Barkisland

Village in West Yorkshire, England

Human settlement in England
  • Ripponden
Metropolitan borough
  • Calderdale
Metropolitan county
  • West Yorkshire
RegionCountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townHALIFAXPostcode districtHX4Dialling code01422PoliceWest YorkshireFireWest YorkshireAmbulanceYorkshire UK Parliament
  • Calder Valley
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UK
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53°40′38″N 1°55′08″W / 53.677141°N 1.918973°W / 53.677141; -1.918973

Barkisland (/ˈbɑːkɪslənd/) is a village in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Ripponden, 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Sowerby Bridge and 4 miles (6.4 km) south-west of Halifax town centre.

The village is in the Ryburn ward of Calderdale. Barkisland has a school, a church, a post office and a cricket club that plays in the Huddersfield Cricket League.[1] There are two pubs in Barkisland, The Fleece Countryside Inn and The Griffin Inn.

History

A ten-thousand-year-old axe was discovered near Ringstone Reservoir, providing evidence of human activity in the area now known as Barkisland dating back to the Stone Age.[2] The origin of the name is in dispute. In a book of place names printed in 1944 it was stated that Barkisland derived from it being a settlement ('land') of a chieftain called 'Barkis'. While much earlier, in 1789, the Rev. John Watson, vicar of Ripponden church between 1754 and 1769, theorised that "Barsey or Barkesey are Anglo-Saxon words meaning low-lying enclosures where birches grow. It also is the Anglo-Saxon for a district where there are wolves."[3]

Industry

Bowers Mill was built in the 18th century as a water-powered fulling mill.[4] It has also been used as a corn mill, a worsted mill and a woollen mill. Textiles manufacturer J. & S. Taylor Ltd occupied the mill from 1882 to 1991 before moving production to Sowerby Bridge.[5] The mill has now been converted for smaller businesses.[4]

Barkisland Mill, a six-storey building, was used for textile production in the 19th and 20th centuries. At the start of the 21st century it was converted into residential flats.[4] Bottomley's Mill, a cotton mill, was recorded when a fire broke out there on 13 January 1871.[4]

Governance

Barkisland is a village in the civil parish of Ripponden, which is part of the Ryburn ward of Calderdale, a metropolitan borough within the ceremonial county of West Yorkshire in England.[6]

It was a township and chapelry in the parish of Halifax,[7] from 1866 Barkisland was a civil parish.[8] Barkisland was part of the Halifax Registration District from 1 July 1837. In 1931 the parish population was 1552.[9] It was abolished as a parish on 1 April 1937 and merged with the neighbouring parish of Ripponden.[10]

Geography

Barkisland is situated on a hilltop that gently rises from Greetland in the north-east and declines westwards to Ripponden and eastwards to Stainland. The hill continues to climb southwards towards Scammonden.

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Landmarks

Barkisland Hall

The village stocks are located on Stainland Road roughly 550 yards east of the post office and are a Grade II listed structure.[11]

Part of the Anglican Diocese of Wakefield, Christ Church is Barkisland's only church has links to the nearby school.[12]

Barkisland Hall is a grade I listed country house built for John Gledhill in 1638, constructed in stone in three storeys to an F-shaped floor plan. It was bought in 1967 by Lord Kagan to provide accommodation for his textile company, that made Gannex raincoats.[13]

Education

Barkisland Junior and Infant school serves the village.[14] Barkisland School Association (BSA) is a parent-teacher organisation supporting the school by organising events and fundraising.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Barkisland Cricket Club". barkislandcricketclub.co.uk/. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  2. ^ A Rinder. "The Early Inhabitants of Barkisland". dawtrina.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  3. ^ "The Etymology of Barkisland". dawtrina.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d "Mills & Mines – B". Malcolm Bull's Calderdale Companion. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  5. ^ "History". Taylors Direct. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  6. ^ "Ripponden". 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  7. ^ "History of Barkisland, in Calderdale and West Riding". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Relationships and changes Barkisland Tn/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  9. ^ "Population statistics Barkisland Tn/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Halifax Registration District". 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  11. ^ "View of the stocks at Barkisland, West Yorkshire". calderdale.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  12. ^ "Barkisland Christ Church". A Church Near You. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  13. ^ Historic England. "Barkisland Hall (1276881)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  14. ^ "Barkisland CofE VA Primary School Inspection report" (PDF). Ofsted. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  15. ^ "Barkisland School Association". barkislandcofeschool. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
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