Editing Bingley (section)

===Medieval===
The ford was superseded by [[Bingley Ireland Bridge|Ireland Bridge]]. Bingley was a [[Manorialism|manor]] which extended several miles up and down the Aire valley, extending upstream to Marley on the outskirts of [[Keighley]] and downstream to [[Cottingley, Bradford|Cottingley]]. Bingley became a [[market town]] with the grant of a Market Charter in 1212 by [[John of England|King John]].

According to the poll tax returns of 1379, Bingley had 130 households, and probably around 500 people.  The nearby towns of Bradford, Leeds and Halifax had about half this population. Therefore, at this time Bingley was the largest town in the area.

No records tell of how Bingley fared in the [[Black Death]] that swept Europe in the 14th century.  Approximately one third of all the people in Europe died of this plague, sometimes wiping out whole towns and villages. According to the 1379 Poll tax records, the nearby town of Boulton had no survivors worth taxing.