Mirfield

Mirfield St Mary's

MIRFIELD (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Dewsbury, Lower division of the wapentake of Agbrigg, W. riding of York, 2¾ miles (W. by S.) from Dewsbury; containing 6919 inhabitants.
This place, at the time of the heptarchy, formed part of the parish of Dewsbury. It afterwards belonged to Sir John Heton, lord of the manor, whose lady, on her way to the parish church, before dawn, on Christmas-day, being attacked by robbers, and her attendant killed, the pope, on the intercession of her husband, who was then at Rome, granted permission to the family to build a chapel here, which subsequently became parochial.
In 1261 the district was severed from Dewsbury, and erected into a distinct parish. Including the hamlets of Battyeford and Hopton, it comprises by admeasurement 3548 acres of fertile land.
The surface is finely undulated, and the lower grounds are watered by the navigable river Calder, which divides the parish into two unequal portions, the larger of which is on the north side of the stream; the substratum abounds with coal and freestone of good quality. Within the parish is Blake Hall, a handsome modern mansion, erected on the site of the ancient seat of the Hoptons, beautifully situated, and commanding agreeable prospects. Here are also, Castle Hall, erected on the site of the old mansion of the Hetons, and now an inn; Upper Hall, once the residence of the Shepley family; and Hopton Hall, an ancient edifice partly modernised.
The village is on the north bank of the river Calder, along which it extends for a considerable distance; the inhabitants are chiefly employed in the woollen manufacture, and the making of cards for machinery, and there are some large flour-mills and extensive malting establishments.
A good trade is likewise carried on in mineral produce, for the conveyance of which the Calder and Hebble navigation affords great facilities; and the Manchester and Leeds railway passes through the parish.
The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 1. 0½.; net income, £242; patron and impropriator, Sir George Armytage, Bart.
The tithes were commuted for land in 1796. The church was, with the exception of the tower, rebuilt on a larger scale, in 1826, at an expense of nearly £2000, raised by subscription; it is a neat and well-arranged structure, containing 1000 sittings.
Churches have been erected at Battyeford and Hopton, which see. There are places of worship for Wesleyan Methodists of the Old and New Connexions, Primitive Methodists, Baptists, Independents, Moravians, and Swedenborgians.
A free school is endowed with certain houses and land bequeathed by Richard Thorpe in 1667, and now producing £50 per annum.
Near the church is a large circular mound called Castle Hill. Bishop Hopton, who lived in the reign of Mary, was born at Blake Hall. From: 'Mintern Magna - Mithian',
A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 325-329. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk

Main Content

Mirfield Map

Parish Registers

Baptisms 1559-1968
Marriages 1559-1990
Burials 1559-1949
Banns 1892-1993

Other Documents

Mirfield: Memorial Inscriptions
Mirfield: Rev Joseph Ismay Diary
Mirfield: Will Transcriptions