County Borough of Halifax

Halifax () is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It is the commercial, cultural and administrative centre of the borough, and the headquarters of Calderdale Council. In the 15th century, the town became an economic hub of the old West Riding of Yorkshire, primarily in woollen manufacture. Halifax is the largest town in the wider Calderdale borough. Halifax was a thriving mill town during the industrial revolution.

Toponymy

The town's name was recorded in about 1091 as ''Halyfax'', from the Old English ''halh-gefeaxe'', meaning "area of coarse grass in the nook of land". This explanation is preferred to derivations from the Old English ''halig'' (holy), in ''hālig feax'' or "holy hair", proposed by 16th-century antiquarians. The incorrect interpretation gave rise to two legends. One concerned a maiden killed by a lustful priest whose advances she spurned. Another held that the head of John the Baptist was buried here after his execution. The legend is almost certainly medieval rather than ancient, although the town's coat of arms carries an image of the saint. Another explanation is a corruption of the Old English ''hay'' and ''ley'' a clearing or meadow. This etymology is based on Haley Hill, the nearby hamlet of Healey (another corruption), and the common occurrence of the surnames Hayley and Haley around Halifax. The erroneous derivation from ''halig'' has given rise to the demonym Haligonian, which is of recent origin and not in universal use.

The Earldom of Halifax took the name of the town. Its first creation, in the Peerage of England in 1677, was for George Savile, who was created Baron Savile of Eland and Viscount Halifax in 1668 and later became the Marquess of Halifax (this creation of the earldom became extinct in 1700). George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, (2nd order of the 3rd creation) became the President of the Board of Trade in 1748. In 1749 the city of Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, Canada, was named in his honour. The Halifax River in Central Florida, United States, was also named after him.

History

Halifax is not mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', and evidence of the early settlement is indefinite. By the 12th century the township had become the religious centre of the vast parish of Halifax, which extended from Brighouse in the east to Heptonstall in the west. Halifax Minster, parts of which date from the 12th century is dedicated to St John the Baptist. The minster's first organist, in 1766, was William Herschel, who discovered the planet Uranus. The coat of arms of Halifax include the chequers from the original coat of arms of the Earls Warenne, who held the town during Norman times.


Halifax was notorious for its gibbet, an early form of guillotine used to execute criminals by decapitation, that was last used in 1650. A replica has been erected on the original site in Gibbet Street. Its original blade is on display at Bankfield Museum. Punishment in Halifax was notoriously harsh, as remembered in the ''Beggar's Litany'' by poet John Taylor (1580–1654), a prayer whose text included "From Hull, from Halifax, from Hell, ‘tis thus, From all these three, Good Lord deliver us.".

The town's 19th-century wealth came from the cotton, wool and carpet industries and like most other Yorkshire towns, it had a large number of weaving mills many of which have been lost or converted to alternate use.

In November 1938, in an incident of mass hysteria, many residents believed a serial killer, the Halifax Slasher, was on the loose. Scotland Yard concluded there were no attacks after several locals admitted they had inflicted wounds on themselves.

Halifax plc started as a building society, the Halifax Permanent Benefit Building and Investment Society, in the town in 1853. Today the bank operates as a trading name of HBOS, part of the Lloyds Banking Group. Yorkshire Bank, based in Leeds and known as the ''West Riding Penny Savings Bank'', was established on 1 May 1859 by Colonel Edward Akroyd of Halifax. Halifax is twinned with Aachen in Germany. The A58 has a stretch called Aachen Way.

Governance

The ancient parish of Halifax was divided into a large number of civil parishes in the 19th century. In Halifax, a body of improvement commissioners or town trustees was created between 1762 and 1823, and the town became a borough constituency under the Reform Act 1832. Halifax was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1848 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, and, with the passing of the Local Government Act 1888, became a county borough in 1889. Since 1974, Halifax has been the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire.

Geography

Topographically, Halifax is located in the south-eastern corner of the moorland region called the South Pennines. Halifax is situated about from the M62 motorway, close to Bradford and Huddersfield. The A641 road links the town with Brighouse, Bradford and Huddersfield. The Hebble Brook joins the River Calder at Salterhebble.

Demography

In 2004 Calderdale had a population of 192,405, of which 82,500 live in the Halifax urban area. The main ethnic group in Halifax is White (87%), followed by British Pakistani (10%). Over 90% of people aged 16–74 were employed, mostly full-time. 64% of residents had qualifications.
Halifax is home to a large South Asian community mainly of British Pakistanis from the Kashmir region, which originally moved to the area for employment in the textile industry. The majority of the community lives in the west central Halifax region of the town, which was previously home to immigrant Irish communities who have since moved to the outer suburbs. The Illingworth and Mixenden areas, in contrast to west central Halifax, consists mostly of white, Protestant residents. In the 2001 census, 5% stated they were Muslim, 16.3% of no religion, and 63.8% of Christian background. 12.8% did not disclose their religion. The population density of the Halifax urban area is 530/km².

Economy

From New Year's Day 1779, manufacturers and mercers dealt internationally in such articles through its grandiose square, the Piece Hall. Halifax is known for Mackintosh's chocolate and toffee products, including Rolo and Quality Street. The Halifax bank was founded and has large offices in the town. Dean Clough, north of the town centre, was once one of the largest textile factories in the world at more than long; today the building has been converted for office and retail use including a gym, theatre, Travelodge and radio station.

As well as the significance of the bank Halifax plc which, since 2008, is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, the town has strong associations with confectionery.

John Mackintosh and his wife, Violet, opened a toffee shop in King Cross Lane in 1890. Violet formulated the toffee's recipe. John became known as "The Toffee King". A factory was opened on Queens Road in 1898. A new factory at Albion Mill, at the current site near the railway station, opened in 1909. John died in 1920, and his son Harold not only continued the business but took it to the present size and range of confectionery it has today. Their famous brands, including Rolo, Toffee Crisp and Quality Street of chocolate and confectionery are not just popular in the UK, but around the world including the US.


In 1969 John Mackintosh & Co Limited merged with the York-based Rowntree Limited to form Rowntree Mackintosh. This was, in turn, purchased by Nestlé in 1988.

Halifax was a busy industrial town, dealing in and producing wool, carpets, machine tools and beer. The Crossley family began carpet manufacture in modest premises at Dean Clough, on the banks of Hebble Brook. The family was philanthropic and Joseph and Sir Francis Crossley built and endowed almshouses for their workers, which exist to this day and are run by volunteer trustees. Halifax is also home to Suma Wholefoods, which was established in 1975 and is the largest workers' co-operative in the UK.

Transport

Public bus and train transportation in Halifax is managed and subsidised by West Yorkshire Metro. It was announced in January 2009 that Halifax was to have a direct rail link to London after a long campaign backed by many, including the local paper the ''Courier''; the service began to run on 23 May 2010.

Bus

Most of the bus services operate from Halifax bus station. First West Yorkshire operate most services in the town, Yorkshire Tiger operate multiple south Calderdale services. Arriva Yorkshire operate services that link Halifax with Dewsbury and Wakefield. First operate bus services from Halifax to Huddersfield, Bradford and Leeds. First also run services into other counties, Rochdale in Greater Manchester and Burnley in Lancashire.

Rail

is on the Calder Valley line, with services to Manchester Victoria, , via Bradford Interchange and Leeds; ; via to and and to via . The London service is operated by Grand Central, the others by Northern Trains.

Rail passenger representation is organised by the local users' group, the Halifax and District Rail Action Group (HADRAG).

The rail line leading from Halifax due north towards (towards , and ) with a further branch to Bradford via saw its last through services in May 1955, although parts of the route, which was extremely heavily engineered with long tunnels and high, spectacular viaducts, have now been repaired and revived by Sustrans as a walking and cycle route. In 2018 a campaign was launched to save and restore the Queensbury Tunnel and add it to the walking and cycling network. A branch from Holmfield, on the Halifax to Queensbury section of the lines to Keighley and Bradford, served the west side of Halifax. It terminated at . This short branch closed to passengers in January 1927 and to all traffic in June 1960.

Halifax is also served by station in the neighbouring town of Sowerby Bridge at the southwest edge of the town. It lies just to the south of the River Calder.

Media

Calderdale's BBC
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