Horsley

Contents & Site Map

Description of Horsley & St Clement's Church

The name Horsley comes from the Old English "horse-leah" meaning "the horse clearing".

An ancient castle "Horston Castle" once stood here, which in 1514, along with the manor of Horsley, was granted by Henry VIII to the Duke of Norfolk as a reward for services against the Scots. Later it came into the possession of the Stanhope family. There is now no trace of the castle, only a tree covered mound.

In the mid 1800's the main landowners were the Sitwells of Stainsby House, Charles Vicars Hunter of Kilburn Hall, and the Richardson and Potter families.

Today Horsley is a large parish, but was originally much larger, covering Denby until 1728, which although has an ancient church, was a parochial chapelry of Horsley. The townships of Horsley Woodhouse (until 1879), Kilburn, and part of Coxbench, were also within the parish of Horsley.

The main occupations in the area were Framework Knitting, stone quarrying and farming until the development of coal mining.

It is evident that part of the churchyard has been re-used for burials and that many graves and old memorial stones have been lost. The churchyard is bounded by a mile of stone walling and there are around a quarter of a mile of paths. There is an ancient rhododendron bush, said to be well over 100 years old. Rose bushes have been planted at various times during the past 30 years and snowdrops and daffodils bloom in the Spring.

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