall, Mytholmroyd and other places in the vicinity thereof with Rochdale, Manchester and Oldham ..." [8]
The road runs from County Bridge, Mytholmroyd and up Cragg Road to link with the Halifax to Blackstone Edge turnpike over Blackstone Edge to Rochdale. [9] Tolls were discontinued on 1 November 1873.
The village is part of the Luddendenfoot ward of the Metropolitan borough of Calderdale, part of the Metropolitan county of West Yorkshire. [10]
Although Cragg Vale is a small linear village, it has two pubs The Robin Hood Inn and the Hinchliffe Arms, as well as the former Cragg Vale J and I school and a Caravan and Motorhome Club Site. In the last few years the village has expanded with a children's nursery called The Ark, a recording studio Aspire Technology and an online fancy dress retailer Atlantis Fancy Dress being added to the village. One of the businesses to launch most recently is Preserve Shop, a retailer of jam jars, jam making equipment and kitchenware for home preserving. The main business areas in Cragg Vale are the Top Land Country Business Park, as well as the Craggs Country Business Park further up the valley. Local enterprises include The Little Valley Brewery which produces such locally named brews as Cragg Vale Bitter, Stoodley Stout, Hebdens Wheat & Tod's Blonde among others, Zikodrive Motor Controllers, Visiosound and Vocation Brewery.
Today, Cragg Vale has a population of about 650. It is located at the start of arguably the longest continuous gradient in England (after perhaps Pishill in The Chilterns)- 968 feet over 5.5 miles [11] [12] There is an annual bike race up it; this is a hill climb and normally run by the Yorkshire road club. The record is currently at 14:19 for males and 18:47 for females. In July 2014, the hill formed part of the route of the 2014 Tour de France.
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England.
Mytholmroyd is a large village in the Upper Calder Valley in West Yorkshire, England, 2 miles (3 km) east of Hebden Bridge. It lies 10 miles (16 km) east of Burnley and 7 miles (11 km) west of Halifax. The village, which has a population of approximately 4,000 is in the Luddendenfoot Ward of Calderdale Council and forms part of the Hebden Royd parish.
Heptonstall is a small village and civil parish within the Calderdale borough of West Yorkshire, England, historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The population of Heptonstall, including the hamlets of Colden and Slack Top, is 1,448, increasing to 1,470 at the 2011 Census. The town of Hebden Bridge lies directly to the south-east. Although Heptonstall is part of Hebden Bridge as a post town, it is not within the Hebden Royd town boundaries.
Hebden Bridge is a market town in the Upper Calder Valley in West Yorkshire, England. It is 8 miles (13 km) west of Halifax and 14 miles (21 km) north-east of Rochdale, at the confluence of the River Calder and the Hebden Water. The town is the largest settlement in the civil parish of Hebden Royd.
Todmorden is a market town and civil parish in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is 17 miles north-east of Manchester, 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Burnley and 9 miles (14 km) west of Halifax. In 2011, it had a population of 15,481.
Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, which had a population of 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the upper river flows, while the actual landform is known as the Calder Valley. Several small valleys contain tributaries of the River Calder.
The Calder Valley line is a railway route in Northern England between the cities of Leeds and Manchester as well as the seaside resort of Blackpool. It is the slower of the two main rail routes between Leeds and Manchester, and the northernmost of the three main trans-Pennine routes.
Luddenden is a district of Calderdale 3.1 miles (5 km) west of Halifax on the Luddenden Brook in the county of West Yorkshire, England.
Mytholmroyd railway station serves the communities of Mytholmroyd, Luddendenfoot, Midgley, Cragg Vale, and surrounding areas in West Yorkshire, England. It has disabled access via ramps instead of steps on both platforms, unusually as the station is built on a viaduct. It lies on the Calder Valley Line operated by Northern and is situated 7.5 miles (12 km) west of Halifax and 25 miles (40 km) west of Leeds.
Hebden Royd is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 9,092, rising to 9,558 at the 2011 census. It includes Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd and Cragg Vale. The parish was an urban district before 1974, created in 1937 by the merger of Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd urban districts.
Blackstone Edge is a gritstone escarpment at 472 m above sea level in the Pennine hills surrounded by moorland on the boundary between Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire in England.
Luddendenfoot or Luddenden Foot is a community in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. The population of Luddendenfoot is 2,547, with the wider Calderdale Ward at the 2011 Census as 10,653. It lies along the Upper Calder Valley below the village of Luddenden, between Sowerby Bridge and Mytholmroyd.
Luddendenfoot railway station served the village of Luddendenfoot in West Yorkshire, England, from 1840 until 1962.
Midgley is a hill-top village in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately 12 miles (20 km) east from Burnley and 4 miles (6 km) west-north-west of Halifax, and just north of the A646 road. Nearby villages are Mytholmroyd 1 mile (1.6 km) to the west-south-west, and Hebden Bridge 2.5 miles (4.0 km) to the west-north-west.
The Cragg Vale Coiners, sometimes the Yorkshire Coiners, were a band of counterfeiters in England, based in Cragg Vale, near Hebden Bridge, West Riding of Yorkshire. They produced debased gold coins in the late 18th century to supplement small incomes from weaving.
The River Calder is a river in West Yorkshire, in Northern England.
Thomas Crowther was an evangelical clergyman in the Church of England who served as perpetual curate of St John in the Wilderness at Cragg Vale from 1822 until 1859. He was a friend of the Brontë family and an outspoken critic of the working conditions for children employed in cotton factories.
The Worth Valley is a geographic area in West Yorkshire, England, that extends eastwards from Crow Hill and Oxenhope Moor, providing drainage for the River Worth for nearly 10 miles (16 km) to the River Aire. It is a side valley to Airedale, with the River Worth being a major tributary of the River Aire. The Worth Valley was important for its contribution to the textiles industry of the West Riding of Yorkshire and was furnished with several reservoirs to allow mills to operate within the valley. Most of the reservoirs are still in use into the modern day.