Morley, West Yorkshire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Morley is a town in the county of Yorkshire (since 1974, West Yorkshire), England, in the Metropolitan Borough of Leeds and is situated five miles south-west of Leeds City Centre. A population of roughly 47,579 was recorded by the 2001 census[1]; this included West and East Ardsley, although these areas are not governed by Morley Town Council, and many locals view them as separate. By the census definition, Morley is larger than Pontefract, Castleford, Batley or Keighley, although it still has the reputation as a small town.
Morley, like Rome, is built on seven hills: Scatcherd Hill, Dawson Hill, Daisy Hill, Chapel Hill, Hunger Hill, Troy Hill and Banks Hill.
[edit] Etymology
Morley means "wood by a moor", from Old English mor "moor" + leah "wood, clearing". The name was recorded as Morelige in 1156. The -ley in the place name is typical of this section of West Yorkshire, alluding to a forest (now gone) that was around in medieval times.
Morley Town Hall is the most striking building in the town, dominating the town centre. It is sometimes used for music recordings, due to its excellent acoustics.
The town's Municipal Coat of Arms feature the symbolic principal industries of the Borough: Manufacturing of Woollen Cloth, Coal Mining and Quarrying.
Natives of the town refer to themselves as Morleians. Famous Morleians include:
- British Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith
- Sir Titus Salt, the creator of Saltaire
- Beryl Burton (World Champion racing cyclist)
- Helen Fielding, author of Bridget Jones' Diary
- Leigh Francis, comedian best known for "Bo Selecta!" and "A Bear's Tale"
- Ernie Wise, of Morecambe and Wise fame (born in East Ardsley)
Schoolgirl Sarah Harper was murdered by Robert Black in Morley in 1986, giving the town brief, unwanted, national notoriety.
Morley has a twin town, Siegen in Germany.
Morley is traditionally famous for its textile industry, notably the cloth "Shoddy", which was worn by both sides in the American Civil War.
The town's rugby club was founded in 1878 and was a member of the Northern Union. When the Northern Union clubs broke away from the RFU to form what is now rugby league, the Morley representatives missed the train to Huddersfield as they were still in the pub. The club's heyday was in the 1970s where they won the Yorkshire Cup on five occasions. Some of this glory was recaptured in April 2005 when the club won the Powergen Intermediate Cup at Twickenham.
Three main secondary schools take in pupils from Morley: Bruntcliffe High School, Morley High School (formerly Morley Grammar) and Woodkirk High School (technically in West Ardsley but has a large proportion of students from Morley due to its catchment area).
Morleians were strongly opposed to their Borough's incorporation into the new Metropolitan District of Leeds in 1974.[citation needed] In 2000 a town council [2] was established, partially reversing this situation, although the council no longer governs West and East Ardsley. Historically, Morley was the centre of one of two divisions of the wapentake of Agbrigg and Morley; the Morley division included Bradford and Huddersfield.
Recently the electoral ward of Morley South voted for a councillor from the British National Party and the town has faced negative publicity following BNP leader Nick Griffin's controversial 2004 speech at Morley Town Hall where he allegedly aired racist views. Griffin was later unsuccessfully tried on suspicion of incitement to racial hatred following the speech. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
You can read more about the history of Morley from the West Yorkshire Archaeology Service.
