| Low Moor | |
|---|---|
 New Works Road | |
  Low Moor Location within West Yorkshire | |
| OS grid reference | SE155285 |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRADFORD |
| Postcode district | BD12 |
| Dialling code | 01274 |
| Police | West Yorkshire |
| Fire | West Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| UK Parliament | |
Low Moor is a village in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England.
Before 1790 Low Moor was nothing but a hamlet where a small number of cottages housed a few handloom weavers who sold their produce in places like the Halifax Piece Hall. The village changed beyond all recognition around 1790 due to the establishment and subsequent rapid growth of the Low Moor Ironworks which was to become a worldwide name. The rapid rise in the number of employees caused a great increase in the local population and the need for housing, churches, shops, pubs and public buildings to meet their needs changed forever Low Moor's image. The image was again changed during the 1960s and 1970s when the whole area was redeveloped.
Low Moor was home to the Transperience museum, which was opened in 1995 but closed in 1997.
On 21 August 1916 when the eyes of the world were concentrated on the titanic struggle in The Somme, there occurred at Low Moor, Bradford one of the most awful industrial disasters ever, in this country. This took place at the premises of the Low Moor Munitions Company, formerly the Low Moor Chemical Company, situated at the bottom of New Works Road, where picric acid, used in the making of high explosives, was being manufactured in large quantities. Efforts were made by the works fire brigade to bring a fire under control, but to no avail. The first of the Bradford firemen to arrive came from Odsal station and were later joined by 18 men from Central. A tremendous explosion occurred which blew them completely off the engine and, in the words of Chief Officer Scott:
within half an hour of turning out to the fire, all 18 men were in the infirmary or killed.
Explosions, large and small occurred at frequent intervals, each scattering blazing debris in all directions, and gradually the whole works were destroyed. At the adjoining North Bierley Works in Cleckheaton Road, a large gasometer containing 270,000 cubic feet (7,600 m3) of gas was ruptured by falling debris. The escaping gas quickly ignited and the heat could be felt almost a mile away. In the nearby railway sidings almost 30 carriages and wagons were destroyed and 100 seriously damaged. Damage to surrounding areas was extensive, with broken windows in all houses and shops for 2 miles (3.2 km) around. Roofs were badly damaged, ceilings brought down and doors were broken, so that for several days, people could not live in their houses and were forced to camp out in neighbouring fields or live with relatives. Some properties were completely demolished by the blast and 29 houses in First Street were erected in 1919 to replace these. One thing which one eyewitness recalls was the number of dogs running away in all directions, later to be found as far away as Wakefield, Huddersfield and Halifax. The official casualty figures given were – 34 people killed and 60 injured. These figures applied only to the works, but outside the works, many more were injured by flying glass and debris. [1]
On Tuesday 21 July 1992 a series of explosions lead to an intense fire broke out in a storeroom in a raw materials warehouse at Allied Colloids site in Low Moor, Bradford.
Low Moor very roughly covers the area bordered by Odsal village green to the north, Wilson Road to the south, the Calder Valley Line with Low Moor railway station to the east, and Huddersfield Road (B6379). Other important roads in the area are Cleckheaton Road, Brighouse Road and Huddersfield Road.
The most dominant landmark in Low Moor is arguably the most dominant landmark in the entire village, Low Moor Iron Works(Solenis). The iron works stand in the central part of Low Moor.
Royds Hall, a Grade II* listed building west of Low Moor, was begun in 1640 and substantially extended in 1770. It was the seat of the Rookes family until 1788 when it was acquired by Joseph Dawson, the then chief technologist of the ironworks. [2]
West Yorkshire is a ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and Derbyshire to the south, Greater Manchester to the south-west, and Lancashire to the west. The city of Leeds is the largest settlement.
Gomersal is a town in Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is south of Bradford, east of Cleckheaton and north of Heckmondwike. It is close to the River Spen and forms part of the Heavy Woollen District.
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.
Cleckheaton is a town in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Bradford, east of Brighouse, west of Batley and south-west of Leeds. It is at the centre of the Spen Valley and was the major town in the former borough of Spenborough. Cleckheaton has a history as a mill town and forms part of the Heavy Woollen District.
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.
East Bowling is an area of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England located to the south of Bradford city centre. It forms the eastern half of the historic township and manor of Bowling. Bowling became a ward of the newly created Borough of Bradford in 1847. In 1882 the ward was split into the wards of East and West Bowling. In the north the boundary was along the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. To the south it was along Hall Lane and Bolling Hall Lane.
Hebden Royd is a 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 market town of Hebden Bridge and the villages of 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.
The A638 is a major road in England. It runs between the A1 at Markham Moor, Nottinghamshire and Chain Bar Interchange – Junction 26 of the M62 motorway, south of Bradford in West Yorkshire.
Low Moor railway station serves the villages of Low Moor and Oakenshaw in the south of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The station is situated on the Calder Valley Line between Bradford Interchange and Halifax.
The Low Moor Ironworks was a wrought iron foundry established in 1791 in the village of Low Moor about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Bradford in Yorkshire, England. The works were built to exploit the high-quality iron ore and low-sulphur coal found in the area. Low Moor made wrought iron products from 1801 until 1957 for export around the world. At one time it was the largest ironworks in Yorkshire, a major complex of mines, piles of coal and ore, kilns, blast furnaces, forges and slag heaps connected by railway lines. The surrounding countryside was littered with waste, and smoke from the furnaces and machinery blackened the sky. Today Low Moor is still industrial, but the pollution has been mostly eliminated.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.
Royds Hall Manor is one of the surviving manor houses in the Yorkshire Region. It is a Grade II* listed building situated on an elevation over 700 feet above sea level in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England and was once the residence of the Lords of the Manor of North Bierley and Wibsey.
Bierley is a former township in the West Riding of Yorkshire whose name now mainly refers to a neighbourhood in the Tong ward of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.
Ovenden Moor Wind Farm is a wind powered electricity generating site in England. Ovenden Moor is located north of Halifax and west of Bradford in West Yorkshire. The site was opened in 1993 with 23 turbines, but these were later removed in favour of larger turbines but with 14 fewer towers. This updated the output of the site from 9.2 MW to 22.5 MW with an expected generation lifetime of 25 years. As the turbines can be seen from some distance and the fact that they overlook the Brontë Country to the north, they have the subject of continued criticism and objections.
The Low Moor Explosion was a fire and a series of explosions at a munitions factory in Low Moor, Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire in August 1916. The factory was manufacturing picric acid to be used as an explosive for the First World War effort and was well alight when the Bradford Fire Brigade arrived. A massive explosion and a series of smaller ones killed 40 people including on-site workers, a railwayman and six firemen who had attended the fire from the Odsal and Nelson Street fire stations.
Heckmondwike Spen was a railway station opened by the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, England. The station was one of two in the town of Heckmondwike, the other being Heckmondwike Central which was opened by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (L&Y). Both stations have been closed and the lines they served have closed too although the formations that they occupied have both been converted into greenways.
The Spen Valley Line was a railway that connected Mirfield with Low Moor through the Spen Valley in West Yorkshire, England. Opened up by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1847, with full opening to Low Moor in 1848, the line served a busy industrial and textile area and allowed a connection for trains between Huddersfield and Bradford. The line was absorbed by the London & North Western Railway, the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and British Railways on Nationalisation. A separate link between Heckmondwike Central and Thornhill that opened later and was known as the Ravensthorpe Branch, allowed through running to Wakefield and beyond. The line was closed down to passengers in 1965 with freight continuing sporadically until 1981. A Spur onto the former Leeds New Line from the Ravensthorpe Branch kept the very southern end open until the late 1980s. The majority of the route is now the Spen Valley Greenway cycle path.
There are a number of listed buildings in West Yorkshire. The term "listed building", in the United Kingdom, refers to a building or structure designated as being of special architectural, historical, or cultural significance. Details of all the listed buildings are contained in the National Heritage List for England. They are categorised in three grades: Grade I consists of buildings of outstanding architectural or historical interest, Grade II* includes significant buildings of more than local interest and Grade II consists of buildings of special architectural or historical interest. Buildings in England are listed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on recommendations provided by English Heritage, which also determines the grading.
