Kirkburton - History

History

The origins of the village date back to the Iron Age when a settlement was believed to have been built on the site of the present church. A Saxon Fort is also believed to have stood on that site. The village is recorded in the Domesday Book as Bertone in Wachefeld. The entry reads (translated):

"In Wakefield, with 9 Berewicks... are 60 carucates of land 3 bovates and the third part of 1 bovate to the geld. 30 ploughs could plough this land. This manor was in the demesne of King Edward; now, in the king's hand, there are 4 villans, and 3 priests and 2 churches, and 7 sokemen and 16 bordars. Together, they have 7 ploughs. woodland pasture 6 leagues long and 4 leagues broad. The whole 6 leagues long and 6 leagues broad... To this manor belongs the soke of these lands... Kirkburton, 3 carucates... in all, there are 30 carucates to the geld, which 20 ploughs could plough. Now they are waste"

After the Norman Conquest the village grew from the waste recorded in 1086. The two parts of the village were named after the church was built in 1190, Kirkburton housed the church whilst Highburton was built on the hill. In the Middle Ages the township was part of the Manor of Wakefield and Kirkburton church was at the head of a 16,000 acres (60 km2) parish, that extended to the Holme Valley.

During the First English Civil War the villagers supported the Parliamentary cause. The priest, Gamaliel Whitaker, angered his parishioners by supporting the Royalists. He was denounced to the government forces who went to arrest him in 1644. During the struggle the soldiers shot his wife, Hester, in the ensuing confusion. Legend has it that her ghost haunts the old vicarage.

The population of the township increased with the growth of the textile trades. By 1800 the population was about 1400: 60 years later it was approaching 3700. After this, there was a general decline in the population and for nearly a century the figure was around 3000. In 1971 there were 2800 inhabitants, but following housing developments at Highburton the population is nearer 5000.

The Huddersfield-Kirkburton Branch Line opened in 1867, serving the 2 terminal stations as well as Deighton, Kirkheaton, Fenay Bridge and Lepton. It was very unusual in that it was operated by the London and North Western Railway company in an area where the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway company had a virtual monopoly. Plans to extend the line to Barnsley never materialised and so Kirkburton remained at the end of the line. It was primarily used for the transportation of goods, although passenger services ran until 1930. The line continued to be used to transport goods until the 1960s, when a combination of road haulage and a decline in industry around the village lead to closure of the station in 1965. Evidence of the railway remains in the area around Northwood Park, a housing development built on the old route. Parts of the station still remain, albeit in ruined state, whilst the bricked up tunnel can be clearly seen when travelling into the village centre from Penistone Road.

A psychiatric hospital operated at Storthes Hall from 1904-1991. It was founded as an asylum and was previously called the Storthes Hall Mental Hospital (1929–1938), the West Riding Mental Hospital (1939–1948)and Storthes Hall Hospital (1949–1991). After it was closed the land was sold to the University of Huddersfield and halls of residence built. Most of the former site is now home to the Storthes Hall Park Student Village, with the remaining area due for further development as a retirement village.

Kirkburton thrived on a variety of industrial advances, particularly in wool and coal. The gradual decline of these industries gave way to the villages small but thriving shopping centre. Kirkburton remains the commercial heart of the township, whilst Highburton has become the residential centre.