Scholes (hamlet)

Scholes was a hamlet which lay within the four adjoining townships of Cartworth, Fulstone, Hepworth and Wooldale.

According to West Yorkshire: An Archaeological Survey to A.D. 1500 (1981), Scholes was described as a township in its own right in 1285 and 1286:

The fragmented pattern of township boundaries within Scholes hamlet, to the extent that adjacent crofts lie in different townships, is probably best explained as resulting from a division of its territory when it ceased to be a separate vill. It is likely that the territory of Scholes was divided between these particular townships because they all lay in the parish of Kirkburton (whereas Holme, Austonley and Upperthong, the other three townships in the graveship, lie in the ancient parish of Almondbury), rather than because they formed an eleventh-century administrative unit based on Cartworth. The date at which Scholes ceased to be a separate township is also unknown. Although Scholes appears as a distinct unit with its constables making presentments at tourns of the manor of Wakefield into the eighteenth century, no evidence has been found to suggest that it has existed as a township in the modern period.

From circa 1862 until 1894, Scholes Local Board acted as the local government body for the hamlet. This was superseded by the short-lived Scholes Urban District Council which was then amalgamated into the newly-formed New Mill Urban District Council at the end of 1895, becoming an individual parish within the U.D.

Extract

Holmfirth: Place-Names and Settlement (1994) by George Redmonds:

A common Yorkshire place-name meaning "shielings", suggesting that much of this upland area was originally summer pasturage. By the 13th century though it was being referred to as a vill, a word normally translated as "township", but not necessarily having that status in this case. Later it lost its separate identity, although it is uncertain just when, and as a result its territory was divided between Cartworth, Fulstone, Hepworth and Wooldale. This created a most unusual situation in which adjoining pieces of land could lie in different "townships". The most prominent families in Scholes, even as late as the 17th century, were the Hinchliffes and Tinkers.

Boundary

Unlike other local hamlets that were a portion of a single township, the boundary of Scholes appears to have periodically altered. The extent of the area under the remit of Scholes Local Board circa 1890 is shown below shaded in green (based on the 1892 O.S. map) with the old township boundaries shaded in red.

Following the formation of New Mill Urban District (shaded in red), Scholes became an individual civil parish (shaded green). The following is based on the 1906 6" O.S. map: