Local Retail
There are no retail shops in the village any more (2025), but at one time there were 27 shops, 5 inns, 2 blacksmiths, the post office and a fish & chip shop.
- Wormald's Grocery Shop
- Patrick's Greengrocer shop
- Tattersall's Electrical
- Co-operative
- Haberdashery - Operated by Mr.Sayle and Family
- Butchers
- Post Office
- Charlie Campbells Fish & Chip Emporium
TIMELINE
Around 7000 BCE the ice that had covered large parts of Britain melted to leave a land that was populated by a small number of communities. People wandered around the surrounding hilltops and found food by hunting, fishing and collecting berries and fruits. From around 4700 BCE land began to be cleared for permanent residents and animals began to be grazed. Sheep and cattle were kept as well as pigs. From 2000 BCE onwards, bronze instruments and tools began to appear, originating from Europe. Iron Age people built banked enclosures inside which they built houses, for example at Tower Hill and Moor End. Luddenden received its name from the Anglo-Saxons, who established settlements in the valley during the seventh century. Luddingdene means clearing (ing) in the valley (dene) of the loud river (Ludd). Land was gradually brought into cultivation by clearance of the moorland. Here people kept cattle and grew their own corn. All corn grown had to be ground at the Manorial Corn Mill.
(Will put National events timeline alongside (like Phil R did for Church))
1086 Midgley and Warley mentioned in the Doomsday Book, with Luddenden Brook being the dividing line
1274 mentions of Luddenden Corn Mill in Wakefield Manorial Rolls
1345-1353 Black Death (Bubonic plague, originally caused by fleas on rats, but then spread through the air to lungs) killed 40% of people in Luddenden
1440 Dean Mill built
1518 Packhorse routes from Bradford (down Stocks Lane) and Halifax (down Halifax Lane) to and from Lancashire (via Heptonstall and the Long Causeway) meet at the stone bridge built in the centre of Luddenden, partly paid for by a bequest of £10 from Richard Stand….and replacing an earlier wooden bridge. A horse trough was provided at the bottom of Stocks Lane in 1861 for the refreshment of horses using the Bradford route.
C1535 St Mary’s Chapel built
1598 Peel House built
1634 Lord Nelson Inn (then called Newhouse) bought by Gregory Patchett
1643-44 Battle of Luddenden: parliamentary troops attack “The Hollins” and break the church cross and font
1787 First Methodist Preaching House built at the bottom of Halifax Lane
1814 new St Mary’s Church built
1847 first mill at Oats Royd – largest worsted manufacturer in the West Riding by 1890
1973 Luddenden Conservation Area established
1982 Oats Royd Mill closes down
Pictures: map, Old Lane, horse trough
(adapted from the Luddenden Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan)
Churches and Chapels
St Mary’s Church
Sometime before his death on the battlefield in 1460, Richard Duke of York, Lord of the Manor of Wakefield granted permission to build a chapel of ease at Luddenden. During 1535 dispensations were obtained from Archbishop Cramner and Henry VIII to have the chapel consecrated but the Reformation intervened and there are no references to a chapel until 1599 when one was depicted on Christopher Saxon’s map. This is thought to be the second building. In 1624 King James I was petitioned by inhabitant to have the chapel consecrated (so that baptisms, weddings and funerals could be held) and this was done on 5 August 1624. A tower was added during the 18th century but by 1804 it was in a poor state of repair.
The current church was completed in 1817. It had a barn-like interior with box pews, galleries, and a central three-decker pulpit. In 1866 a Chancel was added, with new window tracery, stained glass, false ceiling, font and pulpit. The rear section of the church was partitioned off in 1986 to create the Parish Centre area with kitchen and toilets, and the Upstairs Room was created in 1996.
There are two fonts; the earlier, which looks like a chair probably dates from before 1460. It was broken during the civil war. The 1662 font stood in the graveyard for many years, but is now back inside and used for baptisms.
(adapted from “A Brief History and Guide” by J.A. Heginbottom)
Pictures: old church, church inside with galleries, two fonts
The first Methodist place of worship was established in 1787 on the site of the present playground at the bottom of Halifax Lane. The church grew and it was replaced by the Ebenezer Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on the opposite side of Halifax Lane which opened in 1812, with a Sunday School extension being added in 1864, when membership peaked. It closed in 1961 and members were invited to join St James’ at the top of High Street. It was demolished in 1964 although the graveyard can still be seen.
A group of reformers broke away from Ebenezer and established the United Methodist Free Church in 1837 on High Street at the bottom of Halifax Lane, generously built by William Thompson, owner of the corn mill. By 1885 the Sunday School had run out of space, and a new Sunday School was built at the top of High Street. After the church closed the building became Luddenden Working Mens Club and eventually flats.
St James’ United Methodist Church near the top of High Street was opened in 1903, with much of the building work having been done by the men of the Church. This church thrived and changed its name to Midgley and Luddenden Valley Methodist Church when MIdgley Chapel closed in 1994. This remaining Methodist Church closed its doors in 2011.
Luddenden Dean Methodist Church opened on Christmas Day 1828 but burned down in 1954. The Sunday School, established in 1878 continued to be used for services until 1978. Again, the graveyard is still accessible and it includes a memorial to orphans employed at I and C Calvert, Wainstalls, naming seven girls who died aged from 12 to 17.
Booth Congregational Church was first opened in 1761. It was replaced in 1828, with a Sunday School added in 1851 and a further Chapel added in 1869. It survived until 1979
Pictures: Ebenezer, United, St James, Ludd Dean, Waifs gravestone, Booth
(adapted from “Non Conformist Chapels of the Luddenden Valley” by Rodney Collinge)
Public Houses
A house stood on the site of the Lord Nelson Inn in the 1599 Christopher Saxton map. In 1643 it was bought by Gregory Patchett, one of the churchwardens at St Mary’s, it was rebuilt in stone and the sign over the door was installed. In 1743 John Patchett acquired the rights to a spring to the rear, and in his will of 1745 mentioned brewing vessels, so it is likely that it was already being used as an alehouse by then. In 1805 after the Battle of Trafalgar, it was given its current name. In 1863 it was sold to the Shibden Head Brewery. Brewing was probably discontinued before this as the Murgatroyd Arms across the brook had a large brewhouse built earlier that century.
The cellar has a window opening onto High Street that was inscribed “Dairy” which meant that window tax did not need to be paid! A ring for the tethering of horses can still be seen on the corner of the inn. The stables connected with the inn were across the road and were developed into a smithy, being demolished when the War Memorial was built in 1922.
In 1781 one of Calderdale’s earliest lending libraries was established at the inn. By 1889 it contained 1,515 volumes. It was disbanded in 1923 and the volumes divided amongst members.
In 1840, Bramwell Bronte, aged 22 was a clerk at the soon to be opened Luddendenfoot railway station. He regularly met friends, such as the sons of mill owners, at the Lord Nelson Inn.
In addition to the Lord Nelson Inn, there were a number of other inns or ale houses in the village. Following the transfer of the Murgatroyd Arms licence out of the village it became Church House and was used as the Church Hall for a number of years before being turned into a house. The Wolf Inn was located where the village green is now. After it closed in the 1930’s, it became the Working Mens Club for a period and then a business premises. The Bridge End Inn, Ship Inn and the Granby Arms were also located in the centre of the village.
Photos: Lord Nelson Inn, Murgatroyd Arms, Wolf
(Adapted from “A History of the Lord Nelson Inn (Luddenden)” by J A Heginbottom)