Wikipedia

Thornhill, West Yorkshire

Thornhillis a village on the southern outskirts ofDewsburyinKirklees,West Yorkshire,England. Historically part of theWest Riding of Yorkshire,Thornhill was absorbed intoDewsbury County Boroughin 1910. The village is located on a ridge on the south side of theRiver Calder.Dewsbury,OssettandWakefieldare close by. Its parish church houses a collection ofAnglo-Saxon crosses.

Thornhill
St Michael and All Angels, Thornhill Parish Church
Thornhill is located in West Yorkshire
Thornhill
Thornhill
Location withinWest Yorkshire
Population6,875 (2005)
OS grid referenceSE245185
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townDEWSBURY
Postcode districtWF12
Dialling code01924
PoliceWest Yorkshire
FireWest Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire
53°39′44″N1°36′45″W/ 53.6622°N 1.6124°W/53.6622; -1.6124

History

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Anglian crosses and other remains indicate that there was a settlement here by the 9th century. A hoard of 27 Romandenariifound in Turnip Lane and pottery at the cross indicate a substantially earlier settlement. The tombstone of a high-ranking Anglian, Osberht, was found in the graveyard of Thornhill Parish Church. Some historians claim that the grave bearing the nameOsbehrtis that ofOsberht of Northumbria,who was killed on 21 March 867 while fighting the Viking Great Heathen Army led byIvar the Boneless.The gravestone, among other contemporaneous high-status Anglian gravestones, is displayed in the church.

Local place-names, Ludd Well (shown on a 1602 map) and the Combs indicate Celtic settlement. This is reinforced by the dedication of the Parish Church to St Michael, which is typical for churches in high places in formerly Celtic parts of northern England. The Celtic kingdom ofElmetthat covered parts of modern West Yorkshire collapsed in AD 617.

Thornhill is mentioned in theDomesday Bookof 1086 as within the ancientwapentakeofAgbrigg.[1]In 1320Edward IIgranted a charter for a market and a fair.[2]

Coat of armsof the Thornhill family

In the reign ofHenry III,Thornhill Hallwas the seat of the Thornhill family, who intermarried with the De Fixbys and Babthorpes in the reigns ofEdward IandEdward II.In the reign ofEdward III,Elizabeth Thornhill, the only child of Simon Thornhill, married Sir Henry Savile. This extinguished the family line of Thornhills of Thornhill which passed its property down the Savile line and Thornhill became the seat of the Savile family.[3]The Saviles intermarried with the Calverley family so that when Sir John Savile died in 1503 in Thornhill, he left provision in his will for his sister Alice, married to Sir William Calverley.[4]Sir William Savile,the thirdbaronetof the family, fortified the hall.

Thornhill Hall

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The Saviles remained here until theEnglish Civil Warwhen Thornhill Hall was besieged. A royalist heroine after the siege ofSheffield Castlein 1644, Lady Anne Savile's troops under Capt Thomas Paulden (brother ofWilliam Paulden) defended the hall against the Parliamentary forces under Col Sir Thomas Fairfax in August 1648. They were forced to surrender and the hall was destroyed.[5]Some ruins of the hall and the moat remain in Rectory Park.[6]The moat retains water.

The Old Rectory survived and was home to several vicars, notablyJohn Michell,[7]who rose to international prominence by developing an understanding of earthquakes, then devised an experiment to accurately determine the mass of planet Earth, but perhaps most intriguingly, attractedBenjamin Franklin(founding father of the USA),Joseph Priestley,Jan Ingenhousz,John Smeatonand others to a scientific meeting and overnight stay in 1771. Benjamin Franklin's stay in Thornhill remained unknown until 2015.

Monuments to members of the Thornhill and Savile families are in Thornhill Parish Church.[8]

Industrial Revolution

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Thornhill has close ties tocoal mining.The demand for coal increased due to the development of thesteam engine.The local population increased as more workers were recruited for the mines. In 1893 an explosion at Combs Pit killed 139 coal miners. Thornhill Colliery resulted from the merging of Inghams and Combs Collieries in 1948 but closed in 1971.

Governance

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Historically Thornhill (St Michael) was a largeecclesiastical parishand township in thewapentakeof Agbrigg,West Riding of Yorkshirewhich joined the DewsburyPoor Law Unionin 1837. In 1894 Thornhill became anurban district.The district contained thecivil parishesof Thornhill andWhitley Lower.In 1910 it was abolished[9]and merged with Dewsbury County Borough. On 1 April 1925 the parish was abolished and merged with Dewsbury.[10]In 1921 the parish had a population of 11,722.[11]

Geography

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Thornhill is situated on a flat-topped ridge to the south and east of theRiver Calderand theCalder and Hebble Navigationand north of the Howroyd Beck. The township covered 2,486 acres (1,006 ha) and the underlying rock comprises coal measures. Thornhill encompasses the areas ofThornhill Leesin the valley by the Calder and the Calder and Hebble Navigation, Thornhill Edge, the Edge from the Old Englishecgan escarpment[12]the south-facing scarp slope that overlooks the valley of the Howroyd Beck; Overthorpe, fromuferraandþorpwas the upper outlying farmstead,[13]now a residential area; and Fox Royd.[2]

Schools

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The Grade II listed formerThornhill Grammar Schoolwas built with money bequeathed by Charles Greenwood, Rector of Thornhill in 1643.[14]A school endowed by Richard Walker dated from 1712.[2]

Thornhill has two primary schools: Overthorpe (C of E) Junior and Infants and Thornhill Junior and Infants School.Thornhill Community Academy,the area's secondary school had aGCSEpass rate of 84% in 2010, an increase of 22 percentage points from 2009. The school is aScience College.Much of the school has been refurbished and modernised. Construction of a sports hall was completed in April 2007 and includes a newMulti-Use Games Area.

Sports

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Thornhill Trojans[15]rugby leagueteam play (2023) in the National Conference League Division 1.[16]Overthorpe Sports football team play in the West Riding County Amateur League (Premier Division) on Saturdays and Overthorpe Town play in the Heavy Woollen Sunday League (First Division). Thornhill United play at Rectory Park. Thornhill Rugby Club is based in Overthorpe Parks. Community facilities open to the public include a football pitch, rugby pitch and basketball court, a mini rugby pitch frequently used by the rugby club for the under tens junior team and a sports hall with a multi-use games area are at the local secondary school (the Community Science College at Thornhill).

The Savile Bowmen archery club shoots at Thornhill Cricket and Bowls Club.[17]Three tennis courts are situated next to Thornhill Cricket and Bowls Club. Thornhill Tennis Club has two teams in the Huddersfield and District Tennis League.

Amenities

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There are a number of local shops andoff-licencesin Thornhill and numerous takeaways ranging from traditional English to Italian cuisine. The nearest large supermarkets are in Dewsbury, which is connected by public transport. The area has two post offices with limited services. Overthorpe Post Office has recently undergone building work and is now part of the Onestop franchise. Other shops and services include a florist, dental surgery, beauty salon, a computer repair shop, a tattoo studio, a fish and chip shop and a couple of Indian takeaways.

Survey of English Dialects site

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The area was covered by theSurvey of English Dialectsin the belief that it was a hotbed of Yorkshire dialect.[18]A 2005 study compared the 1964 Thornhill recording with a recording from nearby Ossett in 1999.[19]

St Michael and All Angels

Notable people

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George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax.c. 1675

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Open Domesday Online: Thornhill (Yorkshire)".Retrieved8 August2023.
  2. ^abcLewis, Samuel (1848)."Thornhill St Michael".A Topographical Dictionary of England.British History Online. pp. 335–337.Retrieved10 October2010.
  3. ^"The family of Thornhill of Thornhill, Yorkshire".
  4. ^"Medieval English genealogy: The Savile Family".www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk.
  5. ^Nuttall, B. (1970).A History of Thornhill.
  6. ^Historic England."RUINS OF THE MEDIEVAL THORNHILL HALL IN MOATED ENCLOSURE, IN RECTORY GROUNDS (Grade II) (1134729)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved1 January2019.
  7. ^ab"Michell, John".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 18 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 370–371.
  8. ^"History & Publications – Thornhill Parish Church".Archived fromthe originalon 12 March 2007.Retrieved12 February2006.
  9. ^"Relationships and changes Thornhill UD through time".A Vision of Britain through Time.Retrieved16 October2024.
  10. ^"Relationships and changes Thornhill AP/CP through time".A Vision of Britain through Time.Retrieved16 October2024.
  11. ^"Population statistics Thornhill AP/CP through time".A Vision of Britain through Time.Retrieved16 October2024.
  12. ^"Thornhill Edge".Survey of English Place-Names.Retrieved23 January2024.
  13. ^"Overthorpe".Survey of English Place-Names.Retrieved22 January2024.
  14. ^Historic England."Former Thornhill Grammar School (Grade II) (1134730)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved28 January2024.
  15. ^"Thornhill Trojans".Archived fromthe originalon 25 May 2009.Retrieved22 July2022.
  16. ^"National Conference League".
  17. ^"Kirklees Area Target Archery Club:: Savile Bowmen".www.savile-bowmen.org.uk.
  18. ^"Thornhill, Yorkshire".Archived fromthe originalon 11 March 2007.Retrieved13 July2006.
  19. ^"Dialect and Folk Life Studies in Britain: The Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture in its Context"(PDF).19 March 2005. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 24 December 2010.Retrieved8 August2023.
  20. ^"Radcliffe, Sir George".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 22 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 784.
  21. ^Yorke, Philip Chesney (1911)."Halifax, George Savile, 1st Marquess of".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 12 (11th ed.). pp. 839–843.
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