Netherthong is a village and former

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 ...

, now in the parish of

Holme Valley Holme Valley, formerly Holmfirth is a large civil parish in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 25,049 (2001 census), increasing to 34,680 for the two wards in the 2011 Census. Its administrat ...

, and 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. The village is near the town of

Holmfirth Holmfirth () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. It is located south of Huddersfield and west of Barnsley; the boundary of the Peak District National Park is to the south-west. The town is sited on t ...

, and on the B6107 road to

Meltham Meltham is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Holme Valley, below Wessenden Moor, south-west of Huddersfield on the edge of the Peak District National Park. It had ...

from the main A6024 Woodhead Road through the Holme Valley from Honley to Holmfirth. It has an estimated population of 1,738 (2018).

History

The name Netherthong may derive from

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 ...

'neotherra' (lower) + ' thwang' (narrow strip

f land F, or f, is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet and many modern alphabets influenced by it, including the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of all other modern western European languages. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounc ...

; since there is also an

Upperthong Upperthong is a village approximately above sea level, in the civil parish of Holme Valley, in the Kirklees district, in West Yorkshire, England, near the town of Holmfirth, approximately south of Huddersfield. In 2005, Kirklees Council state ...

which is situated on higher ground than Netherthong, the names could designate higher and lower strips of land. The former

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 in the village was the first in the

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 ...

area. The chapel (now a private dwelling on St Mary's Estate) was opened in 1771. In 1772

John Wesley John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...

preached there; in 1757 he wrote "I rode over the mountains to Huddersfield. A wilder people I never saw in England. The men, women and children filled the streets and seemed just ready to devour us."

Civil parish

Netherthong was formerly a

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 ...

and

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...

in the parish of

Almondbury Almondbury () is a village south-east of Huddersfield town centre in the Kirklees district, of West Yorkshire, England. The population of Almondbury in 2001 was 7,368 increasing to 18,346 at the census. The village is close to Castle Hill, ...

, from 1866 Netherthong was a civil parish in its own right, on 1 April 1921 the parish was abolished and merged with Holmfirth. In 1911 the parish had a population of 867.

Community

The village school, of 214 mixed pupils, is Netherthong Primary.

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

's last full inspection of December 2012 rated the school Grade 1 (Outstanding) in all areas and overall effectiveness. Netherthong

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

is All Saints', built between 1829–30 by Leeds architect

Robert Dennis Chantrell Robert Dennis Chantrell (14 January 1793 – 4 January 1872) was an English church architect, best-known today for designing Leeds Parish Church, now Leeds Minster. Early life Chantrell was born in Newington, Southwark, London. His father, ...

and remodelled in 1877 by

William Swinden Barber William Swinden Barber Royal Institute of British Architects, FRIBA (29 March 1832 – 26 November 1908), also W. S. Barber or W. Swinden Barber, was an English Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival and Arts and Crafts movement, Arts an ...

.''Huddersfield Chronicle'' 4 December 1877: "Re-opening of All Saints Church, Nethergong" The church is part of the Upper Holme Valley Team Ministry (

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

), and within the Diocese of Leeds."Upper Thong"
The Church of England. Retrieved 29 January 2020 There are two public houses: The Clothiers, and The Cricketers in nearby Deanhouse. There is a village shop and newsagent which is part of the Londis chain, and a post box on Giles Street.

References

External links

*
Netherthong Primary School
{{authority control Villages in West Yorkshire Towns and villages of the Peak District Former civil parishes in West Yorkshire Geography of Holmfirth Holme Valley