Facts about Heckmondwike
General Info
Heckmondwike is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, 9 miles (14 km) south west of Leeds. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is close to Cleckheaton and Liversedge. It is mostly in the Batley and Spen parliamentary constituency, and had an estimated population of 16,986 at the 2011 Census increasing to 18,149 at the 2021 Census. Heckmondwike forms part of the Heavy Woollen District.
History
During Saxon times, Heckmondwike was a “berewick” or independent village in the manor of Gomersal, which, before 1066, was held by Dunstan and Gamel. The Poll Tax of 1379 records seven families in Heckmondwike, about 35 people: including one named Thomas of Stubly. Most lived in isolated farmsteads such as Stubley Farm, on high ground overlooking the marshy Spen Valley floor.
In 1684, there were around 250 people, occupying 50 houses, in the town. The town became famous for manufacturing blankets, and by 1811 the Blanket Hall was built for trade in the town’s primary manufacture. It was replaced by a second hall erected in 1839, on Blanket Hall Street in the town centre. Elizabeth Gaskell’s biography of Charlotte Brontë in 1857 described the inhabitants of Heckmondwike as “a chapel-going people, very critical of their sermons, tyrannical to their ministers and violent radicals”.
