Thornton | |
---|---|
![]() Thornton Viaduct | |
Location within West Yorkshire | |
Population | 17,276 (Thornton and Allerton ward. 2011 census) [1] |
OS grid reference | SE098326 |
Metropolitan borough | |
Metropolitan county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BRADFORD |
Postcode district | BD13 |
Dialling code | 01274 |
Police | West Yorkshire |
Fire | West Yorkshire |
Ambulance | Yorkshire |
UK Parliament | |
Thornton is a village and former civil parish, within the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies 6 miles (9.7 km) to the west of the city centre of Bradford, and together with neighbouring Allerton, had a total resident population in 2001 of 15,004, increasing to 17,276 in 2011 and 18,520 in 2021. [1] [note 1] Its most famous residents were the Brontës.
The preserved centre of the village retains the character of a typical Pennine village, with stone-built houses with stone flagged roofs. The surrounding areas consist of more modern housing, particularly towards the eastern and western edges of the village, still isolated from the rest of the city of Bradford by green fields.
Thornton derives from Old English and means a thorn tree at a farm or settlement. [2] It was mentioned in the Domesday Book of the 11th century, [3] when it had been laid waste by William the Conqueror's harrying of the North, punishment for an uprising against the Norman invaders of 1066. [4]
Thornton was formerly a township and chapelry in the parish of Bradford, becoming a civil parish in its own right in 1866. [5] [6] In 1865 Thornton was declared to be a Local Government District, administered by a local board. [7] Such local boards became urban district councils under the Local Government Act 1894. Thornton Urban District existed for less than five years; in 1899 it was incorporated into the city of Bradford. [8] The civil parish of Thornton continued to exist until 1974, but as an urban parish it had no parish council, being directly administered by the city council. In 1951 the parish had a population of 6097. [9]
The parish was abolished in 1974 when the larger City of Bradford metropolitan borough was created, since when it has been an unparished area. Thornton comprises part of the Thornton and Allerton ward. [10] It falls within the parliamentary constituency of Bradford West. [11]
Its elevation, poor soils, isolation from major transport routes, and rainfall of close to 1000mm per year has limited its farming productivity. Resources such as coal, iron and sandstone, the development of turnpike roads, and the coming of the railways enabled Thornton to share in the prosperity generated by the 19th-century wool worsted trade. The increasing use of steam-powered mills (at the expense of the former cottage-industry production methods) concentrated production in the valleys of the city centre. Foreign imports, the Second World War, and closure of the railways, all contributed to the decline in manufacturing. Today, Thornton is often treated as a residential suburb of Bradford. [12]
The main thoroughfare through the village was Market Street, until this road was bypassed in 1826 by the new Thornton Road (B6145). In the two centuries after its construction, most building work has since taken place along Thornton Road, extending the village down the slope of the hill it sits upon. This has left Market Street largely untouched and it retains its original character and stonework on the buildings. Market Street therefore forms the backbone of the conservation area in the village, [13] while Thornton Road remains the main artery for traffic to Bradford, Allerton, Halifax, Keighley and Denholme.
Thornton's most famous residents were the Brontës. The Rev Patrick Brontë became the incumbent of Thornton Chapel in 1815, [14] and Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne Brontë were born at 74 Market Street, Thornton before the family moved to Haworth. [15] In November 2023 the house was purchased by a campaign group which aims to restore and preserve the house as the Brontë Birthplace. [16] [17] [18] The remains of the church where the father preached, known as the Bell Chapel, can be seen in the restored old graveyard off Thornton Road opposite the current church. [19] The 44 mi (71 km) long Brontë Way passes through Thornton on its way between Gawthorpe Hall in Lancashire and Oakwell Hall in the Birstall area. [20]
Professional wrestler Les Kellett had a small holding and café called "The Terminus", where trolleybuses terminated before returning to Bradford, with his wife Margaret. On 2 acres (0.81 ha) behind the house Kellett sometimes bred pigs and once said he kept fifty head of cattle. [21] [22]
Thornton Viaduct was a railway viaduct for the Great Northern Railway line running from Queensbury to Keighley via Thornton. It was built in an S-shape to allow a smooth access to Thornton railway station. [23] The viaduct is now a Grade II listed building. [24]
The viaduct was reopened as part of The Great Northern Railway Trail between Cullingworth and Queensbury along the track bed in 2009, [23] with a final link up to Queensbury opening in 2012. [25]
Haworth is a village in West Yorkshire, England. Located in the Pennines, Haworth is 3 miles (5 km) south-west of Keighley, 8 miles north of Halifax, 10 miles (16 km) west of Bradford and 10 miles (16 km) east of Colne in Lancashire. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhope. Nearby villages include Cross Roads, Stanbury and Lumbfoot.
Bingley is a market town and civil parish in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which had a population of 18,040 at the 2021 census.
Keighley is a market town and a civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford.
Wilsden is a village and civil parish in west Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England. Wilsden is 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Bradford and is close to the Aire Valley and the nearby villages of Denholme, Cullingworth, Harden, Cottingley and Allerton. Wilsden re-acquired civil parish status in 2004. The 2001 census revealed a population of 3,697, increasing to 4,807 at the 2011 Census.
Bradford, also known as the City of Bradford, is a metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Bradford, but covers a larger area which includes the towns and villages of Keighley, Shipley, Bingley, Ilkley, Haworth, Silsden, Queensbury, Thornton and Denholme. Bradford has a population of 528,155, making it the fourth-most populous metropolitan district and the sixth-most populous local authority district in England. It forms part of the West Yorkshire Urban Area conurbation which in 2011 had a population of 1,777,934, and the city is part of the Leeds-Bradford Larger Urban Zone (LUZ), which, with a population of 2,393,300, is the fourth largest in the United Kingdom after London, Birmingham and Manchester.
Brontë Country is a name given to an area of south Pennine hills west of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. The name comes from the Brontë sisters, who wrote such literary classics as Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall while living in the area.
Cullingworth is a village and civil parish in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, it is 7 miles (11 km) west of Bradford and 3 miles (5 km) south of Keighley. The surrounding countryside is mainly used for sheep and cattle farming, with areas of moorland lying to the north and west.
Clayton, or Clayton Village, is a civil parish in the City of Bradford metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England, situated 3 miles (4.8 km) to the west of Bradford city centre. It is listed in the Domesday Book, meaning it dates back to at least the 11th century and was privately owned from 1160 to 1866. It was noted for its clay. More recently, Clayton was a key location in the British and international wool trade, being the home of the British Wool Marketing Board headquarters. The old building was demolished and converted into housing in the late 1990s. The village re-acquired civil parish status with a parish council in 2004.
Queensbury is a village in the metropolitan borough and city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Perched on a high vantage point above Halifax, Clayton and Thornton and overlooking Bradford, Queensbury is one of the highest parishes in England, with views beyond the West Yorkshire conurbation to the hills of Brontë Country and the Yorkshire Dales to the north and north west. Its population of 8,718 in 2001 increased to 16,273 in the 2011 Census.
Worth Valley is a ward in the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, West Yorkshire. The population of the ward taken at the 2011 Census was 14,387. It is named after the River Worth that runs through the valley to the town of Keighley where it joins the River Aire. In the north it is bounded by North Yorkshire, in the west by Lancashire and in the south by Calderdale District.
Denholme is a town and civil parish in the Bradford Metropolitan Borough, West Yorkshire, England. It is 8 miles (13 km) west of Bradford, 7 miles (11 km) from Keighley and roughly the same distance from Halifax. Administratively, it is part of the Bingley Rural ward of the City of Bradford. Denholme has a population of 2,976, increasing to 3,489 at the 2011 Census.
The Queensbury lines was the name given to a number of railway lines in West Yorkshire, England, that linked Bradford, Halifax and Keighley via Queensbury. All the lines were either solely owned by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) or jointly by the GNR and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR). The terrain was extremely challenging for railway construction, and the lines were very expensive to build. The lines were
Queensbury railway station was a station on the Queensbury lines serving the village of Queensbury, West Yorkshire, England. The station was unusual due to its triangular shape, and at its opening the only other examples of this arrangement were Ambergate station in Derbyshire and Earlestown in Lancashire; since then Shipley station, also in West Yorkshire, has gained platforms on all three sides. Of the stations on the Queensbury lines, this was the most ambitious.
Cross Roads or Cross Roads with Lees or Cross Roads cum Lees is a village and civil parish within the City of Bradford Metropolitan District, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies less than 1 mile (1.6 km) from Haworth, approximately 2.5 miles (4 km) from Keighley and approximately 9 miles (14 km) from Bradford.
Thornton Viaduct is a disused railway viaduct crossing Pinch Beck valley at Thornton, in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is 300 yards (270 m) long and has 20 arches. It was built in an S-shape to allow a smooth access to Thornton station. The viaduct was part of the GNR's Queensbury Lines running between Queensbury and Keighley. It stopped carrying passengers in 1955 but remained open to goods until the 1960s. At that time, the railway closed and the tracks were pulled up. The viaduct is now a Grade II listed building.
Thornton railway station was a station on the Keighley-Queensbury section of the Queensbury Lines which ran between Keighley, Bradford and Halifax via Queensbury. The station served the village of Thornton, West Yorkshire, England from 1878 to 1955.
Lees Moor Tunnel is an abandoned tunnel on the former Great Northern Railway line between Queensbury and Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. The former dual track tunnel is just north of the village of Cullingworth in West Yorkshire and when built was 1,533 yards (1,402 m) long. Due to the pitch black inside and the squealing of the wheels on the 1 in 50 radius curve, drivers nicknamed it the 'Hell Hole'. After closure to passengers, the tunnel was used in experiments involving the effects of smoke inhalation and cancer.
The Great Northern Railway Trail is a cycleway and footpath in the Bradford District of West Yorkshire, England. The path follows the route of a former railway, that of the Great Northern railway line between Bradford and Keighley that went via Queensbury and Cullingworth. The path has been designated as part of the National Cycle Route number 69.
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.
Media related to Thornton, West Yorkshire at Wikimedia Commons