|
Sowerby Bridge is a market town in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. The Calderdale Council ward population at the 2011 census was 11,703.
The town was originally a fording point over the once much-wider River Calder where it is joined by the River Ryburn. The town takes its name from the historic bridge which spans the river in the town centre. Before the Industrial Revolution the area was divided between the parishes of Sowerby, Norland, Skircoat and Warley. The boundaries between them being the rivers Calder and Ryburn and Warley Clough, which is now largely culverted. Textiles and engineering industry grew up around the bridge. Sowerby Bridge Town Hall, which accommodated the offices of the local board, was completed in 1857.
The Anglican parish church, Christ Church, situated on Wharf Street, is a Grade II listed building. It was built in 1819 by John Oates. The chancel was rebuilt in 1873-74 and the church was re-roofed 1894. The church is still active and the vicar is Revd. Tommy Daglish. The church's first organ was installed in 1825 and replaced in 1865. The organ and much of the church was destroyed in a 1894 fire. A larger organ, built by Abbott and Smith, was installed, and next repaired in 1979. The current organ was installed in 1983, moved from a nearby closed church.
By the mid-19th century the population had grown and the settlement became an urban district in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1894.
From 1892 to 1930 Pollit & Wigzell manufactured stationary steam engines for the cotton and woollen mills of Yorkshire, Lancashire and India. Wood Brothers, an engineering and millwright company, also produced engines from its Valley Iron Works. The Markfield Beam Engine in north London is an example of its work.
In January 2019, it was announced that the council buildings on Hollins Mill Lane, which include the former offices of Sowerby Bridge Urban District Council, the old swimming pool and old fire station will be transferred to a community group, Sowerby Bridge Fire and Water, and will be renovated for community use.
|
