TONG CONSERVATION AREA
Historical Development
Tong, c. 4 miles to the south-east of Bradford City centre, is situated at 145m O.D. on the northern slopes of Ringshaw Beck, the land rising to 167m O.D. at Hall Green. Formerly within the parish of Birstall the village is located on a prominent ridge between Pudsey Beck and Cockers Dale, its place-name probably derived from its location between the two valleys, from the Old English term tang, meaning tong or fork, such as a river fork. Evidence of early activity within the Tong area is sparse, an undated flint found within the grounds of Tong Hall represents the prehistoric period. Later artefacts within the general area include a Roman pre-Flavian coin (i.e. before 69AD) and two coins dating to the second and third centuries found in the vicinity of Westgate Hill.
Recorded in the Domesday Records of 1086, the Manor of Tong was successively occupied by the Tong, Mirfield and Tempest families. A capital messuage (manor house) is recorded in 1343 as part of the holdings of the Tong family. This may have stood on the site of the 17th-century hall that was destroyed by fire around 1700, traditionally thought to have stood within an area known as The Flats. In 1702 Sir George Tempest built the present Tong Hall to the designs by Theophilus Shelton. Further alterations took place in 1773 under the direction of architect John Platt. The estate and hall remained with the Tempest family until 1941, when the hall was subsequently used for a number of functions such as a Co-operative Youth Centre, a training college, a hall of residence, a museum, and its current use as a business centre with suites of offices.
In the medieval period settlement at Tong was probably in the vicinity of the 12th-century chapel situated on Tong Lane, which formed the southern boundary of Tong Park. Other structures included a water corn mill, documented in 1218/19. Archaeological investigations in 1979 found the remains of a probable earlier chapel, dating to the 11th century, standing within the foundations of the 12th century chapel. A grave-marker found during these works implies that there was a burial ground here prior to the 12th-century, suggesting that Tong was possibly a pre-Conquest settlement.
The village was an integral part of the Tempest estate, comprising workers' cottages, farmsteads and ancillary buildings. By 1725 a linear settlement extended eastwards from the chapel, towards Keepers Lane and Hill Green. Dwellings were mainly located to the front of Tong Lane with barns or outbuildings to the rear. It is possible that settlement may have initially comprised two focal points, near the church and at Hill Green. Rebuilding work/renovation of village buildings, undertaken by the Tempests, occurred in the 17th and early 18th centuries. These works included the rebuilding of the 12th century chapel by Sir George Tempest in 1727, and the construction of the village school and master's house in 1736. A vicarage also superseded the parsonage adjacent to the church. Church Farmhouse similarly dates from the 18th century.
Enclosures of land had taken place by 1725. To the south of Tong Lane, field boundaries recorded on a map of this date appear to follow the pattern of early strip fields. Enclosures to the north of the road formed larger parcels of land and woodland, the field-name New Lands suggesting that land had been encroached from the common or moorland.
Tong Lane was described in the late 19th century as lined with old trees, with a parsonage, known as Lantern House, and former inn, The Griffin, standing adjacent to the church. The inn's license was subsequently transferred to the Greyhound Inn, a straw-thatched building on Tong Lane, but later moved to its present site. Buildings within the village included a wheelwright's shop and smithy adjacent to the pinfold at the junction of Keepers Lane. In order to prevent over-population of the village the Lord of the Manor discouraged new development. Some buildings were dismantled when they became vacant and the stone re-used. In contrast landholdings elsewhere, such as at Tong Street (circa one and half miles to the west) were sold, resulting in industrial, commercial and residential development. In the early 20th century the antiquarian, James Parker, described Tong village as set within a 'charming' rural landscape, the village remaining the same 'as it has done in generations past'. According to the estate sale particulars of 1943 the majority of village buildings had retained their function as farmsteads and dwellings, many of the dwellings being single-storey cottages.
The preservation of the Hall and Park, and the Estate's influence on development has helped maintain the character of the village and buildings within it. Many buildings within the Conservation Area are Grade II listed structures dating between the 17th and 18th centuries, with Tong Hall and gatepiers to the entrance of the drive listed respectively as Grade I and Grade II* listed structures. Despite modern residential development the layout of the linear settlement today is very similar to that recorded in 1725.
Kath Keith
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