Mytholmroyd

Mytholmroyd
Yorkshire West Riding
The Grove Inn, Burnley Road, Mytholmroyd
Location
Grid reference:	SE012260
Location:	53°43’48"N, 1°58’52"W
Data
Population:	3,949  (2011)
Post town:	Hebden Bridge
Postcode:	HX7
Dialling code:	01422
Local Government
Council:	Calderdale
Parliamentary constituency:	Calder Valley

Mytholmroyd is a large village contiguous with Hebden Bridge in the West Riding of Yorkshire, seven miles west of Halifax. Together with Hebden Bridge it forms part of the civil parish of Hebden Royd.

Etymology

Mytholmroyd was recorded in the 13th century as "Mithomrode" and in the 17th century as "Mitholmroide". The name means 'a clearing for settlement, where two rivers meet', likely derived from the Old English (ge)mȳthum (inflected form of (ge)mȳthe, "river mouth"), plus rodu ("field" or "clearing"). The l was probably inserted out of confusion with the common place-name element holm, Old Norse for a small island or eyot.

History

A Bronze Age urnfield exists on the moor top, north of Mytholmroyd. It is a burial ground with cremation urns, dating between the 16th and 11th centuries BC of national importance. Evidence of pre-historic farming is apparent because they cleared the upland forests for cattle grazing and created the peat moorlands. Most of the Celtic Iron Age settlements were concentrated on the hillside terraces which avoided the wooded and poorly drained valley floors. Most of the older listed buildings are located on the hillsides away from the valley. A Roman coin hoard has been found to the south of Mytholmroyd.

Cragg Coiners

During the late 18th century, the valley to the south, known as Cragg Vale, was home to a gang of counterfeiters known as the Cragg Coiners. The gang's leader, David Hartley, or King David as he was known, was found guilty of the 1769 murder of excise official William Dighton and was hanged at the York Tyburn on 28 April 1770. Two other gang members were also executed for their part in the murder.

Historic buildings and structures

Canalside Mill

Built in 1851 as Canal Wharf Mill, it was home to local company Walkley Clogs, and converted into a well known tourist attraction with cafes, shops and an open clog factory on the ground floor. It was destroyed by fire in the 1990s; consequently the top floor was demolished and re-opened under ownership of a property development company. It subsequently closed in 2002 and has since been boarded up. Numerous planning applications to continue its former use or convert it into luxury apartments have been passed but never undertaken.

St Michael's Church

The parish church was built in 1847 in Early English style. It was badly damaged in the 2015 floods but has since re-opened. The Sunday school in front of the church was reduced to one storey and is now used as a community hall and meeting spaces available for hire. In 2009 a new town square complete with monument was constructed in the church car park and is now used for markets and events.

County Bridge

There has been a river crossing point since 1329 in the centre of the village, at the site of the current 'County Bridge'. A bridge is recorded in this location under the name "Elphaborough Bridge", after the name of Elphaborough Hall on the further side of Cragg Brook. Records of a grant issued to the local township for the purchase of timber stated it was for "repairs to Mitholmroide Bridge", in 1638. Similar records show that the current stone bridge was erected in 1684 by Timothy Wadsworth, at a cost of £50. The current bridge was constructed in two parts (and now consists of four extensions). The original packhorse style bridge in 1638, and on the upstream side, the bridge was widened and two extra arches on the south end were added to ease the gradient, although the two new arches were considerably smaller, the bridge now consists of four arches in total. In the 19th century, with shops being constructed on the north end riverbank, and a new premises being built for the Mytholmroyd Co-Operative Society right up to the water's edge on the south bank, two of the bridge's arches are mostly hidden. However, the premises were built with a large opening underneath the buildings, allowing floodwater to still pass through the two hidden arches underground. Mytholmroyd Bridge was eventually taken over by West Riding County Council, which gives the historic bridge its present name of "County Bridge".

Railway station and viaduct

A prominent viaduct lies above the southern end of Mytholmroyd town centre. It was erected in 1840 by George Stephenson and is still in use as part of the modern-day Calder Valley Line. In the 1850s, Mytholmroyd railway station was built, consisting of two platforms built on the Mytholmroyd Viaduct, and a three-storey ticket office, waiting hall and entrance stairwell, leading unto the viaduct. This later closed and the platforms were built a matter of yards up the track on land, and is now accessed by open staircases and long access ramps up the steep banking, where flowers and displays are maintained by the Mytholmroyd Station Partnership.

Dusty Miller Inn

This late 18th century pub replaced an earlier inn on the opposite side of the road, where Bridge End cottages now stand. The earlier building was home to the Cragg Coiners in 1769. The current Grade-II-listed inn comprises a hotel, bar and restaurant. The premises were severely damaged in the 2012 and 2015 flooding, causing the business to close for repairs. The bar re-opened in April 2016 and was awarded the "pub of the season award" for summer 2016 by the local Campaign for real ale branch. As of February 2017 the hotel and restaurant was yet to re-open.

Redacre House

Redacre House, off Burnley Road, dates from the late 16th century, and is probably the earliest house in Calderdale exhibiting an F-plan formed by the projecting two-storey porch and crosswing.

Mytholmroyd today

Mytholmroyd now is a designated conservation area, with more than 21 listed buildings in the centre alone. The village is located approximately a mile from the centre of Hebden Bridge, and is often known to locals as 'Royd'. The population is roughly 4,000. The village holds markets, performances at the St Michael's Enterprise Centre, antique shows and fairs, together with events at the sports and leisure centre and at the Ted Hughes Theatre. Mytholmroyd has many business parks and a high street in the centre with mainly independent shops including a gift shop, garden shop, post office, sweet shop, hardware shop, travel centre, launderette, hair salons and takeaways. There are also many eating venues including Aux Delices Bistro & Wine Bar, the Blue Teapot bistro, Riverside Cafe, the Shoulder of Mutton and more. There is a medical complex including a dental practice, pharmacy, health centre, opticians and more.

Gallery

• 
  St Michael's Church, Mythomroyd
• 
  Elphin Brook passing under the Caldervale Line railway viaduct
• 
  New Road passing under the Caldervale Line railway viaduct
• 
  Drinking fountain, off Cragg Road

Education

Mytholmroyd is the home of Calder High School, the largest Comprehensive School in the Upper Calder Valley. It is also home to Scout Road Academy and Burnley Road Academy. In 2016, plans were announced by Calderdale Council to re-locate Cragg Vale School into Calder High School's sixth form, with a new sixth form centre to be built on fields to the rear of the school, on a larger scale, to incorporate the recently closed Todmorden Sixth Form.

Culture

Mytholmroyd Community Centre hosts the annual Dock Pudding Championships, in April. In 2007 Robbie Coltrane entered the competition and was awarded second place.

The 130-ft Scout Rock on the south side of the valley in Mytholmroyd features heavily in Ted Hughes' autobiography, The Rock. Hughes was born in the village, before moving to Mexborough, but latterly owned a property in Mytholmroyd in his adulthood. Hughes claimed that Scout Rock cast its mood over the village.

Transport

Rail

The village is served by Mytholmroyd railway station, located on New Road, with a two per-hour service between Leeds and Manchester. More frequent services from Hebden Bridge are often used by Mytholmroyd residents, with direct services to Blackpool, Manchester, York, Leeds, Burnley, Rochdale and more. The Calder Valley Line railway was completed in 1841 but there was no station at Mytholmroyd which shows how few people lived here in 1840.

Road

Cycling is very popular in the area since recent investment including the resurfacing of the Rochdale Canal and Route 66 Cycleway and Le Tour de France passing through the village. The Tour de Yorkshire now also passes through the village, including Cragg Vale, also in Mytholmroyd, the longest continuous climb in the country- and also the longest line of bunting hung from the bottom to the top of the road, this was verified in 2014 by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Air

Leeds Bradford Airport is accessible by rail and bus from Mytholmroyd.

Notable people

• Eric Harrison, footballer
• Ted Hughes, British Poet Laureate
• Innes Ireland, racing driver and Grand Prix winner
• Jane Lumb, actress and fashion model

References

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Mytholmroyd)