Ripponden is a village and
civil parishIn England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and in some places the lowest tier of local government, below districts and counties. A civil parish can alternatively be known as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council; and in a limited number of...
within the
Metropolitan Borough of CalderdaleThe Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, through which the upper part of the River Calder flows, and from which it takes its name...
, in
West YorkshireWest 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....
,
EnglandEngland 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 and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, near
HalifaxHalifax is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England, with 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 Hall...
, on the
River RyburnThe River Ryburn flows roughly eastwards from the Pennines through West Yorkshire, England. It flows through the villages of Rishworth, Ripponden and Triangle before flowing into the River Calder at Sowerby Bridge....
. It is the site of a Roman settlement, and there is a
Roman RoadThe Roman roads were essential for the growth of the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate news. The Roman road system spanned more than 250,000 miles of roads, including more than 50,000 miles of paved roads...
over nearby
Blackstone EdgeBlackstone Edge is an area of moorland at 472 metres high, along the Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire county boundary, England....
, a rocky ridge of millstone grit. It has a population of 6,412.
Ripponden is the main settlement in a small group of villages;
BarkislandBarkisland is a village in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is east of Ripponden, south of Sowerby Bridge and south-west of Halifax town centre.-Location:...
, Ripponden, Rishworth and Soyland. The citizens of Ripponden are represented on Ripponden Parish Council. The area is a substantial part of the Ryburn Ward, itself part of
CalderdaleThe Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, through which the upper part of the River Calder flows, and from which it takes its name...
metropolitan borough.
Ripponden and its villages were formerly served by the
Rishworth branch lineThe Rishworth branch was built by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and linked with and served the villages of Triangle, Ripponden, Barkisland and Rishworth.-History:...
from
Sowerby BridgeSowerby Bridge is a market town that lies within the Upper Calder Valley in the district of Calderdale in the county of West Yorkshire, in northern England.The town is served by Sowerby Bridge railway station....
;
Ripponden and Barkisland railway stationRipponden and Barkisland railway station was a railway station on the Rishworth Branch, built by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, to serve the village of Ripponden in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England...
closed to passengers in 1929 and the line was closed completely in 1958.
The area is of archaeological note for the Roman road at Blackstone edge alone and is also rich in
neolithicThe Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BCE in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age...
and
bronze ageThe Bronze Age of a culture is the period when the most advanced metalworking in that culture utilised bronze. This could either have been based on the local smelting of copper and tin from ores, or trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere...
remains. At nearby Ringstone Edge can be found a small
stone circleA stone circle is an ancient monument of standing stones. It is not always precisely circular, often forming an ellipse, or more rarely a setting of four stones laid on an arc of a circle. The size and number of stones in a 'circle' varies from example to example...
and neolithic settlement. Upon Rishworth moor, an area of outstanding natural beauty and home to many rare animals, can be found the
Cat StonesThe Cat Stones is the name of an archaeological site situated on Rishworth moor in the county of West Yorkshire, near to the peak of Dog Hill. The moor, an area of outstanding natural beauty and home to many rare animals, houses the site of a series of ancient round barrow burial sites...
, a series of ancient round barrow burial sites.
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