Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/320

Rh HUCKNALL-UNDER-HUTHWAITE. 312 HUDDERSFIELD. charities produce about 30 per annum, chiefly arising from lands bequeathed by Mrs. Byron in the reign of Elizabeth. HUCKNALL-UNDER-HUTHWAITE, a tnshp. in the par. of Sutton-in-Ashfield, N. div. of the wap. of Broxtow, co. Nottingham, 6 miles W. of Mansfield, its post town, and 2 from Sutton-in-Ashfield. It is a very irregular township, and the inhabitants are chiefly en- gaged in agriculture and in framework knitting. Here is a large colliery. The Wesleyans have a chapel. The Duke of Portland is chief landowner. HUDDERSFIELD, a par., manufacturing and market town and parliamentary borough, in the wap. of Upper Agbrigg and lib. of Pontefract, West Riding co. York, 35 miles S.W. of York, and 189 N.N.W. of London. It is situated in the centre of the great woollen manu- facturing district of Yorkshire, on the high-road from Manchester to Leeds, and is connected by numerous railways with all the great seats of industry in the N. of England. The Huddersfield and Ramsden canal com- municates with the great canals of Yorkshire and Lanca- shire, and opens up direct communication between the Mersey and the Humber. The prosperity of the town, which has more than quadrupled in wealth and popula- tion during the present century, in a great measure depends on the abundant supply of water-power afforded by the numerous streams falling into the Calder, and the near proximity of good coal and building stone. The Holme and Colne, which unite their waters in the town, fall into the Calder about 3 miles below it, turning in their course numerous mills for the manufacture of woollens, and for fulling and washing the cloths. The country surrounding the town is hilly and naturally unproductive, but careful husbandry and artificial appli- ances ha 76 brought it into a high state of cultivation. Only one-fourth part of the parish, which is very exten- sive, comprising 15,080 acres, is included within the parliamentary borough of Huddersfield, the limits of which are co-extensive with those of the township, being about 3,950 acres ; the remainder comprises the town- ships of Golcar, Liudley-cum-Quarmby, Longwood, with parts of Marsden, Scammonden-with-Deanhead, and Slaithwaite. The population of the parish, according to the census of 1861, was 62,250, and thai of the borough 34,874 which latter includes the hmlts. of Fartown, Bradley, Deighton-with-Sheepridge, and Marsh-with- Paddock. The borough was created by the Reform Act of 1832, and returns one member to parliament. It is governed, so far as all improvements, lighting, watching, sewerage, and police are concerned, by a body of Im- provement Commissioners, under an Act obtained in 1849, and elected partly by the rate-payers, partly by Sir J. W. Ramsden, Bart., of Byrom, to whom, as land- lord, all Huddersfield belongs. The town, which has been greatly extended of late years, is built on the slope and summit of a hill above the Colne. The streets are clean and well paved, and the leading thoroughfares have recently been widened. Among the most conspi- cuous _ improvements are the new streets and ranges of buildings round St. George's-square, including the railway station and Station Hotel, opened in 1848, the Lion Arcade, and the Britannia Buildings. Opposite the Corinthian portico of the station is a military trophy of Russian cannon brought from Sebastopol. The market- place is a large area surrounded by good houses and shops, where the buyers and sellers of cloth used to meet in the open air prior to 1768, when the commodious cloth hall was erected and presented to the town by Sir John Ramsden, Bart. This edifice is of brick, two stories high, and forms a circle of 880 yards, divided into two sections by an avenue of stalls, for the sale of woollen goods, running through the centre. The main building is divided on the one side into separate compartments or shops, and on the other into open stalls. It is open for business on Tuesdays and part of Fridays, when above 600 manufacturers attend from the surrounding villages. The other principal public buildings are the Chamber of Commerce, opened in 1853 ; the mechanics' institute, completed in 1861, at the cost of 4,500, and situated in Northumberland-street; the Philosophical Hall, in Rams- den-street, erected in 1837, and capable of accommo- dating above 1,000 people ; the Gymnasium Hall and riding-school, both in Ramsden-street, erected in 1847 the latter being also used as a theatre; the savings-bank, in Buxton-road ; the court-house and police station for the Upper Agbrigg division of the West Riding, in Princess-street, where petty sessions are held every Tues- day, Thursday, and Saturday ; the borough prison and police station, in Victoria-street ; the infirmary, in the New North-road, to which a new wing has recently been added, enabling it to accommodate 60 indoor patients; the Huddersfield College, also situated in the New North- road, and affiliated to the University of London it is divided into the lower and upper schools, and is attended by about 140 students; the Collegiate Institu- tion, situated at Clare Hill, a Gothic building erected in 1839 ; the masonic hall, erected in 1838, and situated iu South Parade ; the Freemasons' hall, in Fitzwilliam- street ; the model lodging-house, erected in 1854, and under the supervision of the Improvement Commis- sioners ; the Young Men's Christian Association, situated in the market-place, and having a library of 600 volumes; the Literary and Scientific Society, in King-street, esta- blished in 1857 ; the Female Educational Institute, in King-street, established in 1846, on the same principle as the mechanics' institute; and the Church Institute, established in 1860, with its library and reading-room. Besides these are the buildings belonging to the four banking companies of Huddersfield, insurance offices, breweries, hotels, factories, dye-houses, and warehouses, many of which surpass in appearance the public build-, ings as for instance the Britannia Buildings, built by G. Crosland, Esq., which are ornamented with carved stone bas-reliefs, and surmounted by a colossal figure of Britannia. Most of the private houses are buUt of a light-coloured stone, giving to the whole town an appearance of cleanliness and solidity not generally characteristic of the manufacturing towns of England. The most important industrial products of Huddersfieh are plain and fancy woollen cloths, serges, kerseymeres, cashmeretts, cords, mohair, and sealskin, besides an end- less variety of fancy goods composed of worsted, silk, and cotton combined, including shawls, waistcoatingj, and fancy dresses of the finest quality. Silk and cotton- spinning are also carried on, and there is a large organ- building manufactory, belonging to Messrs. Conacher, affording employment to a great number of workmen. There are several extensive iron foundries and engine works, for the manufacture of steam-engines, hydraulic- presses, and every description of machines employed in the manufacture of fabrics. Besides being a parlia- mentary borough, Huddersfield is a polling-place for the West Riding. It is the head of a Poor-law Union embracing 25 parishes, and of superintendent regis and New County Court districts the last being h in a building in Queen-street. The workhou- situated at Almondbury, a village 2 miles from town : and in the vicinity of the New North-ro: the cemetery, opened in 1855 ; it comprises 13 aci> laud well laid out and planted, having in the centre Gothic chapels the one half is consecrated for the use of the Established Church, the other is used by I senters. At Lockwood, about half a mile from the town, are the Spa baths, the waters of which are strongly i sulphureous. The parish church, dedicated to St. Peter, stands in the town, and was rebuilt in 1837, at the cost of 10,000. It is a spacious structure, capable of accom- modating 1,800 persons, and has a tower containing a clock and ten bells. In the interior are several carved stone screens, and numerous windows of stained glass. The living is a vie. * in the dioc. of Ripon, val. 600. In addition to the parish church there are twelve district churches, the livings of all which are pcrpct curs,, varying in val. from 300 to 150. St. Paul's church, was built by the Parliamentary Commissioners ini 1830, and contains 1,243 sittings. It has an E. win- dow of stained glass. Christ Church, which was built and endowed by John Whitacre, Esq., stands on an