LITTLE HORTON LANE CONSERVATION AREA
Historical development of the conservation areas
Little Horton Lane Conservation Area, situated immediately north-east of Little Horton, is predominantly of mid- to late-19th century origin, its growth having to be placed within the context of the rapid expansion that occurred within Bradford town and its rural satellite settlements during industrial growth in this period. Little Horton is not mentioned in the Domesday records of 1086, probably because it was one of the six unnamed estates or berewicks of the manor of Bradford, of which it is recorded as forming a part in a survey of 1341. Horton was granted to Hugh, son of Robert de Stapleton in the 12th century, who took the name of Horton. The township of Horton comprised the two hamlets of Great Horton and Little Horton. Kirkstall Abbey was granted lands at Little Horton, held for a pair of white spurs. The nucleus of medieval settlement at Little Horton comprised farmhouses and cottages situated in linear fashion alongside Little Horton Green, with Horton Hall, possibly dating from as early as the 14th century, situated at the north-east corner of the Green. To the east of this building, Horton Old Hall was built in 1675, the bounds of its former grounds forming the southern-west extent of Little Horton Lane conservation area. Little Horton Green is similarly a designated conservation area. The incorporation of Little Horton and Great Horton occurred in 1847 when Bradford Borough council was established.
Cartographic evidence of 1722 reveals that land within the conservation area comprised open country and farmland, the only routeway through the area being Little Horton Lane. Enclosed fields extended from Great Horton Lane southward towards a large residence occupied by Mr Lister where the road branched from this point, eastwards towards a Green, known as Low Green on later maps, and west towards Little Horton. Low Green became the site of The Bradford Union Workhouse which commenced in 1852 and stands outside the conservation area.
A plan dated 1753 similarly records fields adjacent to Little Horton Lane. An early supply of piped water to Bradford extended from a coal drain at Haycliffe Hill, Little Horton, to a reservoir at Westgate in Bradford. The water was conveyed by means of wooden pipes to Horton Hall, then continued by means of a lead pipe through the conservation area, keeping west and parallel of Little Horton Lane, prior to it continuing to Bradford (Smith1753).
Large villas for the wealthy were the first buildings to be established on the outer limits of the conservation area. Apart from Horton House, which had extensive grounds abutting the western side of Little Horton Lane, Manville and South Brook House had been constructed at the north-west edge of the conservation area by 1834. The place-name Manville derived from the occupant Thomas Mann, whose family were the first stuff merchants in Bradford. Up to 1837 Little Horton Lane continued to be within a stretch of open fields and isolated from the town. The first break in this landscape was made in 1838 by the erection of a villa fronting Horton Lane, with other villas subsequently following. One of the earliest rows of housing was Melbourne Place, built prior to 1850, with adjacent Sawrey Place, and Melbourne Almshouses built in 1845 to the immediate north. Piecemeal development had occurred by 1850, but the majority of land remained undeveloped in contrast to the east of the conservation area where large scale development of terraced housing had been constructed on both sides of Manchester Road (O.S. 1850).
The population of Bradford grew to keep pace with economic development, particularly the worsted trade that had taken over from cotton. In 1750 the population for greater Bradford, which included Horton Township, was around 4,800. By 1801 the population of the four central townships, of Bradford, Bowling, Horton and Manningham had reached 13, 264 rising to 103, 778 by 1841. Housing stood in close proximity to industry and available land was built upon. From the mid-19th century to 1890 large-scale development occurred within the conservation area, the majority of land being built upon, and comprising housing mainly for the middle classes. Within the conservation area industry was confined to the extreme northern section where a Box Works, constructed by 1890, was situated to the north of Wilton Street, (O.S. 1890). Adjacent to this site but just outside the conservation area bounds stood Rands Mill, no longer extant and built prior to 1850, one of the earliest worsted mills in the township. A brewery and iron works were similarly situated to the north (O.S. 1890).
Within the conservation area the layout of mainly east-west rows of housing in c.1890 reflected the settlement pattern similar to that of the present day (O.S. 1890). Houses were of varying sizes, the affluent living in the same area as the workers, with status marked by differing house styles. Rows of larger villa style residences such as those on Claremont were sandwiched between lower middle class housing of Ash Grove and Manville Terrace. Street-names Russell Street, Sawrey Place, Lansdowne Place were derived from adjacent larger villas of that name. Only land to the south of Ash Grove, immediately south of the conservation area, had remained undeveloped, but this had been built upon by 1908 to form Pemberton Drive. The earlier residences of Manville and South Brook House were no longer extant, the grounds partly replaced by housing such as Manville Terrace, South Brook Terrace and two chapels.
Communication and transport was improved to meet needs of the community. The only main route within the conservation area prior to 1890 was Little Horton Lane, which joined Great Horton Road. This route formed a branch of the Leeds and Halifax Turnpike Trust established in 1740/41, and a toll bar was recorded adjacent to Horton House in 1834 (Bradford Borough Map 1834). Between 1890 and 1908 Morley Street was constructed, which contained a tramway leading to Bradford (O.S. 1908).
Wealthy manufacturers and industrialists throughout Bradford played a prominent part in religious life and other philanthropic work, contributing or encouraging the building of chapels and churches, or charitable buildings such as the Melbourne Almshouses within the conservation area. At least six chapels or churches of differing denominations, some with Sunday schools, stood within the conservation area by 1890. A New Connexion Methodist Chapel (to seat 1200) and School partly stood on the former site of Mannville, at the western corner of Mannville Terrace. The chapel opened in 1879, but by 1890 the buildings had been converted to a School of Art. Part of the grounds of former South Brook House had similarly been used to build the German Evangelical Chapel, north of South Brook Terrace, by 1890 (O.S. 1890). Other religious structures included St John the Evangelist church built adjacent to Neal Street in 1871, and a Sunday school and Trinity Chapel (General Baptist) to the north of Woodville Terrace by 1890; this later chapel was subsequently used by the YMCA (OS 1890; O.S.1958). Chapels were also situated near Lansdowne Place and Woodville Terrace, and a Wesleyan chapel to the north of the junction of Little Horton Lane with Park Road.
The buildings within the conservation area represented a pocket of middle class housing of distinctive social character within the urban sprawl of Bradford. The majority of housing has survived to the present day.
Kath Keith
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