Heavy Woollen District

The Heavy Woollen District is so-called because of the nature of the cloth manufactured in the towns of the central area of West Yorkshire. Dewsbury, Batley, Heckmondwike and Ossett are viewed as the core of the area. Liversedge, Gomersal, Gildersome, Birkenshaw, Mirfield, Cleckheaton, Morley, Tingley, East Ardsley, Birstall and Horbury would normally also be included. The manufacturing of wool for clothing and blankets as well as rope and twine are still operating today within the same area such as E. Simms/Heavy Woollen Textiles.

Most of the area is now in the Kirklees district. However, Ossett and Horbury are in the Wakefield district and the Morley area is in the Leeds district. Many people in all of the towns wish for a return to the era of local self-government.

There is still a Heavy Woollen District football association and cricket association, both with representative teams. The cricket league originally defined the district as within a six-mile radius of Batley Town Hall, but this has now been extended to an eighteen-mile radius [http://www.heavywoollen.org.uk/history.htm] .

It was one of the key textile centres in Yorkshire, famed for its production of "shoddy and mungo". For year companies had tried to blend the different fibres without success leading to the term, "munt go", i.e. "mustn't go" as a Yorkshire colloquialism. The success was achieved by a famous Dewsbury company who then after successfully blending their textiles named themselves Shoddy Mungo in the 1900's. This mill still stands as a memorial and landmark to the success of the industry.

The vast majority of the mills have now either closed or have been put into another line of production, but some shoddy/mungo mills remain [e.g. Edward Clay & Son Ltd. in Ossett] .