Horsforth

Infobox UK place
country = England
official_name = Horsforth
latitude = 53.83413
longitude = -1.64288
population = 21,562 (2001 Census)
metropolitan_borough = City of Leeds
metropolitan_county = West Yorkshire
region = Yorkshire and the Humber
constituency_westminster = Pudsey
constituency_westminster1 = Leeds North West
post_town = LEEDS
postcode_district = LS18
postcode_area = LS
dial_code = 0113
os_grid_reference = SE236376
static_

static_image_caption = Town Street, Horsforth

Horsforth is a town near Leeds in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, West Yorkshire, England.

Horsforth was considered to have the largest population of any village in the United Kingdom during the latter part of the nineteenth century. It became part of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in 1974 and became a town in 1999, although displays all the characteristics of a suburb as it has become physically and economically connected to Leeds, and few characteristics of an independent town.

History

Horsforth first appeared in the 1086 Domesday Book (as "Horseford", "Horseforde", "Hoseforde") and its name is from "horse" and "ford". This refers to a river crossing situated somewhere in shallow water along the River Aire, probably used for the transportation of woollen goods to and from Pudsey, Shipley and Bradford. The original ford was situated off Calverley Lane (near the "Calverley Bridge Zero Waste Sort Site"), but was replaced by a stone footbridge at the turn of the 19th Century.

The three unnamed Saxon thegns that held the land at the conquest gave way to the King and then lesser Norman nobles,Fact|date=February 2007 but it was not long after this that most of the village came under the control of Kirkstall Abbey, a nearby Cistercian house founded in 1152.

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, Horsforth was partitioned and sold off to five families, one of which was the Stanhopes who achieved supremacy and controlled the village for the next three hundred years. The estate record of the Stanhopes are regarded as one of the most extensive and important collections of its kind, complementing the extensive mediaeval record associated with Kirkstall Abbey's activities.

Up until the mid nineteenth century Horsforth was a small agricultural community. It expanded rapidly with the growth of the nearby industrial centre of Leeds. Industrially, Horsforth has a long history of producing high quality stone from its quarries. Not only did it supply Kirkstall Abbey with building materials and millstones in the medieval period, it provided the stone for Scarborough seafront and sent its prized sandstone from its Golden Bank quarry as far afield as Egypt. Situated on Horsforth Beck were a string of mills serving the textile trade, but a large area of the village still reflects its original function as an agricultural community.

Between 1861 and 1862, there was an outbreak of typhoid in Horsforth. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=htEDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA406&dq=horsforth&as_brr=1&output=html Epidemiological Society of London, "Transactions" (in GoogleBooks)] ]

In the late nineteenth century it achieved note as the village with the largest population in England. Railways, turnpike roads, tramways, and the nearby canal made it a focus for almost all forms of public and commercial transport and sealed its fate as a dormitory suburb of Leeds. Despite its large population and extensive commercial activity this role appears to have stopped it achieving independent town status and it remained a village (as Horsforth urban district) until its inclusion in the City of Leeds metropolitan district when this was created in 1974. However, in 1999 a parish council was created for the area, which then exercised its right to declare Horsforth a town.

Horsforth Museum [ [http://www.ukattraction.com/yorkshire/horsforth-museum.htm Horsforth Museum, Leeds - Yorkshire - UK Attraction ] ] has collections and displays that aim to illustrate aspects of life set against the backdrop of the changing role of the village.

During World War II the £241,000 required to build the corvette HMS "Aubretia" was raised entirely by the people of Horsforth. In 2000 the then US President Bill Clinton acknowledged Horsforth's contribution to the war effort in a letter sent to local MP Paul Truswell [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/773913.stm Storm over U-boat film, BBC News, 2 June 2000] ] . The letter now resides in the museum.

Location Grid

Transport

Rail

Horsforth railway station is on the Leeds to Harrogate line. The station lies just outside the Horsforth parish boundary, on the Cookridge side of Moseley beck, but has a Horsforth (LS18) postcode.

Newlay station, which was built as part of the Midland Railway, was renamed "Newlay & Horsforth" station in 1889. This station was situated south of the River Aire and was accessible from Horsforth on Pollard Lane (the road connecting Horsforth to Bramley). [ [http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=424000.083541348&Y=436500.93831502&width=700&height=400&gride=424042.083541348&gridn=438498.93831502&srec=0&coordsys=gb&db=freegaz&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&in
] ] The station, which was on the Airedale Line (Leeds-Shipley-Skipton), was renamed Newlay station in 1961. It closed on 22 March 1965, along with other stations on the Airedale Line: Armley Canal Road, Kirkstall, Calverley & Rodley and Apperley Bridge.

Bus

The town is served by First Leeds bus routes:
* 9 - Seacroft to Holt Park via Rothwell & Pudsey
* 31, 32 - Horsforth Town Circular
* 33/33A - Leeds City Centre to Guiseley/Otley via Kirkstall, New Road Side, Guiseley & Menston
* 50/50a - Horsforth (The Green) to Seacroft via Burley, Leeds City Centre & Harehills
* 81/81a - Holt Park/Tinshill to Pudsey via Horsforth
* 82 - Horsforth to Holt Park
* 97 - Leeds City Centre to Guiseley via Headingley, Horsforth & Yeadon
* 731 - Leeds to Otley via Headingley, Horsforth & Yeadon (limited service)
* 757 - Leeds to Otley via New Road Side, Leeds/Bradford Airport & Pool.

Air

Leeds Bradford International Airport

Education

Leeds Trinity & All Saints, a college accredited by the University of Leeds, is on Brownberrie Lane, Horsforth. It is known as TASC, or TASC Island, by its students.

The main secondary school is Horsforth School [ [http://www.horsforth.leeds.sch.uk/ Horsforth school official website] ] .

The main primary schools in Horsforth are;
*West End Lane Primary School
*St Margaret's Primary School
*Horsforth Newlaithes Junior School
*Westbrook Lane Primary School
*Broadgate Lane Primary School
*St. Mary's RC Primary School
*Horsforth Featherbank Infant School

Independent school

*Froebelian School (ages 3-11)

Churches

The main churches in Horsforth are;
*Lister Hill Baptist Church
*Cragg Hill Baptist Church
*Woodside Methodist Church
*St Margaret's Church of England
*St James Woodside Church of England
*St Mary's Roman Catholic Church
*Willow Green Christian Fellowship
*Central Methodist Church
*Grove Methodist church
*Tinity and All Saints (Catholic Institution)
*Verona Fathers - Comboni Missionaries
*Link fellowship
*Horsforth Congregation of Jehovah's witnesses

Pubs and bars

Horsforth has an ever increasing number of pubs and bars. Longstanding pubs in Horsforth include:

* The Black Bull
* The Bridge
* The Fleece
* The Fox and Hounds
* The Grey Horse
* The Horsforth Hotel
* The Old Ball
* The Old Kings Arms
* The Queens Arms
* The Ringway
* The Woodside

Newer bars are: The Sand Bar, Town Street Tavern, Bar 62, Bar 166 and the Medusa Bar (all on Town Street) and Suburban Style Bar and Kobe on New Road Side.

A regular event in Horsforth is the 'Horsforth Mile' pub crawl. This usually starts off at the Fox and Hounds next to the railway station, although this is regarded by many as being in Cookridge, so an alternative is to begin at The Old Ball, and meander through at least 10 pubs in the town.

Notable people from Horsforth

*The Foreign Secretary David Miliband who, although originally from London, attended Horsforth Newlaithes Junior School in the 1970s when his father Ralph Miliband was a professor at the University of Leeds [ [http://archive.cravenherald.co.uk/2003/11/27/105391.html "Memories for Minister as he visits his old schools", Bradford Telegraph & Argus, 27 November 2003] ] [ [http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/miliband/ralphMiliband.htm Ralph Miliband biography, London School of Economics website] ]
*The footballer James Milner who attended Horsforth School
*The actors Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom in the "Harry Potter" film series), Patric Knowles and Frazer Hines
*The keyboard player Nick Baines, from the Kaiser Chiefs
*The singer Marc Almond [ [http://www.marcalmond.co.uk/manager/profile.htm Profile] ] , who was educated at Featherbank Primary School until 1968
*David Oxtoby, artist [ [http://www.redfern-gallery.com/pages/artistinfo/120.html David Oxtoby Info from redfern gallery] ]
* Malcolm McDowell

References

External links

* [https://sites.leedslearning.net/schools/horsforth/Pages/Default.aspx/ Horsforth school website]
* [http://www.horsforthtoday.co.uk/ YEP Horsforth Today Community Website]
* [http://www.horsforthtowncouncil.co.uk/ Horsforth Town Council website]
* [http://www.horsforth.com/ Horsforth Community website]
* Horsforth was in this parish