Almondbury

History

The name Almondbury derives from the Old Norse almenn meaning 'the whole community' and the Old English 'burh' meaning fortification.

Almondbury appears in the Domesday Book as "Almondeberie". After the Norman Conquest, the land around the village was held by the powerful De Lacy family, who gave their name to De Lacy Avenue.

For 300 years until the 17th century, the village's Monday Market was the most important in the area. Almondbury was the hub of parish activity and in its early history was a more important centre than the town of Huddersfield. The villages of Linthwaite, Lockwood, Honley, Holmfirth and Meltham were all part of the Almondbury parish area.

In 1921 the civil parish had a population of 15,637. On 1 April 1924 the parish was abolished and merged with Huddersfield.

Education

In 1547 the people of Almondbury were faced with the possible dissolution of its Chantry Chapel. By "concent of the parishe", Arthur Kay of Woodsome Hall and his son John "dyd shifte yt" stone by stone, along St Helen's Gate, to be reconstructed as a school house. A royal charter, formally called the Letters Patent, was granted by James I on 24 November 1608 and the school became a grammar school. The school has had various names (Almondbury Grammar School, King James's Grammar School) and today is called King James's School.

The Harry Taylor Trust was established in 1987 in memory of Harry Taylor, former headmaster of King James's Grammar School (1952-1973), to benefit pupils at the school and young people in the village of Almondbury.

There is also Hill View Academy on Fernside Avenue and Almond House Nursery on Forest Road. Almondbury Community School made headlines in November 2018 when a video clip was circulated on social media, showing white pupils bullying a Syrian refugee pupil, attempting waterboarding. The incident that had originally occurred in October was finally investigated by the school and police a month later.

In the 2020s, Almondbury became one of the locations the Channel 5 series The Yorkshire Vet was based at, with the animal hospital operated by Donaldson's Vets used alongside surgeries in Wetherby and Kirkbymoorside.

Notable people

• Ronald Aspinall (1918–1999), cricketer
• Benjamin F. Cocker (1821–1883), professor of psychology, speculative philosophy and the philosophy of religion, University of Michigan (1869–1883); born in Almondbury
• Joanne Harris (born 1964), author
• Shakespeare Hirst (1841–1907), actor, author, and art collector
• George Lee (1854–1919), cricketer
• Carlton Oldfield (1871–1945), professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, University of Leeds (1919–1932); born in Almondbury
• Charles Augustus Hulbert (1804–1888), clergyman
• Sir David Radcliffe, (1834–1907) Mayor of Liverpool

References

References

1. "Kirklees Census by Settlement spreadsheet".
2. "Kirklees Ward population 2011". Office for National Statistics.
3. {{NHLE
4. {{NHLE
5. Betjeman, J. (ed.) (1968) ''Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches: the North''. London: Collins; p. 333
6. "Key to English Place-names".
7. "Population statistics Almondbury AP/CP through time". [[A Vision of Britain through Time]].
8. "Relationships and changes Almondbury AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time.
9. [https://web.archive.org/web/20161108140430/http://www.oas.org.uk/History.php "A short history of King James's School"], The Old Almondburians' Society. Retrieved 16 November 2016
10. [https://web.archive.org/web/20161108084213/http://www.oas.org.uk/OAS%20Charter.php "The School Charter ('the Letters Patent')"], The Old Almondburians' Society. Retrieved 16 November 2016
11. [https://web.archive.org/web/20161011032044/http://www.oas.org.uk/OAS%20home.php The Old Almondburians' Society], oas.org.uk. Retrieved 16 November 2016
12. Selk, Avi. (29 November 2018). "'They think I'm different:' Horrific video shows Syrian boy being choked on a school field". [[The Washington Post]].
13. "Home".
14. "The Yorkshire Vet".
15. "Somerset Road 24/7 Surgery".
16. "The Yorkshire Vet Season 13".
17. "Meet our team of vets, nurses & client support at our new vets in Wetherby".
18. (9 January 2013). "Cricket heroes were pals too". Shields Gazette.
19. [https://books.google.com/books?id=KUdaAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22born+in+Almondbury+%22&pg=PA177 Leslie, Frank-Leslie's - Volumes 55-57, 1883, p. 177] accessed 19 December 2012
20. Harris, Joanne. (9 December 2022). "Today 09/12/2022". BBC Radio 4.
21. [https://books.google.com/books?id=vAtPAQAAIAAJ&q=%22born+in+Almondbury+%22 Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of London, Volume 5, Royal College of Physicians, 1968 p.311] accessed 19 December 2012