Guiseley ( ) is an area 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 ...

of the

City of Leeds Leeds, also known as the City of Leeds, is a metropolitan borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in West Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Gar ...

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. Historically part of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, it is situated south of

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the population was 13,668 at the 2011 c ...

and

Menston Menston is a village and civil parish in the City of Bradford in the county of West Yorkshire, England. Along with Burley in Wharfedale, most of Menston is within Wharfedale Ward in the metropolitan borough of Bradford. The remainder of Me ...

and is now a north-western suburb 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 ...

. It sits in the Guiseley and Rawdon ward of

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 ...

and the

Leeds North West Leeds North West is a constituency in the City of Leeds which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Katie White, of the Labour Party. History The constituency was created in 1950, as Leeds North-We ...

parliamentary constituency. At the 2001 census, Guiseley with Rawdon had a population of over 21,000, increasing to 22,347 at the 2011 Census. The A65 Otley Road, which passes through the town, is the main shopping street. Guiseley railway station has regular train services into

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

and

Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within ...

stations on the Wharfedale Line.

Etymology

The name of Guiseley is first attested in an eleventh-century copy of a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

from around 972, as ''Gislicleh''; it next appears 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 ''Gisele'' and similar variants. The early spelling suggests that the first element of the name is an

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

personal name A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...

''Gīslic''. No such name is otherwise attested, but it is a plausible nickname form of names beginning in ''Gīsl-'', such as ''Gīslbeorht''. The second element comes from the Old English word ''lēah'' ('open land in woodland'). Thus the name seems once to have meant 'Gīslic's clearing'.Parsons, Edward (1834)
''The Civil, Ecclesiastical History of Leeds, Halifax, Huddersfield and the Manufacturing District of Yorkshire''
p. 217.Parkin, Harry ''Your City's Place-Names: Leeds'', English Place-Name Society City-Names Series, 3 (Nottingham: English Place-Names Society, 2017), p. 50. The etymologies of local field- and street-names were studied in detail by Henry R. Daniels.

History

There have been

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

and

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

finds in Guiseley and a

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

, Road 72b, ran nearby on Guiseley Moor. A

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

settlement existed around a spring which is now called Guiseley Wells and provided drinking water. 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 (now Guiseley Theatre) in 1867. Guiseley was an

ancient 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

from the 12th century. The parish also included the

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

s of Carlton,

Horsforth Horsforth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, five miles north-west of Leeds city centre. Historically a village within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it had a population of 18,895 ...

, Rawdon and Yeadon, all of which became separate

civil parishes In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishe ...

in 1866. In 1894 Guiseley became an urban district, on 1 April 1937 the district was abolished to form Aireborough Urban District, part also went to Ilkley Urban District. On 1 April 1937 the parish was abolished to form Aireborough, part also went to Ilkley. In 1931 the parish had a population of 5,607. In 1974 Aireborough was itself abolished and absorbed into the City of Leeds Metropolitan District in the new county of West Yorkshire.

St Oswald's Church

Guiseley's church, dedicated to St 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 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to comp ...

'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, Captain

Christopher Levett Captain Christopher Levett (15 April 1586 – 1630) was an English writer, explorer and naval captain, born at York, England. He explored the coast of New England and secured a grant from the king to settle present-day Portland, Maine, the firs ...

Patrick Brontë Patrick Brontë (, commonly ; born Patrick Brunty; 17 March 1777 – 7 June 1861) was an Irish Anglican minister and author who spent most of his adult life in England. He was the father of the writers Charlotte Brontë, Charlotte, Emily Bront ...

and Maria Branwell were married at St Oswald's and became the parents of six children, including

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

, Branwell, Charlotte and

Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English writer best known for her 1847 novel, ''Wuthering Heights''. She also co-authored a book of poetry with her sisters Charlotte Brontë, Charlotte and Anne Bront� ...

Business

Crompton Parkinson Crompton Parkinson was a British electrical manufacturing company. It was formed in 1927 by the merger of Crompton & Co. with F. & A. Parkinson Ltd. The brand is now part of Brook Crompton. History Crompton & Co. was a lamp manufacturer foun ...

was a major employer until its factory closed in 2004. The town was the home of Silver Cross, a pram manufacturer, whose factory was operational from 1936 to 2002. The town is known for Harry Ramsden, whose

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 ...

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. The new Wetherby Whaler restaurant opened on 22 May 2012.

Amenities

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 as Argos, TK Maxx, Marks & Spencer (food), Asda Living,

Currys Currys (branded as Currys PC World between 2010 and 2021) is a British electrical retailer and aftercare service provider operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland, specialising in white goods, consumer electronics, computers and mobile phon ...

Costa Coffee Costa Limited, trading as Costa Coffee, is a coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Loudwater, Buckinghamshire, England, that operates in the United Kingdom and 37 other countries. Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa (co ...

Next NeXT, Inc. (later NeXT Computer, Inc. and NeXT Software, Inc.) was an American technology company headquartered in Redwood City, California that specialized in computer workstations for higher education and business markets, and later develope ...

and

Sports Direct Sportsdirect.com Retail Limited, trading as Sports Direct, is a British retail company owned by Frasers Group. The company was founded in 1982 by Mike Ashley (businessman), Mike Ashley and was originally based in Maidenhead, England. It specialises ...

have been opened in the area.

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

KFC KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's se ...

and Subway all have stores in the town.

Places of worship

In addition to St Oswald's, there is also Guiseley Methodist Church and Guiseley Baptist Church, which was built in 1883 on Oxford Road in the old town, and the Kingdom Hall of

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

on Otley Road. St Oswald's is now part of a united parish with St Paul's Church in Esholt. File:Guiseley Methodist Church - Oxford Road - geograph.org.uk - 689029.jpg, Guiseley Methodist Church File:Baptist Chapel, Oxford Road, Guiseley - geograph.org.uk - 340107.jpg, Guiseley Baptist Church

Sports and recreation

Aireborough Leisure Centre - The Green - geograph

Guiseley's professional football team, Guiseley A.F.C., play at Nethermoor Park. They played in the

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

during the 2014–15 season, gaining promotion to the Conference Premier through the playoffs. Guiseley Cricket Club shares the club house and plays in the Airedale-Wharfedale Senior Cricket League. Aireborough RUFC play at Nunroyd Park. 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. 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.

Media

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 TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Leeds, Heart Yorkshire, Capital Yorkshire, Hits Radio West Yorkshire, and Greatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire. The town is served by the local newspapers, '' Gazette & Observer'' and ''

Telegraph & Argus The ''Telegraph & Argus'' is the daily newspaper for Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is published six times each week, from Monday to Saturday inclusive. The newspaper has offices in Newhall Way, Bradford, from where its journalists work ...

''.

Schools

Guiseley School on Fieldhead Road was built as a secondary modern in the 1960s and is sometimes known as Fieldhead School.

Aireborough Grammar School Aireborough Grammar School was an English state grammar school situated on the Yeadon / Guiseley border in Aireborough, West Yorkshire. The school was founded in 1910 and closed in 1991. History In January 1906, a meeting of Rawdon, Yeadon, ...

opened in 1910 and closed in 1991. Primary schools include Tranmere Park School and St. Oswald's C of E School.

Notable people

* Ann Ellis (1843–1919) was the leader of the 1875 weavers strike in west Yorkshire. * Walter Fawkes,

Writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

and Member of Parliament * Frank Parkinson, notable

Electrical Engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

* Andy Haldane, Chief Economist at the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

Sports * Jack Brumfitt, English first-class cricketer * Hugh Claughton, English first-class cricketer * John Alan Claughton, English first-class cricketer * Peter Pullan, English first-class cricketer * Jack van Geloven, English first-class Cricketer * Josh Windass, English Footballer Entertainment * Burt Rhodes, Music Director *

Harry Corbett Harry Corbett Order of the British Empire, OBE (28 January 1918 – 17 August 1989) was an English Magic (illusion), magician, puppeteer and television presenter. He was best known as the creator of the glove puppet character Sooty in 1952 ...

, known for his children's television glove puppet character

Sooty Sooty is a British children's television media franchise created by Harry Corbett incorporating primarily television and stage shows. The franchise originated with his fictional glove puppet character introduced to television in '' The Sooty ...

stage act, lived with his parents in the town.McIntyre, Annette
"Guiseley chip shop wraps up place in TV show"
'' Wharfedale and Aireborough Observer'', 30 April 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2008 * Matthew Corbett, Entertainer * Tasmin Archer, whose co-written song " Sleeping Satellite" reached number one in the UK charts, and Maurice Lee of The Grumbleweeds lived in the town. * Craig McKay, actor * Glenda McKay, actor * Belinda O’Hooley, Singer-Songwriter and pianist * Peter Grant, Jazz singer

Geography

Guiseley is situated in a hanging valley between

Airedale Airedale is a valley, or Dale (landform), dale, in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is named after the River Aire, which flows through it. The upper valley, from Malham Cove to Airton, is known as Malhamdale, named after the vill ...

and

Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated at source in North Yorkshire and then flows into West Yorkshire and forms the upper valley of the River Wharfe. Towns and villages in Wharfedale (downstream, from west to east) includ ...

. The A65 road passes through, there is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

and

Leeds Bradford Airport Leeds Bradford Airport is located in Yeadon, West Yorkshire, Yeadon, in the City of Leeds, City of Leeds Metropolitan District in West Yorkshire, England, about northwest of Leeds city centre, and about northeast from Bradford city centre. ...

is nearby.

References

External links

Guiseley On The NetGuiseley School website
*