Editing Batley (section)

=== Industrial Revolution ===
During the late 18th century, the main occupations in the town were [[farming]] and [[weaving]]. The [[Industrial Revolution]] reached Batley in 1796 with the arrival of its first water powered mills for carding and spinning. During the next half century the population grew rapidly, from around 2,500 at the start of the 19th century to 9,308 at the 1851 [[census]]. The parish of Batley at this point included [[Morley, West Yorkshire|Morley]], [[Churwell]] and [[Gildersome]], with a total population of 17,359.

Before the industrial revolution, wool was made in Batley for centuries as a [[Cottage Industry|cottage industry]]. Samuel Jubb, a 19th-century mill owner and local historian, noted that this was "a manufacture for which the place is well adapted, on account of its possessing a good supply of water and coal, and its central situation in relation to the principal local markets, being about equidistant from Leeds, Huddersfield, Bradford, Halifax, and Wakefield."<ref name=":1">{{cite book|last=Jubb|first=Samuel|url=https://archive.org/details/historyshoddytr00jubbgoog|title=The History of the Shoddy-trade: Its Rise, Progress, and Present Position|date=1860|publisher=Houlston and Wright|location=London}}</ref>{{Rp|9–10}} The water he referred to was not the beck but the large [[aquifer]] beneath the town, which was tapped for cleaning and dying wool.<ref name=":1" />

A [[toll road]] built in 1832 between [[Gomersal]] and [[Dewsbury]] had a branch to Batley (the present day Branch Road) which allowed for "the growing volumes of wool, cloth and coal" to be transported. Until then there had only been foot and cart tracks. Around the same time there were [[strike action|strikes]] in the mills, which led to an influx of Irish workers who settled permanently. Initially this led to antagonism from residents, due to the lower wages paid to the Irish workers and general anti-[[Roman Catholic]] sentiment, but this faded in time. By 1853 Catholic services were held regularly in the town; its first Roman Catholic church, [http://www.stmarybatley.co.uk/ St Mary of the Angels], was not built until 1870 and is still in existence.

By 1848 there was a [[Batley railway station|railway station]] in Batley, and in 1853 [[Batley Town Hall]] was erected. It was enlarged in 1905, and is in the [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical style]], with a corbelled [[parapet]] and [[pilaster]]s rising to a centre [[pediment]]. In 1868 Batley was incorporated as a [[municipal borough]], the former [[Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland)|urban district]] of [[Birstall, West Yorkshire|Birstall]] was added to it in 1937.<ref>Batley Official Guide and Industrial Review 1966, pages 20,56. Home Publishing Co Ltd H/12392/B/K</ref>
[[File:Batley - Carnegie Library .jpg|thumb|Batley Library]]
1853 also saw the establishment of a small [[confectionery]] shop by Michael Spedding. His business expanded, moving to larger premises in 1927 becoming [[Fox's Biscuits]]. Today, along with [[Tesco]], it is one of the largest employers in the town.
[[File:The Mill Batley - geograph.org.uk - 1008405.jpg|thumb|The Mill, Batley]]
During the late 19th century, Batley was the centre of the [[shoddy]] and [[Glossary of textile manufacturing#Mungo|mungo]] trade in which wool, rags and clothes were recycled by reweaving them into blankets, carpets and uniforms.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shell|first=Hanna Rose|title=Shoddy: From Devil's Dust to the Renaissance of Rags|publisher=University of Chicago|year=2020|isbn=9780226377759|location=Chicago|pages=19–35}}</ref> In 1861 there were at least 30 shoddy mills in Batley. The owners of the recycling businesses were known as the "shoddy barons". There was a "shoddy king" and a "shoddy temple", properly known as the Zion Chapel. This imposing building in the town centre was opened in 1870, and reflected the popularity of the Methodist movement. The chapel is still active today.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.batleychurch.org.uk/index.html|title=Batley Central Methodist Church|year=2017}}</ref> In 1875 local woman [[Ann Ellis (strike leader)|Ann Ellis]] led a weavers strike against the shoddy mill owners who were planning to reduce wages.<ref>{{Citation |last=Reynolds |first=Melanie |title=Ellis [née Waite], Ann (1843–1919), trade unionist and power- loom weaver |date=2024-06-13 |work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-90000382494 |access-date=2024-06-17 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000382494 |isbn=978-0-19-861412-8}}</ref>

At the close of the 19th century, growth in population changed the form of governmental institutions above the parish of Batley; the Morley division of the wapentake of [[Agbrigg and Morley]] was disused as special purpose districts were formed.{{fact|date=June 2024}}

The library was built in 1907 with funds donated by the [[philanthropist]] [[Andrew Carnegie]]. The library has been modernised, with a microfilm viewer, and reels of the Batley News dating back 120 years. The newspaper was founded by James Fearnsides – a local printer. His grandson, Clement, later became the mayor of Batley. The first records of [[coal mining]] in Batley date back to the 16th century at White Lee; the last pit in the town closed in 1973.{{fact|date=June 2024}}