Barwick-in-Elmet (pronounced ''Barrick-in-Elmet'') is a village in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, east of

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

city centre. It is one of only three places in the area to be explicitly associated with the ancient Romano-British kingdom of

Elmet Elmet (), sometimes Elmed or Elmete, was an independent Brittonic Celtic Cumbric-speaking kingdom between about the 4th century and mid-7th century. The people of Elmet survived as a distinctly recognised Brittonic Celtic group for centuri ...

, the others being

Scholes-in-Elmet Scholes-in-Elmet is a village in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Its name is a plural of Old Norse ''skáli'' meaning "temporary shed". It is sometimes known as Scholes-in-Elmet to distinguish it from the villages of the same name in the Holme ...

and

Sherburn-in-Elmet Sherburn in Elmet (pronounced ) is a town and civil parish in the district and county of North Yorkshire, England. It is to the west of Selby and south of Tadcaster. It was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. From 1974 to 2023 i ...

. The village is part of the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Barwick in Elmet and Scholes Barwick in Elmet and Scholes is a civil parish in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 5,120, decreasing to 4,902 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes Barwick- ...

and sits in the Harewood

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

Leeds City Council Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Leeds has had a council since 1626, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 it has been a metropolitan borough council. It provides the ...

Etymology

The name ''Barwick'' comes from the Old English words ''bere'' ('barley') and ''wīc'' ('settlement, specialised farm'), thus meaning 'a barley farm' or 'an outlying grange or part on an estate reserved for the lord's use, producing

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

'. The name is first attested in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 as ''Bereuuith'' and ''Bereuuit''. The appellation 'in Elmet' serves to distinguish the settlement from the various others of the same name. The first attested appellation of this kind for Barwick-in-Elmet is in fact the Latin ''Berewyke juxta Abberford'' ('Barwick-by-Aberford') from 1301. The combination ''Berewyke in Elmet'' is first attested in 1329.

History

Barwick Hall Tower Earthworks 14 June 2017

Earthworks, including a mound and ditch, comprise part of a large

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

fort centred on Wendel Hill, near the village. The site was used later for a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

motte-and-bailey castle A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy ...

and a

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

observation post. The land is currently owned by the Barwick and Scholes Parish Council for the benefit of the community. An ancient British kingdom named

(Welsh ''Elfed'') included the area. Some scholars believe that the capital of the kingdom was at or close to Barwick. There is reference to an agricultural settlement in the

of 1086. From a taxation survey, it is known that in 1379 there were 197 adults living in about 100 households. For some time the Manor of Barwick and Scholes was in the ownership of the Gascoigne family of Parlington and Lotherton. In 1720, the first known school in Barwick in Elmet opened. Morwick Hall was built in the mid to late 18th century for Edward Gray, who was Lord Mayor of Leeds in 1749 and 1768. By 1821, the parish had a population of 1,481. The

Cross Gates Cross Gates (often spelled Crossgates) is a suburb in east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The area sits between Seacroft and Swarcliffe to the north, Whitkirk and Colton to the south, Killingbeck to the west and Austhorpe to the sout ...

Wetherby Wetherby ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire and lies approximately from Leeds city centre, from ...

railway line opened in 1874, with a station in nearby Scholes, enabling residents to commute to

Leeds city centre Leeds city centre is the central business district of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is roughly bounded by the Leeds Inner Ring Road, Inner Ring Road to the north and the River Aire to the south and can be divided into several quarters. A ...

. This service remained running until 1965, when the line closed under the

Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...

. Throughout the 20th century, the village grew with many modern houses being built in and around the village by both private developers and the local corporations. During this period many of the older cottages in the village centre were converted into shops and other small business premises. For much of its history, the village supported a mainly agricultural community. From the late 17th century until the early 20th century many residents were employed in the local mining industry in Garforth, Cross Gates and Whitkirk. Today, whilst still having a rural agricultural feel, the village supports many trades as well as housing for people who work in Leeds and York.

Governance

Barwick-in-Elmet comes under the

of Barwick and Scholes. This comes under the governance of

. Barwick is part of the Leeds City Council ward of Harewood. Barwick lies within the

parliamentary constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

Wetherby and Easingwold Wetherby and Easingwold is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament, partly in North Yorkshire and partly in West Yorkshire. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, it was first c ...

following the

2023 review of Westminster constituencies The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency boundaries were approved by the Privy Council on 15 Nov ...

. Prior to this, Barwick lay within the constituency of

Elmet and Rothwell Elmet and Rothwell was a constituency for the House of Commons of the UK Parliament in West Yorkshire. During the 2017 general election, Elmet and Rothwell recorded the highest turnout of any seat in West or South Yorkshire, with almost 60,00 ...

. Since May 2010, the constituency has been held by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP,

Alec Shelbrooke Sir Alec Edward Shelbrooke (born 10 January 1976) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been Member of Parliament for Wetherby and Easingwold since 2024 and for Elmet and Rothwell between 2010 and 2024. He previously served a ...

Maypole

One of the most notable village landmarks is the wooden

maypole A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European List of folk festivals, folk festivals, around which a maypole dance often takes place. The festivals may occur on May Day, 1 May or Pentecost (Whitsun), although in some co ...

high that stands at the junction of Main Street and the Cross, this means that the maypole in Barwick is the second tallest in the UK. The maypole festival (held on Spring Bank Holiday) typically brings large crowds to the area. Every three years, the maypole is lowered, inspected, maintained and re-erected. The festival celebrations include a procession (involving floats decorated by local organisations), children's maypole dancing,

morris dancing Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers in costume, usually wearing bell pads on their shins, their shoes or both. A band or single musi ...

, a street craft market, the raising of the maypole ceremony and the maypole queen. Traditionally the maypole was lowered and raised manually using an intricate system of ropes and ladders. Although methods have changed in recent years, the maypole is still carried by hand from Hall Tower Hill to the heart of the village. During the raising ceremony, it is tradition for a local villager to climb halfway up the pole to disconnect the guide ropes. The climber is then spurred on by a large crowd to climb all the way to the top of the pole, to spin 'the fox'

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

(a custom thought to bring good luck to the village). The festival takes place every 3 years, the most recent one being 29 May 2017. The date of the next rise was going to be 25 May 2020 but had to be postponed twice due to coronavirus and will now be taking place on 2 June 2022. Beside the maypole is what appears to be an old village cross, which is actually a memorial to the dead of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, carved in the old fashioned style.

Amenities

Barwick has three

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

s, the ''New Inn'', the ''Black Swan'' and the ''Gascoigne Arms''. There are two general stores (the larger one with a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

); a

fish and chip shop A fish and chip shop, sometimes referred to as a chip shop or chippy, is a restaurant that specialises in selling fish and chips. Usually, fish and chip shops provide takeaway service, although some have seating facilities. Fish and chip shop ...

; an Italian takeaway; a bicycle store; a florist's, baker's, hair and beauty salon and a car mechanics. There are further amenities in nearby

Garforth Garforth () is a town in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It sits in the Garforth and Swillington ward of Leeds City Council and the Leeds East parliamentary constituency. As of 2011, the population ...

Seacroft Seacroft is an outer-city suburb/township consisting mainly of council estate housing covering an extensive area of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It lies in the LS14 LS postcode area, Leeds postcode area, around east of Leeds city cen ...

and

, all of which have supermarkets. There are nearby secondary schools in

Pendas Fields Pendas Fields, or Penda's Fields is a private, suburban housing estate in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is considered part of Cross Gates, as is Manston. Swarcliffe is close, and Cock Beck runs nearby. The area falls within the Cross Gates ...

Boston Spa Boston Spa is a village and civil parish in the Leeds Metropolitan District in West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and th ...

and

Places of worship

There are two small churches, one

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

and one

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

. Barwick parish church is a grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. It includes Anglo-Saxon and Norman stonework, with a 14th-century chancel and various later additions and alterations. The Unitarian minister

Newcome Cappe Newcome Cappe (21 February 173324 December 1800), was an English unitarian divine. He served as the pastor of the York Unitarian Chapel, located in York, England. Cappe published various sermons and after his death his second wife, Catharine C ...

was married here on 19 February 1788 on his second marriage to Catherine Cappe. The

church is a 1900

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

chapel close to the maypole and a street called the Boyle. It replaced an earlier 1804 building on Chapel Lane, which became the Miners' Welfare Institute, and is now used for communal activities.

Local media

The local newspaper is the ''

Wetherby News The ''Wetherby News'' is a local weekly Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published on a Thursday and based in Wetherby, West Yorkshire, England. The newspaper was founded in 1859 with its offices on the High Street next to the Ang ...

'' whilst the regional newspaper is the ''

Yorkshire Evening Post The ''Yorkshire Evening Post'' (''YEP'') is a regional daily newspaper covering the City of Leeds. Founded in 1890 it is published by Yorkshire Post Newspapers, National World. Despite being having coverage and being sold across West Yorkshire ...

''. Local news and television programmes are provided by

BBC Yorkshire BBC Yorkshire is one of the English regions of the BBC. It was formed from the division of the former BBC North region into BBC Yorkshire and BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, based in Kingston upon Hull. Serving West, North and South Yorkshir ...

and

ITV Yorkshire ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

. Television signals are received from the

Emley Moor The Emley Moor transmitting station is a telecommunications and broadcasting facility on Emley Moor, west of the village centre of Emley, in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It is made up of a concrete tower and apparatus that began ...

TV transmitter. Local radio stations

BBC Radio Leeds BBC Radio Leeds is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of West Yorkshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at St Peter's Square in Leeds. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audienc ...

Greatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire Greatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire (previously Radio Aire, Magic 828/Radio Aire 2, Ridings FM and Pulse 2) is an Independent Local Radio station serving West Yorkshire on 96.3 and 106.8 FM, DAB, online and via the app. The station was launch ...

Hits Radio West Yorkshire Hits Radio West Yorkshire, formerly Pulse 1, is an Independent Local Radio station based in Leeds, England, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to West Yorkshire. As of September 2024, t ...

Heart Yorkshire Heart Yorkshire (previously Real Radio Yorkshire) was a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts to South and West Yorkshire.Capital Yorkshire Capital Yorkshire was a regional radio station owned by Global as part of the Capital network. It broadcast to South Yorkshire & North Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire. Capi ...

. There are cinemas nearby in

and

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

Barwick in popular culture

The theme tune to ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...

'' is called "

Barwick Green "Barwick Green" is the theme music to the long-running BBC Radio 4 soap opera ''The Archers''. A " maypole dance" from the suite ''My Native Heath'' written in 1924 by the Yorkshire composer Arthur Wood, it is named after Barwick-in-Elmet in Yo ...

". It was written by Yorkshire composer Arthur Wood in 1924, as a " maypole dance" in his suite ''My Native Heath''. The other items in this suite are "Ilkley Tarn", "Bolton Abbey" and "Knaresborough Status". Widge, the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

in ''

The Shakespeare Stealer ''The Shakespeare Stealer'' is a 1998 historical fiction novel by Gary Blackwood. Taking place in the Elizabethan-era England, it recounts the story of Widge, an orphan whose master sends him to steal ''Hamlet'' from The Lord Chamberlain's Me ...

'', a 1998 young adult novel by Gary Blackwood, is from Barwick-in-Elmet.

Other Barwicks

There are other villages in England called Barwick in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

and

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, and a suburb of

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...

is called

Ingleby Barwick Ingleby Barwick is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. It is south of the River Tees and north-east of the River Leven, North Yorkshire, River Leven. Large scale devel ...

. There is a town called Barwick in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in the USA.

Comparison

Barwick lies in the LS15 postcode area. Here is a population breakdown of the postcode area in comparison with the UK population.

Location grid

References

External links

*
Leeds City Council

Barwick-in-Elmet and Scholes Parish Council

Barwick-in-Elmet Historical Society

Barwick-in-Elmet Maypole Trust
* * {{authority control Barwick in Elmet, Villages in West Yorkshire City of Leeds Elmet