Oxenhope
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Oxenhope 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 ...
near Keighley in the metropolitan borough of Bradford,
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 was 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 ...
. The population was 2,476 at the time of the 2001 census which had increased to 2,626 at the 2011 Census. Oxenhope railway station is the terminus for the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway
heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...
.


History

Oxenhope's name derives from the Old English ''hop'' which means valley head, so Oxenhope literally means ''Oxen Valley Head''. The industrialisation of the village came about through the cloth and wool trade and by 1850, Oxenhope was host to over 20 mills. Leeming Reservoir was constructed between 1872 and 1873 to supply the many mills in the area. Its construction necessitated the closure and demolition of at least two mills and their associated houses. The modern village of Oxenhope encompasses what were originally the separate settlements of Uppertown, Lowertown, Leeming and Horkinstone. The historic hamlets of Marsh and Shaw are also included in the village. The area became known as Oxenhope when the Railway Company named the station serving the area opened the line from Keighley in 1867. Until then, the name Oxenhope referred to a small settlement between the hamlet of Marsh and Haworth. The street pattern of Oxenhope was much altered when the railway arrived. It had originally been intended that the railway would terminate at Haworth; however the owners of Lowertown Mill in Oxenhope persuaded the railway company to extend the line. It was found impracticable to take the railway as far as Lowertown because of the gradients that would have been required. As a compromise, the railway built a road from its station to Lowertown, appropriately named Station Road. The bridge by which this road crosses Leeming Water is of the same construction as many of the railway's bridges.


Culture

The village hosts a number of annual events including a village show, a beer festival (organised by Keighley and Worth Valley Railway) and a music festival at a village pub. Each summer the village holds an annual Straw Race. The race was inaugurated in 1976 and since then has raised £300,000 for charity from its participants via sponsorship. Competitors are required to carry a bale of straw between five public houses in the Oxenhope area (including the Waggon and Horses, The Bay Horse and The Lamb) and drink a beer in each pub. The last stretch to the Dog & Gun Pub is uphill, past Leeming Reservoir. Many of the competitors wear fancy dress. On 6 July 2014, Stage 2 of the 2014 Tour de France from
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
to
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
, passed through the village. The subsequent Tour de Yorkshire cycling event has also passed through the village in 2015, 2017 and 2018.


Transport


Road

The A6033 is the main road through the village. It leaves the A629 at Cross Roads and stays quite high up on the east side of the valley, bypassing the village of Haworth and eventually descending into Oxenhope, before going south-east over Oxenhope Moor to Hebden Bridge.


Bus

Transdev bus services operate to Oxenhope and beyond on an hourly basis from Keighley via Haworth. Some routes travel via Oxenhope Moor to Hebden Bridge. In 1920 five people died when a charabanc on its way to a knur and spell match in
Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. The town is northeast of Nelson, Lancashire, Nelson, northeast of Burnley and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The ...
overturned near St Mary's Church. This became known as the Oxenhope Charabanc Disaster.


Rail

Oxenhope is the terminus of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. This route was closed by British Rail in 1962; then reopened by a group of volunteers 1968. Trains are often steam hauled and run as a heritage rather than a commuter railway.


Religious sites

There are two Methodist churches in Oxenhope; one in the village and one in Marsh hamlet north-west of Oxenhope. Both of these churches are in the Airedale Methodist Circuit. There used to be a Baptist church on Moorside Lane (Hawksbridge Baptist Church) but its congregation dwindled and in 2012 it was put up for sale. The buildings were sold and were featured on Channel 4's '' The Restoration Man'' TV show in early 2016. 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, ...
19th-century parish church of St Mary the Virgin is on Hebden Bridge Road and has some interesting glass by the
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...
company. The church was founded by the Rev. Joseph Brett Grant at the behest of Patrick Brontë. Grant worked to fund the building of the church and a National School;
Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Nicholls (; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855), commonly known as Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ), was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë family, Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novel ...
records that he wore out 80 pairs of shoes in his quest to do so. The foundation stones of the church were laid down in 1849.


Notable people

* John Hollingworth, actor and playwright, was raised in Oxenhope.


Filmography

Oxenhope was used as setting for the film '' The Railway Children'' (starring Jenny Agutter). The Waterbury's house was set at Bents Farm, south of Haworth. The station was also used in the TV mini series The Great Train Robbery (starring Luke Evans) in 2013.


See also

* Listed buildings in Oxenhope * Brontë Country


References


External links

.
Oxenhope Village Website
{{authority control Villages in West Yorkshire Civil parishes in West Yorkshire Geography of the City of Bradford