Cleckheaton, Yorkshire Family History Guide
Cleckheaton is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Yorkshire, created in 1732 from chapelry in Birstall Ancient Parish.
Other places in the parish include: Scholes, Oakenshaw, and Hartshead Moor.
Alternative names: Birstall Whitechapel, Clackheaton
Parish church:
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1761
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1813
Nonconformists include: Independent/Congregational, Plymouth Brethren, Wesleyan Methodist, and Wesleyan Methodist Reform.
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Adjacent Parishes
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
CLECKHEATON, or Clackheaton, a township, a chapelry, and a sub-district, in Birstall parish, W. R. Yorkshire.
The township lies on an affluent of the river Aire, and on the Bradford and Mirfield railway, 5 miles SSE of Bradford; includes the hamlets of Scholes and Oakenshaw, and part of Hartshead-Moor; and has a station on the railway, and a post-office under Leeds.
Acres, 1, 726. Real property, £18, 381; of which £1, 608 are in mines. Pop., 6, 231. Houses, 1, 316. The property is much subdivided. Many of the inhabitants are weavers. Vestiges of a Roman town were discovered here by Dr. Richardson.
The chapelry is of less extent than the township; and was constituted in 1842. Pop., 4, 721. Houses, 999.
The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Ripon. Value, £150. Patron, the Vicar of Birstall. The church is a modern edifice, in the Gothic style, with a tower; and was built at a cost of £2, 387.
An Independent chapel, in the Italian style, after designs by Lockwood and Mawson, was erected in 1859, at a cost of about £7, 500. There are also Wesleyan and Free Methodist chapels, and two public schools.
The sub-district contains the townships of Cleckheaton, Hunswerth, and Wike; and is in the district of Bradford. Acres, 3, 956. Pop., 10, 446. Houses, 2, 223.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
CLECKHEATON, a township, in the parish of Birstal, union of Bradford, wapentake of Morley, W. riding of York, 9 miles (W.) from Leeds; containing 4299 inhabitants.
This township, which is situated in a rich and fertile vale, includes the hamlets of Oakenshaw and Scholes, and comprises by admeasurement 1686 acres; Miss Currer is lady of the manor. Several coal-mines of excellent quality are in operation, and a quarry of freestone of inferior kind is worked. From its favourable situation on the Leeds and Elland, Leeds and Halifax, and Bradford and Dewsbury roads, the place is well adapted for the woollen and worsted manufactures, which, together with the making of cards and machinery used in the woollen-trade, are carried on to a great extent; there are also two iron-foundries. Vast quantities of cloth for the army are made.
The village is situated on the slope of a hill commanding a fine view of the vale, whose acclivities are richly wooded, and of the surrounding country, which abounds with picturesque scenery. It is neatly built and well lighted with gas from works established in 1837, at an expense of £4000, by a proprietary of £10 shareholders; a newsroom is supported by subscription, and there is a mechanics’ institution, established in 1838. Considerable improvements have recently taken place in the village, and numerous villas have been erected in the immediate vicinity. Fairs for cattle, which are well attended, are held on the first Thursday in April, and on the last Thursday in August.
The chapel called the White chapel, about a mile from the village, was rebuilt about a century since, by Dr. Richardson, of Bierley, and again, on a larger scale, in 1821; it is a neat edifice in the early English style, and contains 800 sittings, of which 186 are free.
The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of Miss Currer; net income, £150. A district church dedicated to St. John was erected on a site given by the late Mrs. Beaumont, of Bretton Hall, by a grant from the Parliamentary Commissioners, at an expense of £2700, and consecrated in 1832; it is in the early English style, with a square embattled tower crowned by pinnacles, and contains 500 sittings, of which 60 are free.
The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Birstal; net income, £150, with a glebe-house.
The Independents and Wesleyans have places of worship.
There were some remains of a Roman camp, which have long been obliterated by the plough; and many coins, chiefly of the Lower Empire, have been found on the site. Several coins, also, were discovered in earthen jars near Scot Lane, in 1818 and 1830.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Parish Records
FamilySearch
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England, Yorkshire, Clackton
Administration
- County: Yorkshire
- Civil Registration District: Bradford
- Probate Court: Exchequer and Prerogative Courts of the Archbishop of York
- Diocese: Post-1835 – Ripon, Pre-1836 – York
- Rural Deanery: Pontefract
- Poor Law Union: North Bierley
- Hundred: Morley
- Province: York