history
Holmfirth History Timeline
1000 – 1200: First recorded settlers, although it is likely that the area had been inhabited prior to this.
Late 1300s: There were 175 taxable inhabitants in Holmfirth (a married couple counted as one).
1476: The first stone church was built. It is probable that there had been a wooden one on the same site prior to this.
1500: A chapel-of-ease is built in Holmfirth. Worshippers no longer had to travel the four or five miles to Almondbury Parish Church.
1597: Th’owd Towzer is believed to have been built in this year. Th’owd Towzer is a building near the Holy Trinity Church. It was originally the church lockup. It has had various roles over the years: a mortuary, an ambulance station, a jail and a fire station.
1642: The English Civil War begins. Holmfirth sends 100 musketeers to join Oliver Cromwell’s armies (the Roundheads).
1650: Holmfirth people petition for the chapelry of Holmfirth to be a separate parish.
1651: Holmfirth becomes a separate parish.
1660: After the Restoration Holmfirth loses its status as a separate parish and reverts to a chapel-of-ease. Perhaps a punishment for Holmfirth’s role in the Civil War!
1738: Sunday, May 7 – first recorded Holmfirth flood. Fortunately, there was no loss of life.
1776: The first Spinning Jenny is introduced in the area.
1777: Wednesday, July 23 – a thunderstorm causes the River Holme to burst its banks. Three lives were lost as a result of this flood.
1788: The present day Holy Trinity Church is built.
1801: Th’owd Genn is erected to mark the end of the war with France.
1812: Luddite activity begins in Holmfirth and the surrounding villages.
1821: September 21 – heavy rainstorms cause yet another flood. Again there was no loss of life.
1838: The Town Hall is built by public subscription.
1850: Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company open the branch line to Holmfirth. The Druids’ Hall is built for the Ancient Order of Druids Friendly Society at a cost of £1,800. It has since been used for various purposes: entertainment, a hotel and a drill hall but is now the home of the Freemasons.
1852: February 5 – `The Great Flood’. This flood has been described as `probably the greatest single disaster ever to befall the Holme Valley’, claiming 81 lives.
1858: The population in Holmfirth had increased so much that it once again became an independent parish.
1860: Victoria Bridge is built. Prior to this Upper Bridge and Toll House was the main entrance to Holmfirth.
1865: A wooden railway viaduct at Mytholmbridge collapsed causing the Holmfirth railway line to be shut for one and a half years.
1867: The train service resumes when a new stone viaduct is completed to replace the wooden one.
1870: The firm Bamforth & Co is established by James Bamforth.
1872: On July 8, one thousand weavers went on strike.
1911: Death of James Bamforth. He was described in one local newspaper as `one of Holmfirth’s most honoured townsmen’.
1912: The Valley Theatre opens its doors.
1914: Steam wagons from B Mellor and Sons help with the transportation of troops.
1944: Whit Monday. The last of the Great Floods. Called the `Forgotten Flood’ because it occurred a few days before
the Allied invasion of Normandy. There was a news blackout at this time and it was ten days later when the flood was reported. By the time it was reported it was a minor event – the news being all about the Allied invasion.
1959: October 31 – Holmfirth passenger line closes. The goods service continues for another six years.
1995: Digley Reservoir was almost empty as a result of a drought.
1999: July 12 – Bill Owen, who played Compo in Last of the Summer Wine, died. His character died as well – the rest of the cast attending both his real life funeral and the funeral of his character Compo a few months later. He is buried at St John’s Church, Upperthong overlooking Summer Wine Country.