Old Farnley
Encyclopedia
Farnley village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 (also known as Old Farnley), is a district in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Farnley is 2 miles (3 km) south west of Leeds city centre
Leeds City Centre
Leeds city centre is the central business district of Leeds, England. It is within the Leeds Central parliamentary constituency, represented by Hilary Benn as MP since a by-election in 1999...

, between Wortley
Wortley, West Yorkshire
Wortley is a district of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It begins one mile to the west of the city centre.In the 1086 Domesday Book it is mentioned as Wirtlei, also Wirtleie and Wrleia. Later it was known as Wirkelay until about 1700...

, Bramley and surrounding countryside, in the LS12 Leeds postcode area
LS postcode area
The LS postcode area, also known as the Leeds postcode area, is a group of postcode districts around Leeds, Wetherby, Tadcaster, Pudsey, Otley and Ilkley in England...

. The village was mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 as Fernelei. New Farnley is a nearby commuter village.

Farnley

At the lower area of Old Farnley sits St Wilfrid's Church. St Michael's church is in Farnley park near the stately home
Stately home
A stately home is a "great country house". It is thus a palatial great house or in some cases an updated castle, located in the British Isles, mostly built between the mid-16th century and the early part of the 20th century, as well as converted abbeys and other church property...

 of Farnley Hall
Farnley Hall (West Yorkshire)
Farnley Hall is a stately home in Farnley, west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is a grade II listed building. It was built in Elizabethan times by the Danbys...

.

Old Farnley has a lower set of shops, consisting of a pizza takeaway, a newsagent, a mini-mart, a butcher and Cow Close library. The area also has an upper set of shops consisting of a hair salon, a newsagent, a mini-mart and a fish and chip shop. Farnley has several area schools, Cobden Primary, Lawns Park Primary School and Farnley Park Maths and Computing College.

Old Farnley is the western terminus for First Leeds
First Leeds
First Leeds is one of the bus companies serving the area of West Yorkshire, England. It forms part of FirstGroup, a company operating transport services across the British Isles and in North America...

 Bus Routes 5 and 42. It is likely that past bus operators in Leeds coined the name Old Farnley to avoid confusion with Farsley, another nearby area of Leeds.

In 1904, Farnley Civil Parish was abolished to create the Armley and Bramley Civil Parish. The civil parish had included slightly more than the area between the ring road
Leeds Outer Ring Road
The Leeds Outer Ring Road is a main road that runs around most of the perimeter of the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The ring road is approximately long and consists of single and dual carriageways....

, Wood Lane, Back Lane, Tong Road and Park Spring; in particular it included New Farnley. The population of the civil parish was 4,351 in 1901 and 4,208 in 1911.

New Farnley

New Farnley is a commuter village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, 3½ miles (6 km) south west of Leeds city centre
Leeds City Centre
Leeds city centre is the central business district of Leeds, England. It is within the Leeds Central parliamentary constituency, represented by Hilary Benn as MP since a by-election in 1999...

, on the A58
A58 road
The A58 is a major road in northern England that runs between Prescot, Merseyside and Wetherby, West Yorkshire.It runs north east from Prescot on the outskirts of Liverpool via St Helens, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Hindley, Westhoughton, Bolton, Bury, Heywood, Rochdale and Littleborough then over the...

 Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

-Halifax
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...

 main road. New Farnley lies about 1 mile (2 km) south west of Farnley and was part of the Farnley Civil Parish.

It is focused on two historic settlements, Upper Moor Side and the modern focus of New Farnley Village, both of which had nucleated settlements recognisable in early estate maps. There are still late 17th and early 18th-century buildings standing in both locations. It was part of the ancient manor of Farnley, ownership of which was split and held by families including the Harringtons, Nevilles, Brudenells, Danbys and finally, the Armitages.

Stray archaeological finds point to activity from Roman times (although the single known Roman find is a coin from the 3rd-century). A field has the name 'Castle Hill' leading to a local tradition (which appears to have originated with an estate manager of Farnley Hall) that it was the site of a Roman marching camp. The field name first appears in early modern estate maps. But due to ploughing any earthworks that may have been present on the site no longer exist. Nor has the site been investigated by field walking. There are also Saxon field names and remains of medieval ridge and furrow. Other evidence of medieval activity may be the place-name Snittels Farm, a possible corruption of spital, indicating the location of a medieval (leper?) hospital. But there is no archaeological or documentary evidence to support this.

Farnley was heavily wooded until the 19th century, and Farnley Wood was the meeting point for a rebellion against Charles II in 1663 which is known as the Farnley Wood Plot
The Farnley Wood Plot
The Farnley Wood Plot was a conspiracy in northern England in October 1663. Intended as a major rising to overturn the return to monarchy in 1660, it was undermined by informers, and came to nothing....

.

There was industrial development of the significant natural resources in the area from the early modern period (if not earlier). This industry led to the rapid expansion of settlement with the construction of workers housing in the 19th century. Despite this industrial activity a number of farms are still working in the area.

As the population increased, St James's church and the Lancastrian School were built, both of which originally served as chapels of ease. There was also a Methodist chapel. Alms houses were built in the 19th century along with a village school. Local amenities included a recreation ground. There were a number of shops including a Cooperative with grocers, butchers and drapers.

Old Farnley now has a village shop, fish and chip shop, doctors' office, pub, barber's, beauty salon, post office, Cobden Primary and Lawns Park Primary Schools, Farnley Park High School, and two churches. The centrally-located community centre is run and owned by the residents of the community on a voluntary basis. It is a hub for the activities of the village, is home to a local Mums and Tots group, and hosts several community nights, e.g. Halloween, Christmas etc.

Sport

Farnley is represented in Rugby League
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 via the Farnley Falcons amateur club. The Falcons currently play in Pennine League Division 5, and also run a reserve side, playing in Pennine League Division 7. They also compete in the Yorkshire Cup and various regional cup competitions. They're based at the Farnley Sports & Social Club (locally known as 'The Nest'), and play their home games on the pitches close by.
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