Stanbury 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 Haworth and Stanbury, in the metropolitan borough of the

City of Bradford Bradford (), also known as the City of Bradford, is a metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Bradford, but covers a larger area which includes the towns and villages of Keighley, Shipley, Wes ...

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. In 1931 the parish had a population of 453. The name Stanbury translates as ''Stone Fort'' from Old English.

Geography

The village is situated approximately west from Haworth, south-west from

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 ...

, and east from

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 ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. Less than half a mile north-east is the hamlet of Lumbfoot. Stanbury is 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 River Worth is immediately north of the village and Sladen Beck is just to the south. Two paths pass through the village; The Brontë Way and The Pennine way.

Landmarks

The surrounding countryside is mainly

moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

and farmland. Ponden Reservoir was built in the 1870s and a reservoir was approved to be built at Lower Laithe on Sladen Beck in 1869, but it was not started until 1911. Due to the nation being involved in the First World War, the reservoir was not completed until 1925. Its completion necessitated the abandonment of the hamlet of Smith Bank. The village is close to the Brontë Waterfall and Top Withens tourist landmarks.

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� ...

is reputed to have used Top Withens as the model for the location of ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is the only novel by the English author Emily Brontë, initially published in 1847 under her pen name "Ellis Bell". It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the ...

'', and nearby Ponden Hall (half a mile from the edge of Stanbury) has been considered the model for 'Thrushcross Grange' in the same book. It has also been theorized that Ponden Hall is actually the setting for Top Withens as its size is smaller than that of Thrushcross Grange as described in the book. There are also additional theories that the hall is the model for Wildfell Hall in Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. There is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church in Stanbury built in 1848. In 1998, it was named St Gabriels, after spending the previous 150 years without a name. The school caters for primary school age children. There are two

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

s: The Friendly and the Wuthering Heights which dates from 1763 and was formerly and locally known as 'The Cross'. The Old Silent Inn (formerly The Eagle) is a public house and guest house close to the village which is over 400 years old.

Governance

Stanbury became a civil parish on 31 December 1894 being formed from part of Haworth, on 1 April 1938 the parish was abolished and merged with Keighley.

Gallery

References

External links