Riddlesden is a suburb of

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...

(historically a separate village) in the

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

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 and on the

Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...

. The village lies east of Keighley town centre and is on the B6265 road between Keighley and Bingley. The part of the village by the canal is at a height of above sea level.

History

Riddlesden is mentioned 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 ...

as belonging to

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

and being in the

Wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of ...

of Skyrack. The name of the village appears throughout history as ''Redlesden'' and as ''Redelesden'' and it derives from the name of a wooded vale (or farm) of ''Rœd'' or ''Redwulf''. The village was historically in the parish of

Bingley Bingley is a market town and civil parish in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is sited on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The town had a population of 18,040 at the United Kingdom ...

, but it is currently in the civil parish of Keighley. There have been proposals in 2010 and 2012 for Riddlesden to have a separate parish which includes nearby Stockbridge and Sandbeds. The ecclesiastical parish is known as Riddlesden St Mary, which is the name of the church in the village. The Diocese of Leeds estimates the ecclesiastical parish to have a population of 4,500. The village lies in the Ward of Keighley East for the purposes of census data. In 1773, the Bingley to Skipton section of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal was opened. Riddlesden had several wharves which allowed for the exportation of coal from the nearby collieries. Coal was mined at Riddlesden between 1700 and the early 1920s. The manor of Riddlesden, incorporating both houses (East and West Riddlesden Halls), was the breeding place of the Airedale Heifer, a legendary heavy cow similar in stature to the

Craven Heifer Craven Heifer (1807–1812) was a cow which lived in the early 19th century, and remains the largest cow ever shown in England. Craven Heifer had a weight of 4,370 lbs, a length of 11.3 ft, a height of 5.3 ft, and a thickest girth of 10.1 ft. ...

. A pub called the ''Airedale Heifer'' is located in nearby Sandbeds, just to the east.

Landmarks

East Riddlesden Hall is in the care of the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

. It was built in 1642 by a wealthy Halifax clothier, James Murgatroyd. There is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

tithebarn in the grounds. East Riddlesden Hall was featured on an episode of the paranormal themed reality television programme ''

Most Haunted ''Most Haunted'' is a British paranormal reality television series. ''Most Haunted'' was first shown on Living TV between 2002 and 2010. However, it has since been revived on TV and online, via an official mobile app and YouTube Channel. Pres ...

''. A lot of walkers and campers and various clubs, e.g.

Scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

, are attracted to the village because of its sights, such as the peculiarly shaped cliff known as "turtle rock" to locals.

Amenities

The school for Riddlesden is St. Mary's

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, ...

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 ...

and Nursery. The village has a large grocery shop and two pubs. Walks in the area are centred on the towpath of the canal, which is also designated as National Cycle Route 69. Between 1927 and 2017, Riddlesden had a golf course to the west of the village overlooking the canal. The site closed due to dwindling numbers and has been converted into a scout activity centre. Just past the former golf course is Low Wood Nature Reserve, which is run by the

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Yorkshire Wildlife Trust is a charitable non-governmental organisation, one of the UK's 46 county-based Wildlife Trusts. Its focus is nature conservation and it works to achieve a nature-rich Yorkshire with healthy and resilient ecosystems ...

Notable people

Denis Healey Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey (30 August 1917 – 3 October 2015) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970; he remains the lo ...

- Labour MP, later ''Baron Healey, of Riddlesden in the County of West Yorkshire'', was brought up in the village from the age of eight.

References

Sources

External links

. {{authority control Villages in West Yorkshire Geography of the City of Bradford