Hepworth

Hepworth is a village situated to the southeast of Holmfirth.

History

Historically it was also a township within the ecclesiastical Parish of Kirkburton and formed part of the Manor of Wakefield.

Together with six other townships, it was part of the Graveship of Holme.

Hepworth was governed by a local board (1862-94) and then a short-lived urban district council (1894-95) before becoming part of the new New Mill Urban District.

Extracts

Pigot and Co.'s Royal National and Commercial Directory of August 1841:

Hepworth is a village and township, in the same parish, wapentake and riding as Holmefirth, about a mile and a half south-east from that village; and the manufactures are of the same nature as those of that place — in addition to which there are several coal mines and stone quarries in the neighbourhood. A chapel each for Wesleyan and primitive methodists are the places of worship. The population, by the late census (1841), amounted to 1,436.

A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) edited by Samuel Lewis:

HEPWORTH, a township, in the parish of Kirk-Burton, union of Huddersfield, Upper division of the wapentake of Agbrigg, W. riding of York, 7¾ miles (S. by E.) from Huddersfield; containing 1436 inhabitants. The township comprises by computation 3370 acres of land, of various quality; the surface is beautifully diversified with hill and dale, and on the west are bleak moors, in which the rivers Holme and Don have their source. There are some small collieries. The village is situated on an abrupt acclivity; the inhabitants are employed in the manufacture of woollencloth and fancy goods. There are places of worship in the township for congregations of Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists.

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1872) edited by John Marius Wilson:

HEPWORTH, a village, a township, and a chapelry in Kirkburton parish, W. R. Yorkshire. The village stands on a declivity, under the backbone uplands of England, 2 miles SE of Holmfirth r. station, and 7 S by E of Huddersfield; and has a post office under Huddersfield. The township includes also the hamlets of Barnside, Foster Place, Meal Hill, Jacksons Bridge, and Law. Acres. 3,370. Real property, £4,398; of which £500 are in mines, £30 in quarries, and £568 in iron works. Pop., 1, 530. Houses, 276. The manor belongs to S. W. L. Fox, Esq. Iron works were established in 1858; and ironstone and coal are worked. The chapelry was constituted recently. Pop. in 1865, about 3,000. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Ripon. Value, not reported. Patron, the Vicar of Kirkburton. The church was built in 1863; is in the decorated English style; and consists of nave, chancel, and transepts, with vestry and bell turret. There are chapels for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists, an endowed school with £24 a year, and other charities with £5.

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

Probably "Heppa's enclosure", although here again the personal name has not been positively identified (c.f. Cartworth). It was a territory in the graveship of Holme, which acquired a substantial piece of Scholes, and which gave rise to a prolific surname. The fact that this surname was prominent in Hepworth itself in the earliest records, but was dispersed over a much wider area by 1379, may be part of a much more important story of population movement in the graveship. (c.f. Fulstone, Wooldale).

Parish Boundary

The extent of the Civil Parish of Hepworth (compiled from O.S. maps of the early 1890s) is shown below. The area under the control of the Hepworth Local Board at that time also included detached areas of land in the townships of Wooldale (about 110 acres) and Fulstone (½ acre).

Further Reading

Gallery

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