West Ardsley | |
---|---|
Location within West Yorkshire | |
Population | 5,994 |
OS grid reference | SE277250 |
Metropolitan borough | |
Metropolitan county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | WAKEFIELD |
Postcode district | WF3 |
Dialling code | 0113 |
Police | West Yorkshire |
Fire | West Yorkshire |
Ambulance | Yorkshire |
West Ardsley is a settlement on the south-west edge of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it roughly approximates to an amalgamation of Tingley, Woodkirk, Hill Top, Upper Green, Common Side, Beggarington Hill and a number of other hamlets. The parish church is situated at Woodkirk and Methodist church on Haigh Moor Road. Being in the middle of several towns, West Ardsley has become a dormitory settlement.
The name Ardsley is first attested in the Domesday Book as Erdeslau and Eadeslauue, apparently with reference to what is now East Ardsley. The first time the name is used with reference to West Ardsley seems to be in the period 1138–47, in the form Erdislaw. [1]
The first element of the name comes from the Old English personal name Eard, a nickname form of longer names like Eardwulf, in the genitive form Eardes ('Eard's'). The second element comes from Old English hlǣw ('hill, mound'). Thus the name once meant 'Eard's hill' or 'Eard's mound'. The name first appears with the element west in 1400, in the forms Westardeslawe and Westardeslowe. [1]
In Arthur Mee's The King's England series, he wrote that Woodkirk was "sometimes called 'West Ardsley'." This was incorrect, yet Woodkirk was the centre of the parish, as it had the church.
West Ardsley appears on ordnance survey 1:50,000 map sheet 104. However, the nearby settlement of East Ardsley (or Ardsley East) is in larger print. In truth, although there are many roadsigns pointing to "West Ardsley" and some clubs and local organisations refer to it in their name, there is no one single, self-contained area with the name. The hamlets of Tingley, Hill Top, Upper Green and Common Side have merged through urban sprawl whilst Woodkirk remains isolated. The post office took the decision to classify all addresses in the former area as "Tingley, Wakefield" whilst Woodkirk remains separate and comes under Dewsbury's address.
Possessing a WF postcode in the WF3 (Wakefield) postcode area while the village telephone numbers are "0113", the Leeds prefix.
West Ardsley was part of the Ardsley Urban district 1894–1937, which also included Tingley and East Ardsley and was then part of Morley Municipal borough 1937–1974. The village once formed part of the former Municipal Borough of Morley, and is still classed as part of Morley in the census. However, it is technically separate, and is not governed by Morley Town Council.
The area sits in the Ardsley and Robin Hood ward of Leeds City Council – which elects three city councillors – and the Morley and Outwood parliamentary constituency.
There is a historic parish of West Ardsley, whose parish boundaries all fall within the "Ardsley and Robin Hood" ward.
The village is situated nearby Tingley roundabout at the junction of the M62 motorway and the A653 (Dewsbury Road) and the A650 (Bradford Road) leading to the M1 motorway in East Ardsley.
The village along with its more widely known neighbour of East Ardsley were formerly served by Ardsley railway station, in addition to Tingley railway station close by. Tingley Station closed to passengers in 1954, and later to freight in 1964, with Ardsley's entire station closing that same year, Tingley followed suit in May 1969 ceasing all rail traffic. [2]
The current closest stations are Wakefield Westgate station, Wakefield Kirkgate station and Morley railway station.
The immediate area is served by Westerton Primary Academy (formerly Westerton Primary School), Hill Top Academy (formerly Hill Top Primary School) and Blackgates Primary School. Woodkirk Academy (formerly Woodkirk High) serves as the areas local secondary school.
West Ardsley is the home of the annual Lee Gap fair – a historic horse fair originally chartered by King Stephen in 1139 – which makes it reputedly England's oldest horse fair. [3] The fair used to stretch over a period of two weeks, but as the horse trade diminished, it now takes place on only the first and last days of said fortnight – known as "First o'Lee" and "Latter Lee". Today, attendees are mainly Gypsies and Travellers among some local residents. [4]
Rothwell is a town in the south-east of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated between Leeds and Wakefield.
Kirklees is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. The borough comprises the ten towns of Batley, Birstall, Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Meltham, Mirfield and Slaithwaite. It is governed by Kirklees Council. Kirklees had a population of 422,500 in 2011; it is the third-largest metropolitan district in England by area size, behind Doncaster and Leeds.
Morley is a market town and a civil parish within the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, in West Yorkshire, England. Morley is the largest town in the borough after Leeds itself. Morley forms part of the Heavy Woollen District.
Tingley is a suburban village in the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, Northern England, forming part of the parish of West Ardsley. Tingley forms part of the Heavy Woollen District. It is situated between the cities of Leeds and Wakefield.
East Ardsley is a village in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, in West Yorkshire, England. East Ardsley forms part of the Heavy Woollen District.
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Gildersome is a village and civil parish in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough 5 miles (7 km) south-west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire, England. Glidersome forms part of the Heavy Woollen District.
Lofthouse is a village between the cities of Wakefield and Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. The village falls within the Ardsley and Robin Hood ward of the City of Leeds Council. It is in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough but with a Wakefield postal address (WF3). It is mentioned as Locthuse, also as Loftose in the 1086 Domesday Book.
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.
Thorpe on the Hill is a small village in West Yorkshire, England. The village falls within the Ardsley and Robin Hood ward of the Leeds Metropolitan Council. It was mentioned as "Torp" in the Domesday Book together with neighbouring Carlton, Lofthouse, Middleton, and Rothwell as part of the Morley Hundred in the West Riding.
Woodkirk is an ancient village between Leeds and Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England. The parish church is a grade II listed building. It is traditionally the centre of the parish of West Ardsley, but Tingley is now a much larger settlement.
Ardsley railway station was situated on the Great Northern Railway between Tingley and Lofthouse and Outwood on the main line and west of Stanley on the LNER & LMS Methley Joint Railway. It was built to serve the village of East Ardsley near Wakefield in the English county of West Yorkshire.
Beeston railway station (West Yorkshire) was a railway station situated on the Great Northern Railway on the southern outskirts of Leeds, England.
Ardsley and Robin Hood is an electoral ward of Leeds City Council in the south of Leeds, West Yorkshire, covering suburb areas and villages including Robin Hood, Tingley as well as both West and East Ardsley.
The Morley Borough Independents (MBI) are a local political party in Leeds, West Yorkshire, founded in 2004.
The 2019 Leeds City Council election took place on Thursday 2 May 2019 to elect members of Leeds City Council in England. It was held on the same day as other UK local elections across England and Northern Ireland.