|
|
|
The village of Shipley at the beginning of the 19th Century [click picture for enlargement] Following the death of Dean Jackson, the manor of Shipley was bought by John Wilmer Field of Heaton Hall. On his death, he left the manor to his eldest daughter Mary, who was married to the Earl of Rosse. Evidence from the plan of the Shipley Enclosure Award of 1815 shows that prior to the 1820s Shipley was still, predominantly an agricultural community. However, by 1822 there were three worsted textile manufactures and several woollen manufacturers in the expanding village. Initially, the physical expansion consisted mainly of the infilling of the open spaces within the confines of the old village, but as growth continued, Shipley started to expand outwards. In 1826, Shipley broke away from the historical influence of Bradford by becoming an independent parish in its own right. Thereafter, the town remained independent for nearly 150 years. One of the major factors that aided Shipley in the progress into an industrial town was the improvement in the transport infrastructure. The first of these was the construction of three turnpike roads through the township. A new road was cut through the fields between Frizinghall and Cottingley, as part of the Bradford to Keighley turnpike. The Shipley to Bramley turnpike, simply required an upgrade to the existing road between Hirst Lane and Calverley. While the Shipley, Ilkley and Kirkstall turnpike consisted of an improvement to Otley Road, down as far as Baildon Bridge, and a new section between the Branch and Valley Road. These three new roads meant that Shipley was now placed at the centre of a busy crossroads. A decade later, the coming of the Leeds to Bradford railway created even better transport links with the outside world, though it also required a major change to the physical appearance of the town. The layout of the triangular railway junction, for example, required the excavation of a huge area between Otley Road and Chapel Lane, as well as a large cutting through the rest of the town.
|
|
