| Guiseley | |
|---|---|
 A view of Guiseley from the tower of St Oswald's church | |
  Guiseley | |
| Population | 22,347 (ward Guiseley and Rawdon. 2011) |
| OS grid reference | SE193422 |
| • London | 175 mi (282 km) S |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LEEDS |
| Postcode district | LS20 |
| Dialling code | 01943 |
| Police | West Yorkshire |
| Fire | West Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| UK Parliament | |
| 53°52′30″N1°42′22″W / 53.875°N 1.706°W /53.875; -1.706 | |
Guiseley (/ˈɡaɪzlɪ/GHYZE-lee)[1] is a town in themetropolitan borough of theCity of Leeds,West Yorkshire, England.Historically part of theWest Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south ofOtley andMenston and is now a north-western suburb ofLeeds.
It sits in theGuiseley and Rawdon ward ofLeeds City Council and theLeeds North West parliamentary constituency. At the 2001 census, Guiseley withRawdon had a population of over 21,000,[2] increasing to 22,347 at the 2011 Census.[3]
TheA65 Otley Road, which passes through the town, is the main shopping street.Guiseley railway station has regular train services intoLeeds,Bradford andIlkley stations on theWharfedale Line.
The name of Guiseley is first attested in an eleventh-century copy of acharter from around 972, asGislicleh; it next appears in theDomesday Book of 1086 asGisele and similar variants. The early spelling suggests that the first element of the name is anOld Englishpersonal nameGīslic. No such name is otherwise attested, but it is a plausible nickname form of names beginning inGīsl-, such asGīslbeorht. The second element comes from the Old English wordlēah ('open land in woodland'). Thus the name seems once to have meant 'Gīslic's clearing'.[4][5]
The etymologies of local field- and street-names were studied in detail by Henry R. Daniels.[6]
There have beenStone Age andBronze Age finds in Guiseley and aRoman road, Road 72b, ran nearby on Guiseley Moor.[7] ASaxon settlement existed around a spring which is now called Guiseley Wells and provided drinking water.[7]
It was a largely farming community until the 18th century, when cottage-based woollen industry arose. In Victorian times it became industrialized, acquiring a railway connection in 1865 and a town hall (nowGuiseley Theatre) in 1867.[7]
Guiseley was anancient parish in theWest Riding of Yorkshire from the 12th century. The parish also included thetownships ofCarlton,Horsforth,Rawdon andYeadon, all of which became separatecivil parishes in 1866.[7] In 1894 Guiseley became anurban district, on 1 April 1937 the district was abolished to formAireborough Urban District, part also went toIlkley Urban District.[8] On 1 April 1937 the parish was abolished to form Aireborough, part also went to Ilkley.[9] In 1931 the parish had a population of 5,607.[10] In 1974 Aireborough was itself abolished and absorbed into the City of Leeds Metropolitan District in the new county of West Yorkshire.
Guiseley's church, dedicated toSt Oswald, was the centre of a large parish that included many surrounding villages. It was used by generations of the Longfellow family.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 5th great-grandfather left here for the New World in the 17th century. The rector of St Oswald's for several decades was Rev. Robert More (died in 1642), the father-in-law of the English explorer, CaptainChristopher Levett.[11]Patrick Brontë andMaria Branwell were married at St Oswald's[7] and became the parents of six children, includingAnne,Branwell,Charlotte andEmily Brontë.
Crompton Parkinson was a major employer until its factory closed in 2004. The town was the home ofSilver Cross, apram manufacturer, whose factory was operational from 1936 to 2002.[12]
The town is known forHarry Ramsden, whosefish and chip shop traded from a small shed next to the tram terminus at White Cross. In 1930 he opened "the world's biggest fish and chip shop". The original restaurant was closed in December 2011. The Wetherby Whaler group purchased the site and planned a £500,000 refurbishment to open during the summer of 2012.[13] The new Wetherby Whaler restaurant opened on 22 May 2012.
Guiseley has two retail parks: Guiseley Retail Park in the centre of town, and Westside Retail Park between Guiseley and Yeadon. The town has a Morrisons supermarket, charity shops and beauty stores on Otley Road, as well as many pubs, bars, takeaways and restaurants located around the town and a leisure centre with a swimming pool and gym on The Green.
Many of the retail outlets in the town have been established on the converted sites of old factories or mills. Recently, an increasing number of stores of well-known leading brands such asArgos,TK Maxx,Marks & Spencer (food),Asda Living,Currys,Costa Coffee,Next andSports Direct have been opened in the area.McDonald's,KFC andSubway all have stores in the town.
In addition to St Oswald's, there is also Guiseley Methodist Church and Guiseley Baptist Church,[14] which was built in 1883 on Oxford Road in the old town, and the Kingdom Hall ofJehovah's Witnesses on Otley Road. St Oswald's is now part of a united parish with St Paul's Church inEsholt.[15]
Guiseley's professional football team,Guiseley A.F.C., play at Nethermoor Park. They played in theConference North during the2014–15 season, gaining promotion to theConference Premier through the playoffs. Guiseley Cricket Club shares the club house and plays in theAiredale-Wharfedale Senior Cricket League.[16] Aireborough RUFC play at Nunroyd Park.[17] Local philanthropist Jonathan Peate gave Nethermoor Park (Guiseley) and Nunroyd Park (between Yeadon and Guiseley) to local people in the early 20th century. Two other parks were regenerated in 2011/12, Springfield Road and Parkinson's Park.[18] Parkinson's Park was given to Guiseley in the 1930s by Frank and Albert Parkinson. By 2002 it had become a wasteland with frequent occurrences of antisocial behaviour. It is now owned by Bellway Homes.
Guiseley is also home to England Athletics registered running club Airecentre Pacers.[19]
Local news and television programmes are provided byBBC Yorkshire andITV Yorkshire. Television signals are received from theEmley Moor TV transmitter.[20] Local radio stations areBBC Radio Leeds,Heart Yorkshire,Capital Yorkshire,Hits Radio West Yorkshire, andGreatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire.[21] The town is served by the local newspapers,Gazette & Observer andTelegraph & Argus.
Guiseley School on Fieldhead Road[22] was built as a secondary modern in the 1960s and is sometimes known as Fieldhead School.Aireborough Grammar School opened in 1910 and closed in 1991.[23]
Primary schools include Tranmere Park School[24] and St. Oswald's C of E School.[25]
Sports
Entertainment
Guiseley is situated in ahanging valley betweenAiredale andWharfedale. TheA65 road passes through, there is arailway station andLeeds Bradford Airport is nearby.
Places adjacent to Guiseley | |
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