Emley, West Yorkshire

The name "Emley" is derived from an Old English personal name, Em(m)a or Eama, and lēah, a wood or woodland clearing.[2] The village was recorded as Amalaie and Amelai in the 1086 Domesday Book and usually as Emmeley by the 13th century. The Saxon settlement was at Emley Park.[3] An influx of invading Danes settled in the area in the 9th century, as evidenced by place names ending in by and thorpe.[4]

The parish covered 3,120 acres (12.6 km²) of mostly farmland on hilly ground. The underlying geology is the coal measures and sandstones of the South Yorkshire Coalfield.[25] Tankersley ironstone occurs as thin seams and nodules of siderite in the mudstone above the Flockton Thick coal seam.[26]

The village is made up of a number of distinct areas, Emley Woodhouse to the east, Warburton, Tyburn Hill to the south and Hag Hill to the south-east. Emley Moor Upper Crawshaw and the Stringer House Lane districts are to the west of the village, while Thorncliffe and the Grange Drive estate are to the north.[27]

The White Horse public house

In the village centre near the cross is the Post Office and supermarket, original, the Post Office occupied the building across the road from the shop but the services are now merged into one building. The old Church Hall has been converted to a private residence. The Methodist church now houses the village playschool and the Emley Players, an amateur dramatics group.

In the 1830s the Temperance Movement was active in Emley and attempted to attract people away from public houses by providing the Temperance Hotel and Refreshment Room styled on one created by Edward Parker in Leeds.[28] Once there were at least eight public houses within the parish but now there are two, the White Horse and the Wentworth [29] which is in the old Emley FC supporters club at the Welfare Ground site.[30] there is also the Emley AFC Sports Bar. There is a working men's club close to the TV transmitter at Emley Crossroads.

Emley Moor is dominated by the transmitting station mast which is 331 metres high and a Grade II listed structure.[31]

Emley Cross – showing the location of the blacksmiths in the background

At the crossroads in the village are the remains of the market cross. Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam obtained the right to hold a weekly Thursday market and five-day May fair from King Henry II in 1253. The market cross, erected around this time, was more than three metres high. It was destroyed by Roundheads during the English Civil War and is now a stump. When Parliamentarians besieged Sandal Castle in 1645, a raiding party broke it down leaving only the stump.[32] John Turton sold his wife Mary to William Kaye of Scissett for two half crowns by the cross during Emley Feast in 1826. She returned to her lawful husband after Kaye's death.[33] At the turn of the 19th century, the stump was illuminated by a gas lamp that stood to the south. In 1961 it was hit by a lorry and was virtually destroyed. After being rebuilt by a local stonemason it was hit again by motor vehicles in 2012 and 2013, bringing about a call for its relocation.[34] The market cross is a scheduled ancient monument and is Grade II listed.[35][36]

A Millennium Green adjacent to Warburton was opened in 2000 on land purchased from the Savile estate for a park. Funds to purchase the land were raised via grants and fundraising events organised by the Millennium Green Trustees. It was developed by volunteers and a beacon was lit to coincide with Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee celebrations.[37][38]

The colliery, the mast, market cross and a Pewit feature on the crests of all the villages sports club and Emley Brass band.[39][40][41][42]

The war memorial by St Michael's Church

There was a pre-Conquest church at Warburton at the top of the slope called Kirkhills, above the manor house. It was replaced by a small Norman church on the same site before 1150, probably by Goderic, who gave land to the monks of Byland Abbey. When the Fitzwilliams left the village in the 14th century, a new church, was begun in the village centre using some materials from the old church.[43] The present Church of St Michael the Archangel has its origins in this church and the nave is of Norman origin but much of the interior dates from the late medieval period and the church tower dates from the 15th century.[44] It is a Grade I listed building.[45] In the churchyard boundary wall is a stone cross from a house owned by the Knights Hospitallers.[46]

Non-conformity began in Emley in 1798, when the Court of the Archbishop of York issued a licence to preach to John Silverwood. The act allowed him to use premises as a place of worship for Protestant Dissenters.[47] Before that dissenters attended church at Birstall and attended classes at a meeting house in Briestfield. The Vicar of St Michael's reported that other than one Quaker and one Roman Catholic family there are no dissenters in the parish of Emley.

The Methodist church

The 1826 Wesley Chapel built at Warburton closed in 1913[48] and was converted for residential use as Wesley House. Bethel Chapel on Upper Lane was demolished in January 1997 and the site developed for residential purposes; Bethel House was one of the properties built in its place.

In 1828, a breakaway group of Methodists built the Primitive Methodist Chapel at the top of Warburton. This church remained functioning until the end of the Second World War and was converted to residential use. By 1850, Methodists from the Church Street congregation, known as Christian Brethren, had outgrown their place of worship and built a new church on the opposite side of Church Street slightly north of St Michael's. It remained a place of worship until 1910 when the current church was completed, (planning and construction started in 1906). The old church became a shop and then a garage, which was sold in 2005 to a developer, and is now housing called Chapel Royd.

Chapel House Farm built in 1687 from the remains of previous dwellings is close to the location of the chapel set up by the Knight Hospitallers. The ruins next to the house are all that remains. A Methodist chapel near the site of the transmitter and began services in March 1908. It was damaged when the first Emley Moor TV transmitter collapsed on 19 March 1969 and elements of the mast and its supporting guy wires crashed through its roof.[49] The building ceased being a church in 1982 and was converted into two residential properties.[37][38][50]

In line with Yorkshire and coal mining traditions the Emley Brass Band with roots that date back to around 1870, rehearse at the bandroom near the cross.[51]

South of the cross is the site of the old blacksmiths which has a stained glass window showing a scouts emblem and is now sometimes used by Ranger Boy Scouts. Scouts and Brownies meet in a scout hut adjacent to St Michael's Gardens.

The Emley Boundary Walk or the ancient beating the bounds was revived in 1863 and the most recent walk took place in 2014. They are usually held every seven years and the next is in 2021.[52] The Emley Agricultural Show is an annual agricultural and horticultural event held on the first Saturday of August. It began in 1893 and currently takes place at Factory Farm on Emley Moor.[53] It is organised by the Emley Show Society as a non-profit-making event and in 2011 attracted around 15,000 visitors.[54] An open gardens event when residents open their gardens to visitors takes place annually. Proceeds are donated to local good causes.[55]

The village and its surroundings have many public footpaths and bridleways attracting walkers to the Emley Village Trail and other walks.[56]

The village's original football club, Emley F.C., made national headlines [57] in the 1997–98 season when they progressed to the third round of the FA Cup, beating Morecambe and Lincoln City in the first and second rounds, before narrowly losing 2–1 at West Ham United in the third round.[58][59][60] The club moved to Wakefield in 2000, where they were renamed Wakefield & Emley and later simply Wakefield. In 2005 the club split and A.F.C. Emley were formed to bring football back to the village's Welfare Ground, renamed The Fantastic Media Welfare Ground.[57] The original Emley club folded in 2014 leaving A.F.C Emley as the sole club.[61]

In March 2019, the club restored the original name of Emley A.F.C. and in the summer of that year, they were informed that the club was being transferred to the North West Counties League (NWCFL) Division 1 North, After just 1 (curtailed) season in the NWCFL, Emley were transferred back to the NCEL for the 2020–21,

During the Coronavirus Pandemic both the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons were curtailed, but Emley were promoted to the NCEL Premier Division on a points per game (PPG) ratio and played in the Premier Division for the first time in 2021–22.

They are members of the Sheffield & Hallamshire FA. In July 2020, it was announced that Emley would return to the Northern Counties East League where they had spent 14 years before a lateral move to the North West Counties Football League in the 2019–20 season.[62] In May 2023, Emley won the Sheffield and Hallamshire Senior Cup for the first time in 25 years beating Maltby Main 2–0 in the final at Doncaster Rovers.[63]

Emley is home to Emley Clarence Cricket Club, nicknamed The Clarence, who play in the Drakes Huddersfield League.[64]

The Welfare Ground

Both clubs share the Welfare Ground in the centre of the village.

• Listed buildings in Denby Dale

Notes

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Bibliography