Cowling, West Riding

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Cowling
Yorkshire
West Riding
Holy Trinity Church, Cowling.jpg
Holy Trinity Church, Cowling
Location
Grid reference: SD969429
Location: 53°52’59"N, 2°2’49"W
Data
Population: 2,355  (2011)
Post town: Keighley
Postcode: BD22
Dialling code: 01535
Local Government
Council: North Yorkshire
Parliamentary
constituency:
Skipton and Ripon

Cowling is a village in the West Riding of Yorkshire, close to the border of Lancashire.

The village populaiton was counted as 2,355 in the 2011 Census. The village is expanding due to new housing being built in the middle of the village. It is a place with a few local shops, a village hall, and a primary school,

The parish church, the Church of the Holy Trinity, which is a Grade II listed building.[1]

History

The village is Saxon in origin and is recorded in the Domesday Book as 'Collinge'. The name means Coll's people or tribe. At the time of the Norman conquest the main landowner was Gamel who had very large land holdings in Yorkshire. His name survives in Gamsgill on the northern edge of the village.

Originally the village comprised three separate hamlets namely Ickornshaw, Middleton, Gill and Cowling Hill. It was only following the construction of the main Keighley to Colne road (the A6068) and the building of large mills alongside the road that what is now regarded as the main village was constructed providing terraced cottage homes for the mill workers. The older parts of the village faded in importance and as a result the parish church and primary school are located on what appears to be the outskirts of the village between Ickornshaw and Middleton, the centre of the village having moved since their construction.

The mills continued to operate and to provide the main source of local employment until the end of the 20th century but are now all closed down and their sites largely redeveloped for housing and the village hall. The village is now very much a dormitory village for those working in the surrounding towns of Yorkshire and Lancashire

Society and media

A gala is held in Cowling every year.

The village is the base for a licensed community radio station, Drystone Radio.

Pictures

Commons-logo.svg
("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Cowling, West Riding)

Outside links

References

  1. National Heritage List 1316971: Church of Holy Trinity (Grade II listing)