Editing Kirkburton (section)

==History==
{{Moresources|section|date=November 2021}}
The area was populated in the [[Iron Age]] when a settlement was believed{{by whom|date=December 2018}} to have been built on the site of the church. A [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] [[fort]] is also believed{{by whom|date=December 2018}} to have stood on that site. The village is recorded in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as '''Bertone''' in Wachefeld. The entry reads (translated):

"In [[Wakefield]], with 9 Berewicks... are 60 [[carucate]]s of land 3 [[bovate]]s and the third part of 1 bovate to the [[Danegeld|geld]]. 30 ploughs could plough this land. This manor was in the demesne of [[Edward the Confessor|King Edward]]; now, in the king's hand, there are 4 villans, and 3 priests and 2 churches, and 7 sokemen and 16 bordars. Together, they have 7 ploughs. [There is] woodland pasture 6 leagues long and 4 leagues broad. The whole [is] 6 leagues long and 6 leagues broad... To this manor belongs the soke of these lands... Kirkburton, 3 carucates... in all, there are 30 carucates to the geld, which 20 ploughs could plough. Now they are waste"<ref>The Great Domesday Book, Folio 299v</ref>

[[File:Kirkburton 004.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Kirkburton: Looking east from Riley towards Low Town and Turnshaws]]
After the [[Norman Conquest of England|Norman Conquest]] the village grew from the waste recorded in 1086. Kirkburton was named after the church was built in 1190 and Highburton was built on the hill. In the [[Middle Ages]] the township was part of the Manor of Wakefield and Kirkburton church was at the head of a {{convert|16,000|acre|km2|sigfig=1|adj=on}} [[parish]], that extended to the [[Holme Valley]].

During the [[First English Civil War]] the villagers supported the [[Roundhead|Parliamentary]] cause. The priest, Gamaliel Whitaker, angered his parishioners by supporting the [[Cavalier|Royalists]]. He was denounced to the government forces who went to arrest him in 1644. During the struggle the soldiers shot his wife, Hester, in the ensuing confusion. Legend has it that her ghost haunts the old vicarage.

[[File:Kirkburton 005.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Kirkburton: Looking north from Riley towards Burton Dean and Highburton]]
The population of the township increased with the growth of the textile trades. By 1800 the population was about 1,400; 60&nbsp;years later, it was approaching 3,700. After this, there was a general decline and for nearly a century the figure was around 3,000. In 1971 there were 2,800&nbsp;inhabitants, but following housing developments at Highburton the population is nearer 5,000.

The Huddersfield–Kirkburton Branch Line opened in 1867, serving two terminal railway stations as well as {{rws|Deighton}}, {{rws|Kirkheaton}}, Fenay Bridge and Lepton. It was unusual in that it was operated by the [[London and North Western Railway]] company in an area where the [[Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway]] company had a virtual monopoly. Plans to extend the line to [[Barnsley]] never materialised and Kirkburton remained at the end of the line which was primarily used for goods traffic, although passenger services ran until 1930. The line continued as a transport goods until the 1960s, when a combination of road haulage and a decline in industry lead to closure of the railway station in 1965. Evidence of the railway remains in the area around Northwood Park, a housing development built on the old route. Parts of the railway station still remain, albeit in ruined state, and the bricked-up tunnel can be seen when travelling into the village centre from the Penistone Road.

A [[psychiatric]] [[hospital]] operated at Storthes Hall from 1904–1991. It was founded as an [[Psychiatric hospital|asylum]], the Storthes Hall Mental Hospital (1929–1938), the [[West Riding of Yorkshire|West Riding]] Mental Hospital (1939–1948) and [[Storthes Hall Hospital]] (1949–1991). After the hospital closed the land was sold to the [[University of Huddersfield]] and [[halls of residence]] were built. Most of the site is the Storthes Hall Park Student Village, and the remaining area due for further development as a retirement village.

Kirkburton's major industries were the woollen industry and [[coal]]. The village has a small shopping centre in Kirkburton but Highburton has become the residential centre.

===Industry===
The manufacture of [[woollen]] cloth was well established here by the time of [[Queen Elizabeth I]]. It expanded rapidly after the late 18th&nbsp;century. The first [[textile mill]] was built at Dogley in about 1787 and used waterpower to prepare wool for spinning and for [[fulling]] the finished cloth. In about 1800 another mill opened at Linfit, which used [[steam power]]. Both mills gradually took on other processes and developed into substantial businesses under the Kenyon and Hey families. By 1880 there were eight mills at work in the township.

Leather [[Tanning (leather)|tanning]] and the exploitation of [[coal]] seams made valuable contributions to the economy of Kirkburton for several centuries. The last tannery closed in the 1830s. [[Coal mining]] grew in importance with the increased use of steam for pumping water and by 1850 there were 20&nbsp;small pits in the township. The remains of a number of mines and [[bell pit]]s can be seen, including the former St Helen's Colliery on Moor Lane in Highburton. In the latter half of the 19th&nbsp;century there were more than 30&nbsp;pits operating around Kirkburton, employing more than 300&nbsp;men. The last [[colliery]] closed about 70&nbsp;years ago. One old-established industry, which has moved from the village, was the manufacture of edge tools and [[shovels]], which was introduced in the mid-18th&nbsp;century. The last factory, Carter's, moved to new premises a few years ago.

In 2006 Shepley Spring Ltd acquired the former Whitley Willows Textile site in Kirkburton and set up a volume bottled water plant, exploiting the vast high-quality ground water sources in this area. Known as Shepley Spring Brookfield, the site operates 24 hours a day and produces tens of millions of bottles for UK supermarkets and wholesalers.