Kirklees

History

The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972 as part of a reform of local government in England. Eleven former local government districts were merged: the county boroughs of Huddersfield and Dewsbury, the municipal boroughs of Batley and Spenborough and the urban districts of Colne Valley, Denby Dale, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Kirkburton, Meltham and Mirfield.

The name Kirklees was chosen by the merging councils from more than fifty suggestions, including Upper Agbrigg, Brigantia and Wooldale. It was named after Kirklees Priory, which is claimed to be site of Robin Hood's death, situated midway between Huddersfield and Dewsbury. The priory was located within the present-day Kirklees Park estate, most of which actually lies in the neighbouring borough of Calderdale.

Under the original draft of the Act, the district would have included Ossett, part of the Dewsbury Parliamentary constituency at that time. It was eventually decided that Ossett was too remote to be governed from Huddersfield and the town was included within the Wakefield district instead.

Geography

Kirklees sits in quite a central position to all the other surrounding unitary boroughs of West Yorkshire, with people living in the northern parts are closer to Leeds and York for work and education. People living in the western parts are closer to Bradford, Halifax and Huddersfield for education and work. People living in the southern and eastern parts are closer to Wakefield, Barnsley, Sheffield and Manchester for work and education. The largest towns in the borough are Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Batley, Heckmondwike and Cleckheaton.

The principal settlements of Kirklees are mill towns in the Colne Valley, Holme Valley, Calder Valley and Spen Valley. Those areas of the district with a more urban character bound Calderdale to the west, Bradford to the north-west, Leeds to the north-east and Wakefield to the east.

The district also includes several rural villages, with the largest rural area extending from the south of Huddersfield. The Pennine countryside to the south-west of Meltham and Holme lies within the Peak District National Park. This moorland area mostly bounds Saddleworth, a traditional part of Yorkshire but now locally governed from Oldham, Greater Manchester. There is also a relatively short border with the High Peak district of Derbyshire, running across the summit of Black Hill, and the main border to the south of Kirklees is with Barnsley.

The inclusion of two county boroughs resulted in a district without an obvious centre. Over the years there have been suggestions of splitting the district into two, administered from Huddersfield and Dewsbury. Graham Riddick, as MP for Colne Valley, campaigned for a split in the early 1990s. A similar ambition was mentioned by Elizabeth Peacock, MP for Batley and Spen in 1991. The boundaries of metropolitan boroughs were outside the remit of the Banham Commission appointed to review local government structures in 1992 or its successors, and only minor boundary changes were made with neighbouring districts in 1994.

The district includes parts of three postcode areas. Huddersfield and the rural areas to the south have HD postcodes, Birkenshaw, Cleckheaton and Gomersal have BD postcodes, and the rest of the Heavy Woollen area has WF postcodes. Similarly the district is split between several telephone dialling codes, with most residents in the 01484 (Huddersfield), 01274 (Bradford) and 01924 (Wakefield) codes. A small number of residents in Birchencliffe and Birkenshaw villages fall within the 01422 (Halifax) and 0113 (Leeds) codes respectively.

Transport

Public transport information is provided by Metro, as is the case across the rest of West Yorkshire.

Rail

Kirklees lies along the core Huddersfield line of the TransPennine Express network, with services calling at Huddersfield and Dewsbury. Direct Grand Central services to London King's Cross call at Mirfield. Other railway stations in the district on these routes and on the Penistone line have local Northern Trains services. Some towns in Kirklees have not been served by rail transport since the Beeching cuts. Dewsbury and Batley are served by the Calder Valley Line and the TransPennine Express lines. These serve an important urban area around Leeds and Kirklees with services to further away stations including Manchester Victoria and Liverpool Lime Street.

Bus

Most bus services in the Huddersfield area are operated by Team Pennine and First West Yorkshire, and most bus services in the Heavy Woollen area are operated by Arriva Yorkshire.

Road

The urban areas of Kirklees are served by the M62 and M1 motorways. Parts of the local road network are considered to require improvement, such as the main route from Huddersfield to the southbound M1 which narrows as it passes through Flockton.

Bicycle

Kirklees Council has developed a number of traffic-free cycle paths called Greenways in partnership with Sustrans.

Demography

Ethnicity

Tourism

Tourism in Kirklees is based around the area's countryside and industrial heritage:

• All Saints' Church, Batley
• Bagshaw Museum
• Castle Hill
• Cleckheaton Town Hall
• Colne Valley Museum
• Dewsbury Minster
• Dewsbury Town Hall
• Holmfirth, setting of long-running sitcom Last of the Summer Wine
• Huddersfield Town Hall
• Kirklees Light Railway
• Kirklees Way, 72 miles circular walking route
• Marsden Moor Estate
• Mount Pleasant, Batley
• Oakwell Hall
• Spen Valley Greenway
• St Peter's Church, Huddersfield
• Standedge Tunnels and Visitor Centre
• Tolson Museum Kirklees Council closed Dewsbury Museum and Red House Museum at the end of 2016, claiming it could not afford to continue running them following cuts to its budget.

Tourist information in Kirklees can be obtained from major libraries.

Sport

Huddersfield Town play football in the EFL Championship as of the 2022–23 season. They were the first English club to win three successive league titles. There are also 3 semi professional football teams within Kirklees, Liversedge, Emley and Golcar United.

The birthplace of rugby league was at the George Hotel, Huddersfield; local clubs include Super League side Huddersfield Giants, alongside Batley Bulldogs and Dewsbury Rams who both play in the Championship.

Kirklees Active Leisure is a charitable trust which operates sport centres.

Media

Kirkless is served by BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire broadcasting from the Emley Moor transmitter which is situated near the village of Emley, in Huddersfield.

Local radio stations are:

• BBC Radio Leeds on 92.4 FM
• Heart Yorkshire on 106.2 FM
• Capital Yorkshire on 105.1 FM
• Pulse 1 on 102.5 FM
• Greatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire on 96.3 FM
• Branch FM on 101.8 FM (for Dewsbury)

Local newspapers are Huddersfield Daily Examiner, Yorkshire Evening Post and Yorkshire Post.

Governance

Council

Main article: Kirklees Council, History of local government in Yorkshire

Kirklees Council is the local authority of the district. The council is composed of 69 councillors, three for each of the borough's 23 wards. Elections are held three years out of four, on the first Thursday of May. One third of the councillors are elected, for a four-year term, in each election. The council is currently led by a Labour executive.

Borough status and mayoralty

The shadow Kirklees District Council petitioned the privy council for a royal charter under section 245 of the Local Government Act 1972 granting the status of a borough from 1 April 1974. The grant of borough status entitled the chairman of the council to the title of "mayor", effectively continuing the mayoralties of the former boroughs of Dewsbury (1862), Huddersfield (1898), Batley (1869) and Spenborough (1955). The mayor is elected from among the councillors for a one-year term (the "civic year") at the council's annual meeting.

Kirklees is the most populated borough or district in England not to have city status. In 2001 it was announced that a grant of city status was to be made to an English town to mark the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II, and Kirklees council indicated that it was considering applying on behalf of Huddersfield. An unofficial telephone poll by the Huddersfield Examiner found a slim majority against the proposal, and the council did not proceed with the application.

Freedom of the borough

Borough status also allows the council to confer the freedom of the borough on "persons of distinction". Since its formation Kirklees Council has granted this right to two individuals and two groups:

• 3rd Battalion Yorkshire Volunteers - (25 March 1979) On 25 March 1979, Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council gave the Freedom of Kirklees to the 3rd Battalion of the Yorkshire Volunteers. The 3rd Battalion was at that time the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) Territorial Army unit. However the freedom given by Kirklees to the 3rd battalion of the Yorkshire Volunteers did not permit any transfer to heirs or successors and effectively that freedom ceased when the battalion was amalgamated into the East and West Riding Regiment on 1 July 1999. The East and West Riding Regiment ceased to exist on 6 June 2006, having been merged into the Yorkshire Regiment as its 4th Battalion. The Yorkshire Regiment requested the freedom to march to be transferred to them. On 25 October 2008 Kirklees Council transferred the Freedom of Huddersfield to the Yorkshire Regiment at a freedom parade held by the 3rd Battalion, formerly the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding).
• Sir William Mallalieu MP (27 January 1980)
• The Rt Hon Betty Boothroyd MP (20 November 1992)
• Citizens of Besançon, France (7 October 2005)
• The Yorkshire Regiment (25 October 2008)
• Simon Armitage (20 March 2024)
• Sir Patrick Stewart (20 March 2024)

Twin towns

Kirklees is twinned with:

• FRA Besançon, France
• KAZ Kostanay, Kazakhstan 1989
• POL Bielsko-Biała, Poland 1997
• GER Kreis Unna, Germany 1967

Coat of arms

Kirklees Borough Council was granted armorial bearings by the College of Arms by letters patent dated 24 June 1974. the blazon of the arms is as follows:

Vert on a bend Argent a bendlet wavy azure on a chief Or a pale between two cog-wheels azure on the pale a Paschal Lamb supporting a staff of the fourth flying therefrom a forked pennon argent charged with a cross gules; and for a Crest, On a wreath of the colours a ram's head affronty couped argent armed Or gorged with a mural crown sable masoned argent. Supporters: On either side a lion guardant purpure resting the inner hind leg on a cross crosslet Or embellished in each of the four angles with a fleur de lis azure. Badge or device: A roundel purpure charged with a Lacy Knot Or all within a circle of eleven roses argent barbed and seeded proper.

The green colouring of the shield represents the fields, woods and moorland of the borough. The white stripe or bend represents the M62 motorway, while the blue wave upon it is for the many waterways of the area. On the chief or upper third of the shield is a paschal lamb, symbol of St John the Baptist. John was the patron saint of woolworkers, and the inclusion of the emblem represents the historic woollen industry. The cogwheels are for the modern engineering industries. The crest is a ram's head, found in the arms of the County Borough of Huddersfield and the Mirfield Urban District Council. The black mural crown stands for the district's status as a borough, recalling a city wall. The supporters are purple lions from the arms of the de Laci family, medieval lords of Huddersfield. For heraldic "difference" from other lion supporters a distinctive cross has been placed below their inner feet. This device, combining the symbols of Christ and the Virgin Mary, represents the priory from which the borough took its name.

Parish and town councils

In five areas of the borough there is a second tier of local government: the civil parish. Parish or town councils have limited powers of a purely local character, such as owning or maintaining allotments, burial grounds, footpaths and war memorials. Four of the parishes were formed as successor parishes to urban districts abolished in 1974. The fifth was formed in 1988. The five town or parish councils are:

The remainder of the borough is unparished, with the borough council exercising parish powers.

Parliamentary representation

1997 to date

Since 1997 Kirklees has been divided into five constituencies: four being entirely within the borough, while one ward (Wakefield) is included in the Wakefield Council borough. The boundaries of two of the Colne Valley and Huddersfield constituencies were virtually unchanged from those defined in 1983. Denby Dale and Kirkburton wards were transferred from Dewsbury to Wakefield, with the former constituency receiving Heckmondwike ward from Batley and Spen.

The constituencies were first used at the 1997 general election, when the Labour Party came to power in a landslide, gaining all the seats in the borough. The party held the seats at the subsequent elections of 2001 and 2005. The incumbent MP for Batley and Spen, Jo Cox, was murdered on 16 June 2016. A constituency by-election took place on 20 October 2016 and Tracy Brabin was elected. A further by-election will be held in the constituency on 1 July 2021, after Brabin's resignation, following her election as Mayor of West Yorkshire.

1983 to 1997

The 1983 general election was the first at which constituencies based on the administrative areas created in 1974 were used. Kirklees was divided into four constituencies. The Conservative Party polled well in the 1983 election, and took two of the borough's constituencies. Labour held Huddersfield, while the Liberals, running in an alliance with the Social Democrats, held Colne Valley. In the following election in 1987 the Labour vote increased slightly, and they gained Dewsbury from the Conservatives. At the same time the Alliance vote fell, and the Conservatives took Colne Valley. The four MPs elected in 1992 were all returned in 1997.

1974 to 1983

Parliamentary constituencies in England and Wales continued to be defined in terms of the boroughs and districts abolished in 1974 until a general redistribution of seats in 1983. Accordingly, Kirklees was divided between seven constituencies, which had first been used in the 1950 general election.

References

References

1. "Kirklees Local Authority".
2. [http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/community/statistics/kirkpopulation/KFCEN20011.pdf Kirklees MBC website - Community statistics, 2011 Census] {{webarchive. link. (28 February 2014)
3. O'Leary, Patrick. (8 August 1974). "Kirklees: Robin Hood brings the communities together". The Times.
4. "In the footsteps of Robin Hood". Channel 4.
5. ''Ossett Town Hall'', Ossett Historical Society, 2008, p. 104.
6. "Map of Peak District National Park: Peak District National Park". Peak District National Park.
7. (29 August 2007). "Dewsbury should split from Kirklees". Huddersfield Daily Examiner.
8. "Tories announce plans to split district in two".
9. (3 March 1992). "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 9 Mar 1992".
10. (22 November 1993). "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 22 Nov 1993".
11. (8 May 1991). "Local Government".
12. (4 December 1995). "The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Sir Paul Beresford)".
13. (1993). "The Bradford, Kirklees and Leeds (City and Metropolitan Borough Boundaries) Order 1993". Office of Public Sector Information.
14. (1993). "The Calderdale and Kirklees (Metropolitan Borough Boundaries) Order 1993". Office of Public Sector Information.
15. (9 July 2010). "No bypass in foreseeable future for Flockton village near M1". Huddersfield Daily Examiner.
16. (September 2016). "Cycling".
17. (1996). "Ethnicity in the 1991 census: Vol 3 - Social geography and ethnicity in Britain, geographical spread, spatial concentration and internal migration". London : HMSO.
18. (1996). "Ethnicity in the 1991 census: Vol 3 - Social geography and ethnicity in Britain, geographical spread, spatial concentration and internal migration". London : HMSO.
19. Data is taken from United Kingdom [http://casweb.ukdataservice.ac.uk/index.htm Casweb Data services] of the United Kingdom [http://casweb.ukdataservice.ac.uk/step1.cfm 1991 Census on Ethnic Data for England, Scotland and Wales] {{Webarchive. link. (5 April 2022 (Table 6))
20. "Office of National Statistics; 2001 Census Key Statistics".
21. "2011 Census: Ethnic Group, local authorities in England and Wales".
22. "Ethnic group - Office for National Statistics".
23. (6 November 2016). "Dewsbury Museum closes because of 'austerity cuts'". BBC News.
24. (September 2016). "Library locations and opening times". Kirklees Council.
25. [https://kal.org.uk/ Kirklees Active Leisure], accessed on 5 December 2025
26. (1 May 2004). "Emley Moor (Kirklees, England) Full Freeview transmitter".
27. "Yorkshire Radio Stations".
28. (1974). "Local government in England and Wales: A Guide to the New System". [[HMSO]].
29. (August 2008). "Former Mayors". Kirklees Council.
30. (May 2006). "The Mayor's Role". Kirklees Council.
31. (9 August 2001). "Huddersfield people undecided on city status bid". Huddersfield Examiner.
32. (2009). "The Dukes and The West Riding". The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding)Regimental Association.
33. (1 April 2005). "Freedom of Kirklees ...for a French town!". Huddersfield Examiner.
34. Hirst, Andrew. (16 October 2008). "Special Huddersfield parade to honour Yorkshire Regiment". Huddersfield Examiner.
35. Kirklees, Susie. (20 March 2024). "Freedom of the Borough for inspirational people".
36. "British towns twinned with French towns". Archant Community Media Ltd.
37. "Partner- und Patenschaften". Kreis Unna.
38. "Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council". Civic Heraldry of England and Wales.
39. ''Kirklees Borough Guide'', c. 1974.
40. (January 2006). "Parish and Town Councils". Kirklees Council.
41. (9 February 2009). "About the Council". Mirfield Town Council.
42. (2007). "The Councillors". Denby Dale Parish Council.
43. "Members of the Council". Holme Valley Parish Council.
44. (July 2007). "Kirkburton Parish Council". Kirklees Council.
45. (2007). "Parish Councillors' Contact Details". Kirkburton Parish Council.
46. (2008). "Your members of the council". Meltham Town Council.
47. (1995). "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995/1626)". [[Office of Public Sector Information]].
48. (16 June 2016). "Labour MP Jo Cox dies after being shot and stabbed in her constituency near Leeds". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
49. (21 October 2016). "Batley and Spen by-election: Tracy Brabin victory for 'hope and unity'". BBC News.
50. (8 May 2021). "Is Batley and Spen Labour's next by-election headache?". The Independent.
51. "West Yorkshire Mayoral election results".
52. "Batley & Spen parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
53. "Batley & Spen". University of Keele.
54. "Colne Valley parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
55. "Colne Valley". University of Keele.
56. "Dewsbury parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
57. "Dewsbury". University of Keele.
58. "Huddersfield parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
59. "Huddersfield". University of Keele.
60. "Wakefield parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
61. "Wakefield". University of Keele.
62. The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983 (S.I. 1983/417).
63. "United Kingdom General Election Results 1992". University of Keele.
64. "United Kingdom General Election Results 1987". University of Keele.
65. (June 2025). "United Kingdom General Election Results 1983". University of Keele }}{{Dead link.
66. "United Kingdom General Election Results 1992". University of Keele.
67. "United Kingdom General Election Results 1987". University of Keele.
68. "United Kingdom General Election Results 1983". University of Keele.
69. "United Kingdom General Election Results 1992". University of Keele.
70. "United Kingdom General Election Results 1987". University of Keele.
71. "United Kingdom General Election Results 1983". University of Keele.
72. "United Kingdom General Election Results 1983". University of Keele.
73. "United Kingdom General Election Results 1987". University of Keele.
74. [[Representation of the People Act 1948]], (c.65), Schedule I.
75. "United Kingdom General Election Results 1979". University of Keele.
76. "United Kingdom General Election Results October 1974". University of Keele.
77. "United Kingdom General Election Results February 1974". University of Keele.
78. "United Kingdom General Election Results 1979". University of Keele.
79. "United Kingdom General Election Results October 1974". University of Keele.
80. (June 2025). "United Kingdom General Election Results February 1974". University of Keele }}{{Dead link.
81. "United Kingdom General Election Results 1979". University of Keele.
82. "United Kingdom General Election Results October 1974". University of Keele.
83. "United Kingdom General Election Results February 1974". University of Keele.
84. (1995). "SDP: The Birth, Life and Death of the Social Democratic Party". Oxford University Press.
85. "United Kingdom General Election Results 1979". University of Keele.
86. "United Kingdom General Election Results October 1974". University of Keele.
87. "United Kingdom General Election Results February 1974". University of Keele.
88. "United Kingdom General Election Results 1979". University of Keele.
89. "United Kingdom General Election Results October 1974". University of Keele.
90. "United Kingdom General Election Results February 1974". University of Keele.
91. "United Kingdom General Election Results 1979". University of Keele.
92. "United Kingdom General Election Results October 1974". University of Keele.
93. "United Kingdom General Election Results February 1974". University of Keele.