QUEENSBURY CONSERVATION AREA
Historical Development
Queensbury is situated on high ground midway between Bradford and Halifax. A north-west/south-east boundary which ran through the centre of Queensbury marked the divisions between the ancient ecclesiastical parishes of Bradford and Halifax, the manors of Wakefield (Halifax parish) and Bolton (Bradford parish), and the former townships of Clayton and Northowram. The manors of Wakefield and Bolton were respectively, in 1086, held by the King and Ilbert de Laci. A stone inscribed 'CN', set in the boundary wall of the Black Dyke Mills on High Street, commemorates this line (referring by initials to the two townships). The present boundary of Queensbury was instigated in 1845 after the formation of a new parish, centred on the new parish church of Holy Trinity. Queensbury Urban District Council was formed in 1895 and later merged with Shelf to create the Shelf Urban District Council. In 1974 Queensbury was incorporated within the Bradford Metropolitan District Council.
Queensbury was formerly known as Causeway End, becoming known as Queenshead in the 18th century, taking its name from a tavern. The place-name Causeway End probably derived from a paved path that ran from Bradford, reportedly terminating at High Street. It is probable that the route continued, possibly unpaved, towards Halifax. According to John Warburton's map of 1720 this was a main highway between Bradford to Halifax. It is believed that the settlement became known as Queenshead after the construction of the Leeds and Halifax Turnpike Trust in 1740, the present A647 route, when the Queen's Head Inn was built to accommodate coaches on the route. A deed dating to 1750 provides the first known mention of the place-name Queen's Head Inn. Cellars of the Queen's Head Inn, situated on the south side of High Street, extend beyond the bounds of the present inn, suggesting that an earlier building stood on this site.
Evidence for prehistoric and Roman activity in Queensbury is sparse and is represented by a single find of a Bronze-Age flint arrowhead, found at Hunger Hill to the south of High Street.
The townships of Northowram and Clayton, which included the Queensbury area, were created in the Saxon period and are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. Little is known about settlement in this period. The first known documentary evidence relating to occupation within the general area occurs at the end of the 13th century with settlements, on lower, sheltered, ground to the south and south-west of Queensbury, such as Upper Shibden Hall and Woodhouse Hall. Harrowins or Harrow Whin, south of High Street, dates from the 15th century. The location of Queensbury on exposed ground suggests it comprised open waste or moorland intersected with routeways. Settlement probably occurred at a later date when land became enclosed and cultivated.
Most of the land to the south and east of the Leeds and Halifax Turnpike had been enclosed by 1740; the Granby estate holdings north of Chapel Street, to the north of the turnpike, were enclosed c. 1610. Isolated farmsteads and hamlets, such as Queenshead, Sandbeds and Ford, situated near the improved routeway probably developed from the late 17th and 18th centuries.
Settlement at Queensbury remained sparse in the late 18th century, and was described, by a Baptist minister, as very uncultivated and thinly inhabited, '...there was one public house from which the place took its name and only a few poor cottages dispersed around it….'(Patchett 1992). Development by 1775, according to Jefferys' map of this date, shows buildings within the vicinity of the Queens Head and intermittently straggling along both sides of the Bradford to Halifax route. The area around Queen's Head was traditionally known as Causeway End, and the earliest buildings were probably built in this area. Occupations would include farming, service trades and domestic textile work. David Knowles, a manufacturer of Queensbury, employed around 800 weavers in the 1820s & 1830s.
A significant increase in the economy and development of the village occurred in 1827 when John Foster built his house called Prospect House, and a taking-in shop/wool warehouse. He constructed Black Dike Mill in 1835. Improved access to the village also aided development and trade. The Brighouse and Denholme Gate route was turnpiked in 1825, mainly following existing routes, with some deviation at Queensbury where it bypassed Deep Lane, to form the present crossroads to the west of the original route.
Many buildings were constructed between 1850-1900. Brickfields Estate, Brunswick Street and those adjacent, were built from 1852, and the Granby Fields housing estate was built between 1871 and 1881. Housing developments were instigated by John Foster. On High Street, to the west of Victoria Hall, houses were built for the Black Dyke mill managers and officials. By 1870, on the site of isolated farmsteads of Sandbeds, rows of back to back cottages had been built by Messrs Foster to house their workpeople. The streets were named after the British generals in the Russian campaign of 1858, such as Raglan, Cardigan, Campbell, and Lyons Street.
Other industries which contributed to the development of Queensbury included stone quarrying and coal mines which were also worked to a considerable extent. Goodwin House (just outside the CA boundary) is built on the site of Great Street, Northern street, Railway Street and Oakley Street, known as the Navvy Houses, that were built to accommodate the construction workers of the Great Northern Railway in the 1870s.
The educational and social needs of inhabitants were aided by the Foster family, the improvements including lighting the village by gas, supplied by the mill, and the construction of Victoria Hall, built to celebrate the Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887.
The population figures illustrate the growth of development within 20 years. From 1841 the population of 4242 had increased to 6006 by 1861, and to around 7000 by 1881. The population increase led to a demand for a church and a petition was launched in 1838. The church was completed in 1844. Commissioners apportioned a district to the church and Queensbury had its first official parish boundary and recognised identity.
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