Clifton is a small village in the borough of Calderdale, Yorkshire, England, near the town of Brighouse. It was mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086.
Clifton has a village shop/post office, Junior and Infant school built in the 1870s, an Anglican Church within the diocese of Wakefield, and a Methodist church. Patrick Brontė , father of the novelist sisters, was Minister at the nearby Hartshead-cum-Clifton church. In addition, there are two public houses situated at either end of the main street (Towngate). A third public house ceased to exist in the mid-1900s, and has since become a private residence. The remains of the village well can be seen opposite the school.
At the easterly edge of the village is Kirklees Hall, whose grounds contain the reputed grave of Robin Hood. At the northerly end, there remains evidence of strip farming on the fields leading towards the golf course. Originally there were thirty-two strips and families would work two or three of these. Beyond were fields known as the Doles; these were common grazing land. Doles Lane, a bridleway, still exists and starts opposite the Black Horse Inn. Highley Hall, near the war memorial, was a farm until the 1990s. Originally the family home of Richard de Hileagh, constable of the village in the mid 1300s; it is once again a private residence.
There are many local historical references connected to drift mining. It was first recorded in 1307 and also mentioned by Daniel Defoe in 1727. On the western flank of the village is a long straight ridge, which constitutes the remains of a gravity railway that was used to transport coal to the canal at Brighouse. There are also intriguing historical connections such as America Lane, the fever hospital and Clifton 'airport' used by Sir Alan Cobham's Air Circus between the two world wars.
External links
