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| Morley | |
  Morley shown within West Yorkshire |
|
| Population | 47,579 (2001)1 |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| Metropolitan borough | City of Leeds |
| Metropolitan county | West Yorkshire |
| Region | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LEEDS |
| Postcode district | LS27 |
| Dialling code | 0113 |
| Police | West Yorkshire |
| Fire | West Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| European Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire | |
Morley is a market town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies approximately 5 miles (8 km) south-west of Leeds city centre. Together with Drighlington, Gildersome, Churwell, Tingley and East/West Ardsley, the town had a population of 47,579 in the 2001 census.1 The civil parish had a population of 27,738.
The town is built on seven hills, like Rome: Scatcherd Hill, Dawson Hill, Daisy Hill, Chapel Hill, Hunger Hill, Troy Hill and Banks Hill.
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History
Morley means "wood by a moor", from Old English mor "moor" + leah "wood, clearing". The name was recorded as Morelige in 1156. The -ley in the place name is typical of this section of West Yorkshire, alluding to a forest that was around in medieval times.
Morley, mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book as Morelege, Morelei and Moreleia, is traditionally famous for its textile industry, notably the cloth "Shoddy", which was worn by both sides in the American Civil War.
A fuller description of the history of the town is provided by the West Yorkshire Archaeology Service and Morley Community Archives - see external links below.
Governance
Historically, Morley was the centre of one of two divisions of the wapentake of Agbrigg and Morley. Morley became a Municipal Borough in 1889 and under the Local Government Act 1972, was incorporated into the new City of Leeds Metropolitan District. Morley is represented on Leeds City Council by three wards (Morley North/Morley South and Ardsley/Robin Hood) each with three councillors. In May 2006, the electoral ward of Morley South voted for a councillor from the British National Party.
A town council was established in 2000, though it no longer governs Drighlington, Gildersome, Tingley and East and West Ardsley - areas formerly part of the municipal borough.
Following a review of parliamentary representation in West Yorkshire, the Morley and Rothwell parliamentary constituency, represented by Colin Challen (Labour) is set to be abolished at the 2009/2010 election and be replaced by the new Morley and Outwood constituency.
The town's Municipal Coat of Arms features the symbolic principal industries of the Municipal Borough: Manufacturing of Woollen Cloth, Coal Mining and Quarrying.
Present
Morley Town Hall is sometimes used for music recordings, due to its excellent acoustics. It has also been used in television shows Heartbeat and Emmerdale, owing to there being a disused magistrates court inside the building and a cobblestoned street to one side. It also hosts concerts by local schools and performances by the Morley Amateur Operatic Society, whose pantomimes have taken place at the Alexandra Hall for many years. Following a controversial speech at Morley Town Hall in 2004, BNP leader Nick Griffin was tried on suspicion of incitement to racial hatred. All charges were subsequently dropped.2
The town is also notable as the home of Orbit3 - one of the U.K's foremost clubs, hosting the worlds biggest techno, trance and hard house DJs4 before it's sudden closure in July 2003.
Three secondary schools serve pupils from Morley: Morley High School (formerly Morley Grammar), Bruntcliffe High School and Woodkirk High School (technically in West Ardsley but has a large proportion of students from Morley due to its catchment area). The Joseph Priestley College offers Further Education at numerous sites in the town.
Morley railway station is half a mile from the town centre.
Sport
Morley R.F.C. was founded in 1878 and was a member of the Northern Union. When the Northern Union clubs broke away from the RFU to form what is now rugby league, the Morley representatives missed the train to Huddersfield as they were still in the pub. The club's heyday was in the 1970s where they won the Yorkshire Cup on five occasions. Some of this glory was recaptured in April 2005 when the club won the Powergen Intermediate Cup at Twickenham.
The town also has a cricket club (whose team plays in the Bradford League), along with a football club (Morley Town) and Rugby league club (Morley Borough).
Twin towns
Siegen, Germany, since 1966.
Notable people
Natives of the town refer to themselves as Morleians. Famous Morleians include:
- British Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith
- Sir Titus Salt, the creator of Saltaire
- Helen Fielding, author of Bridget Jones' Diary
- Leigh Francis, comedian best known for "Bo Selecta!" and "A Bear's Tale"
- Vincent Mulchrone, famous Fleet Street feature writer (UK Press Gazette Top 40 British journalists)
- Ernie Wise, of Morecambe and Wise fame (born in East Ardsley)
- Brian Turner, celebrity chef
References
- ^ a b "Census 2001". National Statistics (2001).
- ^ "BNP boss aired 'race hell' views". BBC News Online. BBC (2006-01-17). Retrieved on 2008-10-22.
- ^ http://www.theorbituary.com/showthread.php?t=313
- ^ http://www.theorbituary.com/showthread.php?t=3172
External links
- Morley Town Council
- West Yorkshire Archaeology Service
- "The Ancient Parish of Batley". GENUKI. Retrieved on 2007-10-29. Morley was in this parish
- Morley Community Archives
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- This page was last modified on 6 January 2009, at 13:13.
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