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Local Information for Batley

Batley is a small town which lies in the West Yorkshire conglomerate of Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield and Wakefield. It lays just north of its closest neighbour Dewsbury in the Kirklees Metropolitan Borough, in the county of West Yorkshire, and the present population numbers around 43,000.

The name of Batley is believed to have been derived from “home of bats” and it was first recorded in The Doomsday Book under Bathelie. There has been a church in Batley since the twelfth century. The present Batley Parish Church was built in the reign of Henry VI (1422-1461), and parts of the original remain. Although Batley is an ancient settlement, this is all that remains of any great antiquity.

Batley can boast a public, or fee paying school, which is one of the few remaining in Yorkshire. A number of prominent people attended Batley Grammar School amongst whom are; Sir Titus Salt, an industrialist who founded the model village of Saltaire, Joseph Priestley, philosoph...More