The Municipal Borough of Brighouse was a local government district in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

from 1873 to 1974 around the town of Brighouse, covering Clifton,

Hipperholme Hipperholme is a village in West Yorkshire, England, located between the towns of Halifax and Brighouse in the Hipperholme and Lightcliffe ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 11 ...

, Hove Edge,

Lightcliffe Lightcliffe is a village in the Calderdale district in West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated approximately three miles east of Halifax and two miles north west of Brighouse. Lightcliffe wa ...

Rastrick Rastrick is a village in the county of West Yorkshire, England, between Halifax, 5 miles (8 km) north-east and Huddersfield, 4 miles (7 km) south. The population of the Calderdale Civil Ward at the 2011 census was 11,351. It is perhaps best ...

and

Southowram Southowram () is a village in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England that stands on the hill top to the east of Halifax, on the south side of Shibden valley. The village falls within the Town ward of Calderdale Council. It is a small Pennine v ...

. Brighouse was historically part of the

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

of Hipperholme with Brighouse in the large ancient parish of Halifax. A

local board Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environmenta ...

formed for the parish of Brighouse in 1865. It incorporated as a

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

by amalgamating the local boards of Brighouse, Rastrick, and Hove Edge on 30 September 1893. Its first mayor was Alderman William Smith.

Brighouse Town Hall Brighouse Town Hall is a former municipal building in Thornton Square, Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Brighouse Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building. History The first town hall in Bri ...

was opened on 16 March 1887 as the seat of local government and was taken over by the borough upon its creation. The Neoclassical sandstone building was designed by John Lord and is Grade II listed. Arms were granted to the borough council in 1895, which can be seen on a plaque

Brighouse Bridge The Brighouse Bridge crosses the River Calder in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1825 as part of the Halifax and Huddersfield Turnpike. History The Halifax and Huddersfield Turnpike Act of 1823 allowed for the building of C ...

and as the logo of

Brighouse Town F.C. Brighouse Town Football Club is a football club based in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at St Giles Road. History The club was established in 1963 as the works team of the Blakeborough Valve Comp ...

The arms are derived from the crests of the Brighouse and Rastrick families who lived in the district in the seventeenth century. The gold lion and the black crescents come from the Brighouse family and the red roses are from the crest of the Rastrick family. It is unusual to see the inclusion of red roses on the arms of a Yorkshire borough. In 1937 Brighouse MB expanded by absorbing part of the abolished Halifax Rural District - Norwood Green & Coley civil parish and parts of the parishes of Clifton, Fixby and Hartshead (2,811 acres); Hipperholme Urban District (1,196 acres); and Southowram Urban District (1,642 acres). The borough was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, and created the eastern portion of the new

Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, whose population in 2020 was 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

by a merger with the County Borough of Halifax, the Municipal Borough of Todmorden,

Elland Elland is a market town in Calderdale, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. It is situated south of Halifax, by the River Calder and the Calder and Hebble Navigation. Elland was recorded as ''Elant'' in the Domesday Book of 1086. It h ...

Hebden Royd Hebden Royd is a civil parish with a town council in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 9,092, rising to 9,558 at the 2011 census. It includes Hebden Bridge, M ...

Ripponden Ripponden is a village and civil parish on the River Ryburn near Halifax in West Yorkshire, England. Historically it was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Its population was 6,412 at the time of the 2001 Census, and 7,421 in 2011. Rippond ...

, and

Sowerby Bridge Sowerby Bridge ( ) is a market town in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. The Calderdale Council ward population at the 2011 census was 11,703. History The town was originally a fording point over the once mu ...

urban districts, part of

Queensbury and Shelf Queensbury and Shelf was an Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), urban district in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1937 to 1974. The district was formed by a Local Government Act 1929, County Review Order by the amalgamation of Queensbu ...

UD and Hepton Rural District. The mayor's mace was removed in 1974 to the Town Hall, Halifax, where it is displayed in the mayor's parlour to denote the authority of the Halifax mayor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brighouse, Municipal Borough of

Municipal Borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

Municipal boroughs of England Districts of England abolished by the Local Government Act 1972