IDLE CONSERVATION AREA
Historical Development
Idle, situated c.2 miles north of Bradford, was formerly in the Wapentake of Morley and the ancient parish of Calverley. It did not become an independent parish until 1878.
Early activity occurred in the general area of Idle in the prehistoric and Roman periods. Concentrations of flints found on the alluvium deposits of the river Aire to the north-west of Idle, and from neighbouring areas such as Baildon, Bingley, and Shipley, indicate considerable prehistoric activity in this vicinity during the Mesolithic (c. 8,000 - 4,000 BC) and Neolithic (c. 4,000 - 2,000 BC) periods. A series of finds including coins and brooches dating from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, found at Catstones Quarry to the north of Idle, c. SE163374, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries indicate a Roman or Romano British site of some extent. A quernstone, possibly Roman in date, was also found in a garden near Westfield Lane in 1926.
The place-name Idle probably relates to the Old English term Idel meaning an empty place, an uncultivated area. This description is echoed in a survey of the Manor of Idle in 1583-4 by the Earl of Cumberland, where the Manor is portrayed as containing mostly uncultivated land and woodland, with some quarries for wall stones and slates. According to the survey plan Idle lordship comprised the nucleated settlements of Idle, Thorpe, Wrose, and Windhill. Open fields were situated immediately south and west of Idle with Thackley Common, and the East and West Woods to the north. Idle Mill, comprising a water corn mill and fulling mill with 2 stocks, stood on the south bank of the River Aire, the river forming the northern bounds of the lordship. Moorland and the hamlet of Wrose, with its fields systems, were situated on the south and southwest bounds of the estate. Industrial activity in this period included The Iron Smithies, powered by a water mill situated to the southwest of Windhills, on the east side of Bradford Beck. Earlier industries included tanning. Bradford Manor Court rolls reveal that this trade was carried out at Idle in 1384, but the site of the tannery is unknown.
Tenants and buildings are recorded in the survey of 1584. The manor house or Idle Hall, situated at the northeast corner of the village was, in this period, in a state of disrepair. The hall stood within a fenced and walled deer park, which incorporated a lodge for the keeper of the park. The present place-names Park Hill and Park Lodge (outside the CA) derive from this medieval park. Inhabitants of Idle comprised 21 tenants and 14 cottagers, the majority of tenants each residing in smallholdings or farmsteads consisting of a house, barn, and outbuildings, with a croft or parcel of land to the rear of the property. The cottagers' lived in a cottage with a garden, and had rights of Common Land.
Five routes, the presently named Westfield Lane, Highfield Road, Town Lane, High Street and Greenfield Lane, converged on Idle in 1584. These routes, according to Jefferys' map of 1775, communicated with Baildon, Shipley, Bradford, Eccleshill and Calverley. High Street formed part of the route between Bradford and Baildon, the route documented as Idlegate in 1265. The routes met near the chapel, the focal point of the village.
The early chapel of ease was rebuilt in 1630 replacing an earlier building known from 1584; records of Calverley parish indicate that interments took place here. This rebuilding is reflected in the early surviving buildings within Idle which indicate that development of the village occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries. Both Town Lane and Westfield Lane contain a number of listed buildings that date to these periods. Religious activity in 1690 included the enclosing of a small Quaker cemetery in Westfield Lane (outside the conservation area), and the building of an Independent Chapel in 1717. Idle did not have a church until the 19th century when the foundation stone for Holy Trinity Church was laid in 1828. The church remained within the parish of Calverley until 1878 after which Idle became an independent parish. White's Trade Directory of 1837 noted that Idle was a populous clothing village with a long main street. A number of scribbling and fulling mills and a few worsted mills were situated within the general area; a cattle-market was established at Idle in 1836. The O.S. maps of 1851 and 1934, in comparison to Jefferys's map of 1775, reveal that settlement had increased, and mainly comprised terraced housing. Settlement had mostly remained clustered around the five routes leading to the village and the increase of population and industrial activity, including Union Mill (woollen) and Castle Mills (Worsted), had been absorbed in development to the south and east of the original village core. The growth of industry and population resulted in the opening of a railway station. The Great Northern Railway operated the first passenger train to Idle in 1875. This station closed in 1931 with the line finally closing in 1968. The station, bridge and tracks were dismantled in 1972 and replaced by Idlecroft Road.
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