WILSDEN CONSERVATION AREA
Historical Development
Wilsden is situated on the millstone grits of the Upper Carboniferous period, c. 5m. north-west of Bradford, on the lower valley slopes of Wilsden Hill and west of Wilsden Beck. Recorded as Wilsedene in the Domesday Book of 1086, the place-name probably derived from the Old English term dun, and the personal name Wilsige, meaning Wilsige's valley. In the 13th century lands here were held by the Thornton family who, in 1288, granted their holdings to the monks of Byland Abbey. Kirkstall Abbey also had interests in the area by the 15th century. At the time of the Dissolution, 1536-40, former monastic lands, both at Wilsden and Denholme, were acquired by the Tempest family of Bolling Hall who subsequently created Denholme Park. The park is recorded on Jefferys' map of 1775.
Settlement in the medieval period probably comprised a few farmsteads at Wilsden with a further group of farmsteads to the west at Wilsden Hill. Personal names, such as John de Hill and Magota de Hill, recorded in the Poll Tax returns of 1379, indicate that settlement had occurred at Wilsden Hill by at least the 14th century. A William del Hille of Wilsden is mentioned in Bradford Court Rolls dated 1362-63. Main Street, a route which led northwards towards Harden Beck and Harden, was probably a focus of settlement, with subsequent growth, according to Jefferys' map of 1775, forming a linear pattern of settlement to both sides of the street.
Rebuilding and development at Wilsden and near vicinity probably occurred from around the 17th century. Enclosures of waste from 1670 led to the construction of additional farms in the area such as Honey Pot Farm and Goose Hall. To the east of Wilsden, Norr Fold Farmhouse is dated 1679, probably the date of its construction. Buildings dating to this century, within the CA, included Lee Farmhouse and the Manor House, the latter with a datestone of 1684, both buildings situated on the east side of Main Street. Many occupants of the farmsteads and cottages in this period supplemented their agrarian income with domestic spinning, weaving and combing.
From the late 18th century to the mid-19th century the village expanded and prospered with the subsequent growth of textile manufacture. By the early 19th century the hamlets of Wilsden, the Hill, Lingbob, and Norr, comprised a total of c. 120 houses. In 1822 settlement at Wilsden extended northwards from Crack Lane to Lee Farm. Nineteenth-century development involved some demolition of earlier buildings. A former laithe-house of unknown date, 'probably one of the oldest houses in the district', situated near Tweedy Street, and opposite the former Mechanic's Institute, was demolished and replaced by a new building in this period. Settlement consisted of workers' cottages, chapels, schools and institutes. Rows of houses built to accommodate millworkers included Club Row and Chapel Row, within the CA, erected in the early-mid 19th century. By 1891 buildings on Main Street had extended north of Lee Farm and southwards to Ling Bob.
Industrial activity included a dyeworks and a tannery built by a farmer-clothier family at Wilsden Hill in the late 18th century. Dyeworks continued in this area into the 20th century. Prior to 1810, when Albion Mill, the first steam-powered mill was founded by Tweedy, there were two water-powered textile mills on the site of old corn mills. By 1818 Albion mill employed around 450 workers. The introduction of steam power to the mills after 1800 and the supply of nearby local coal from areas such as Birkshead, Rough Storrs and Manywells, encouraged the building of new mills near an available workforce, some being built near Main Street. Eleven worsted mills were situated in or near Wilsden by 1876, including Well Holes Mill (1820), Spring Mill (1832), the Providence Mill or Low Mill (1840), and Royd Mill built in 1843. Albion Mill was rebuilt in 1866.
Ecclesiastically, Wilsden and Allerton formed a parish in 1828, out of the parish of Bradford. The church of St Matthew, built at Wilsden in 1826, served both townships until its demolition in 1962. Other denominations included the Independent Methodists who built their first chapel in 1795. The Wesleyan church was constructed in 1823, but was replaced by a larger church in 1847 . The Primitive Methodist chapel and Free church also built premises here respectively in 1843 and 1869.
After the mid-19th century there was a decline in population and industry, attributed to the exhaustion of local coal supplies. Population fell from 3454 inhabitants in 1851 to 2764 by 189. This decline may have helped retain Wildsen's early character. Wilsden today remains a linear settlement, with later development extending to the west and east of Main Street predominantly to the south and north of the original settlement area. Wilsden Hill, within the CA, was described in 1876 as one of the oldest parts of the settlement containing 'several old houses, laithes and farmsteads'. A similar description of this area was also given in 1985.
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