Batley, Yorkshire, England. Geographical and Historical information from 1835.

BATLEY:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1835.

"BATLEY, a parish comprising the chapelry of Morley, and the township of Batley, in the lower division of the wapentake of AGBRIGG, and the chapelry of Gildersome, and the township of Churwell, in the wapentake of MORLEY, West riding of the county of YORK, and containing 9154 inhabitants, of which number, 3717 are in the township of Batley, 7 miles W.N.W. from Wakefield. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of York, rated in the king's books at £16. 11. 8., endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £200 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Earl of Cardigan and Lord Grey de Wilton. The church, dedicated to All Saints, and said to have been erected in the reign of Henry VI., contains several splendid monuments to the memory of the deceased lords of the manor. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists. The manufacture of blankets, carpets, coverlets, flushing, and woollen cloth, prevails to a great extent within the parish. A free school for the education of sixty children, endowed with £120 per annum and a house for the master, was founded by the Rev. William Lee, in 1612: the school-room has lately been rebuilt. A school for fifteen girls is supported by the produce of a fund raised by subscription; and one for five poor children has a small endowment, left by Joshua Scholefield, in 1806."

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"CHURWELL, a township in that part of the parish of BATLEY, which is in the wapentake of MORLEY, West riding of the county of YORK, 3 miles S.S.W. from Leeds, containing 814 inhabitants, who are chiefly employed in the manufacture of woollen cloth. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists."

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"GILDERSOME, a chapelry in that part of the parish of BATLEY, which is in the wapentake of MORLEY, West riding of the county of YORK, 4 miles W.S.W. from Leeds, containing 1592 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry and diocese of York, endowed with £ 1000 royal bounty, and £ 1200 parliamentary grant. The chapel has lately received an addition of one hundred and forty-three free sittings, the Incorporated Society for the enlargement of churches and chapels having granted £200 towards defraying the expense. There are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyan Methodists. Bolton Hargrave, Esq., in 1749, bequeathed £ 10 a year for the education of children. Here is a scribbling-mill j and the manufacture of cotton is also carried on."

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"MORLEY, a chapelry in that part of the parish of BATLEY, which is in the lower division of the wapentake of AGBRIGG, West riding of the county of YORK, 4 miles S.S.W. from Leeds, containing 3031 inhabitants, who are principally employed in the manufacture of woollen cloth. A chapel is now being erected by the commissioners appointed under the late act for building additional churches. Morley, previously to the Conquest, had a parochial church, which sub- sequently became dependent on that of Batley; but in the time of Charles I. it was conveyed by the Earl of Sussex to trustees of the Presbyterian church, and was never afterwards restored to the establishment: it retains much of its ancient appearance, and now belongs to the Independents, who, besides this, have a place of worship recently erected; there is another belonging to the Wesleyan Methodists."

[Transcribed by Mel Lockie © from
Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1835]