Denby Dale is a village and

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 ...

in the

metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of districts of England, local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan distr ...

Kirklees Kirklees is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. The borough comprises the ten towns of Batley, Birstall, West Yorkshire, Birstall, Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Meltham, Mirfield and Slaithwaite. It ...

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 ...

, England. It is 8 miles north-west of

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

and 10 miles south-east of

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

. The village is the main village in the Denby Dale

that also covers Lower Denby, Upper Denby, Upper Cumberworth, Lower Cumberworth, Skelmanthorpe, Emley, Emley Moor and Clayton West. The parish had a population of 14,982 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 16,365 at the 2011 census. The parish council gives the electorate of the village itself as 2,143. The

River Dearne The River Dearne in South Yorkshire, England flows roughly east for more than , from its source just inside West Yorkshire. It flows through Denby Dale, Clayton West, Darton, Barnsley, Darfield, South Yorkshire, Darfield, Wath upon Dearne, Bolto ...

runs through the village; in the floods of 2007 it burst its banks on two occasions and caused damage to Springfield Mill.

History

First recorded as Denby Dyke. Before the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

the village was sparsely-populated with a small textile industry at the crossroads of the

to Shepley Lane Head and the

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

to Denby Dale roads. Within 25 years, factories and mills had been built and had a railway station on the Penistone Line. Denby Dale provided the textile industry with raw materials, coal, and transportation. Silk for the Queen Mother's wedding dress was made at Springfield Mill. With the economy flourishing, the population increased and the village grew.

Transport

The village is served by Denby Dale railway station, and also has 2 bus stops. The D1 Denby Darts bus service runs to Skelmanthorpe and

Education

Denby Dale First and Nursery school (formerly known as Gilthwaites First School and Denby Dale Nursery) provides education from aged 2 to aged 10. Denby Church of England Voluntary Aided First School is a

voluntary aided A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation) contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

associated with the

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, ...

in Upper Denby. The school has two classes, infants and juniors, with the infants running through years reception to year 2 and the juniors running through the years 3 to 5. At the turn of the millennium, there were around 40 to 50 pupils in the school.

Pies

Denby Dale has a tradition of baking giant pies, which started in 1788 to celebrate the recovery of King George III from mental illness. To date ten pies have been made as part of nine pie festivals. In August 1887, a pie baked to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria spoiled and was buried in quicklime. A replacement pie (the 'resurrection' pie) was baked in September 1887. The sixth pie was baked on 1 August 1896, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the repeal of the

corn laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. The la ...

. The seventh (the Infirmary Pie) raised money to endow a cot at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. The eighth pie, in 1964, was to celebrate four royal births but was marred by the deaths of four committee members in a car accident while returning from filming in London for a pilot of a television show (later to become the Eamonn Andrews Show). The eighth pie raised money to provide a village hall. The most recent in 2000, weighed and celebrated the new millennium. Denby Dale Pies was founded in the village. In 1940 it was agreed by the Denby Dale Local Comforts Fund, the giant pie dish would be sold for scrap to help the war effort. There was a procession, cricket match, dancing all followed by the selling of the dish.

Notable people

Paul Copley Paul Mackriell Copley (born 25 November 1944) is an English actor and voice over artist. From 2011 to 2015 he appeared as Mr. Mason, father of William Mason, in 16 episodes of ''Downton Abbey'', and from 2020 to 2021, he appeared in the ITV s ...

, actor * Daniel Kitson, comedian

References

External links

Denby Dale Village websiteDenby Dale Parish CouncilPhotoblog from Denby Dale and the surrounding areaArtists/Photographers Documenting Denby DaleDenby Dale Visitor Information
{{authority control Villages in West Yorkshire Civil parishes in West Yorkshire Geography of Kirklees