Shepley

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 53.58354
longitude= -1.71146
official_name= Shepley
map_type= West Yorkshire
population =
civil_parish= Kirkburton
metropolitan_borough= Kirklees
metropolitan_county= West Yorkshire
region= Yorkshire and the Humber
constituency_westminster= Wakefield
post_town= HUDDERSFIELD
postcode_district = HD8
postcode_area= HD
dial_code= 01484
os_grid_reference= SE192097

Shepley is a village in the civil parish of Kirkburton, in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, and in the Diocese of Wakefield. The village lies eight miles south-southeast of Huddersfield and six miles northwest of Penistone.

In the 2001 census the population of Shepley and Birds Edge was 3,044. [ [http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/community/statistics/census-by-settlement/KS02settle2003.xls Kirklees Council Population & Statistics] ]

Transport

Shepley is connected by the A629 (Rotherham - Skipton road) to Huddersfield through to Barnsley and Sheffield and by the A635/6 to Wakefield through to Holmfirth. Shepley railway station is on the Penistone line from Huddersfield to Sheffield.

Amenities

Shepley's amenities are small for a village of its size, and include St. Paul's Church (built in 1872 and used for both Anglican and Catholic services), a Methodist chapel, an average first school catering for children aged between 4 and 10 years, a library and information point, a newly-built health centre and pharmacy, and a small dentists surgery. Shops include a post office, newsagents and a small independent Co-op that sells pork pies. Unfortunately, parking for access to the shops is limited to none.

The Black Bull closed down [http://thefarmersboyshepley.co.uk The Farmers Boy] are the two public pubs near the centre of the village.

Clubs and Societies

There are many sports facilities in the village including tennis, bowling, football and most prominently, Shepley Cricket Club. Shepley also has a Women's Institute, The Evergreens, Cubs and Scouts, and a regular village magazine.

Industry

Farming, manufacturing and quarrying still dominate the village. Today, Shepley is also the home to the manufacturing of bottled water, aptly named 'Shepley Spring' which can now be bought worldwide. The village also serves as a commuter belt for the cities of Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield.

Shepley Races

The Co-op still hands out dividends based upon the customer holding a unique number which is matched against all purchases they make during the year. Whenever the dividends were handed out, everyone dashed to the store (which used to be situated by the village green on Marsh Lane) to receive their dues. This became known as the 'Shepley Races'.

History

Early Origins

Shepley literally means 'a clearing or meadow where sheep are kept' and the name is most likely to be Anglo-Saxon in origin. Sceaplei is mentioned in the Domesday Book written in 1086. However, evidence exists of even earlier occupation in the area at Castle Hill (not to be confused with Castle Hill, Huddersfield), a small hilltop above Birdsedge that contains defensive works which might have been a Roman station.

Shepley's population suffered during William the Conqueror's Harrying of the North 1069-1070 when the king laid to waste towns and villages between the Scottish border and the River Humber in order to put down a northern rebellion against his Norman rule. Thousands of people were put to the sword. However, the village was soon back in political favour, as in 1217, a certain Matthew of Sheplei was knighted and his name appears in the records of the Beaumont family of Whitley Beaumont and later of Bretton Hall near Wakefield.

Medieval Period

If the township of Shepley [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=DQEIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA103&lpg=PA103&dq=manor+of+shepley&source=web&ots=xIvTTfqjL_&sig=8TlGxtdZ6xcq2rMQ6DQ8g5AuDCs#PPA99,M1 History of the Township of Shepley] ] was subinfeudated before 1166, Shepley's mesne tenancy would have been held by William de Neville, husband of Amabel, daughter of Adam, son of Sveinn. By the 13th century, the tenancy had passed to the Burgh family. Shepley Hall, situated on Station Road, was the manor house for the village. In 1361 Robert de Goldthorpe, who was also known as Robert Robertson (his father's name was Robert), married Esabell de Shepley and, as a result inherited part of the manor and estates of Shepley. In 1542, during the reign of Henry VIII (Tudor) Thomas Goldthorpe sold his share of Shepley manor and other lands for £290 to a certain Richard Stansfield and thereby appeared to terminate the family's connection with the manor. However, in the local fines records for 1543, it states "William Goldthorp, gent [held the] Manor of Shepley, also called Shepley Hall, and tenements in Shepley and [Kirk] Burton [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=49628] .

Farming would have been the village's main industry, although the wool trade started to grow from the 14th century onwards, gaining momentum following the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

19th Century

In the early 19th century, Sir Joseph Radcliffe from Milnsbridge House was Lord of the Manor. He was knighted for his role in suppressing the Luddites in the Huddersfield area following the murder of Marsden mill owner William Horsfall in 1812.

In 1868 Shepley was described as a township and chapelry in the parish of Kirkburton, upper division of Agbrigg Wapentake, West Riding County York. The village was also recorded as having 30 tailor's shops in a population of around 1,000. These would have sprung up as a result of the four mills around the village manufacturing fine woollen worsteds.

Lane Head

Lane Head is a hamlet to the south of the village which had a Quaker meeting house, built in 1696 and which has been a private dwelling since 1706. It had connections with the even older High Flatts meeting house in Birdsedge.

Brewery

With a gold sovereign, Seth Senior established a brewery in 1829 at the Royal Sovereign Inn (now the 'Sovereign Inn'). As the business grew, the brewery was moved to Piper Wells on Holmfirth road. The Seniors eventually owned several public houses in the area, including the Railway (now the Cask and Spindle), The Black Bull, the Stagg's Head (the building can still be seen on Abbey Road), and the Farmer's Boy. The family also built Cliffe House. In 1946, the family business was taken over by Hammonds Brewery (now Bass). The Senior family are all buried in the church yard at Upper Cumberworth a few miles away.

A stone carving of a man's face - a Yorkshire tradition to commemorate any builder killed during construction work - can still be seen on the Eastern gable of the Sovereign Inn. Members of the Roebuck family lived on this site for over 70 years and held the tenancy when the famous Sovereign Anthem was written in 1929 to commemorate 100 years of the brewery. Sarah Jane's death in 1976 ended Roebuck family ties with the Sovereign Inn.

Quarrying

Lane Head is also famous for the quarries that have provided stone used at Buckingham Palace in London, and other famous landmarks. The Lindley family used to own the quarry situated on Carr Lane, but it has now become part of the Marshalls Group, as have Appleton Quarries situated on Holmfirth Road. The son of a previous owner lies buried under a single tree next to the Round Wood above the quarry following a tragic accident in the late 1970s.

Legend

Legend has it that a golden cradle also lies buried in the Round Wood. Although, the line of the stone wall has changed in recent times due to quarrying, it is shown as a perfect circle on mid 19th century maps. Given that Castle Hill in Birdsedge is only a mile away, the wood may hold secrets yet to be discovered - after all, pagan burial sites were often circular in design!

Turnpike

As you climb up the hill on the A629 from Shepley towards Lane Head, Toll Bar Cottage appears on the left just after the main gates of Cliff House. The cottage marked the place where gates once stood across the Barnsley and Shepley Lane Head Turnpike which was built by Blind Jack of Knaresborough following an Act of Parliament in 1825 (another Turnpike between Saddleworth and Shepley Lane Head via Holmfirth was constructed around this time, having been surveyed by Thomas Dinsley in 1819). As the name of the building suggests, a toll was collected at this point from travellers. The tolls were abolished on August 1st 1875.

Shepley Carr

Before the Barnsley and Shepley Lane Head Turnpike was built, this small hamlet was situated on the packhorse route from Penistone to Huddersfield. Merchants would travel from Penistone, through Thurlstone, along Broadstones Road and Dearne Dike Lane to Five Lane Ends, down Piper Wells Road, Cross Lane and Carr Lane, before turning down the long drive into Shepley Carr. The route would then follow the fields (before they were enclosed), past the Shepley War Memorial, and into the village. The travellers would then head out towards Stocksmoor and Farnley Tyas through Stones Wood (where Devil worship once took place). Some old locals tell stories of a ghostly coach and fours furiously speeding down the long drive on wintry nights before vanishing at the hamlet. The present house at Shepley Carr is the third building on this site and dates from the 1860s, replacing one that burnt down.

During the early 19th century, the Tinker family lived at Shepley Carr, and was responsible for building Tinker's Monument near Hill Top above New Mill. Deeds held at the West Yorkshire Archive Centre in Wakefield suggest that the original house at Shepley Carr dates from the 16th century and was owned by the Armytage Family of Kirklees Hall. Locals believe that Oliver Cromwell marched his army through Shepley Carr during the English Civil War 1642-1649. Roundheads, as the soldiers were known, were probably in Kirkburton, and at Catlin or Catling (now Cat Hill) Hall near Penistone, the latter having a holding post in the cellars upon which royalist prisoners were chained (see the ghost story concerning [http://www.ghosts.org.uk/index2847.html Catling Hall] . Inside the parish church at Upper Cumberworth, there is a chair that Oliver Cromwell is reputed to have sat in.

The Abbey

Part of the village on the A629 heading North towards Huddersfield is known as The Abbey, and some local street names are derived from this. No evidence exists to suggest that an Abbey (a massive religious building) was built in Shepley, but there may have been a small religious foundation here prior to Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries from 1536. The Abbey and Farm were owned by the Armitage Family, a branch of the Armytage family of Kirklees Hall, and this does suggest a link between Kirklea Priory at "Shepley Bridge" (situated on the Huddersfield - Leeds road) and a religious outpost in Shepley village, approximately 10 miles away. Kirklea Priory was the reputed place where Robin Hood died, and a grave in the former Priory's grounds is said to be his. The Priory was replaced by Kirklees Hall. As outlined above, the Armytage Family also had links with Shepley Carr.

Samuel Armitage (aged 73 years) and his son Edward Armitage (bn 1843), both Wool Manufacturers are noted as living at The Abbey in 1881. The Abbey property was then bought from the Armitage family by Edgar Dickinson who was a Farmer and a Threshing Contractor In about 1930 he built a new Dairy Farm and mew mistals....... He sold the farm to George Tom Wragg who continued with it until the beginning of the second World War..... After the war he sold out to Luther Chapell but the Abbey itself and the paddock adjoining were sold separately to George Greenwood. He, in turn, sold the property to Richard Field (of Fields Rugs in Skelmanthorpe) in 1960. In 1987 Mr Field split the Abbey to make it into two houses, selling one half and now living in the other half himself.'

However, some more research needs to be carried out here to strengthen the links between Shepley Abbey and Kirklea Priory!

Nearby places

Towns and cities: Holmfirth 5 miles), Huddersfield (8 miles), Barnsley (8 miles), Wakefield (12 miles), Leeds (14 miles), Sheffield (15 miles), Manchester (30 miles).

Villages: Shelley, Kirkburton, Stocksmoor, New Mill, Birds Edge, Upper Cumberworth, Denby Dale, Skelmanthorpe,

References

*'Yorkshire Fines: 1541-45', Feet of Fines of the Tudor period [Yorks] : part 1: 1486-1571 (1887), pp. 91-119.
URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=49628. Date accessed: 24 July 2007.

External links

* [http://www.shepleygreen.co.uk/ Shepley Community Website]
* [http://www.shepleycc.com/ Shepley Cricket Club]
* [http://www.shepleyspring.co.uk/ Shepley Spring Water]
* [http://www.shepleyspringfestival.com/ Shepley Spring Festival]