Elland

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Coordinates: 53°40′59″N 1°50′24″W / 53.683°N 1.840°W / 53.683; -1.840

Elland
A view of Elland
Elland  Elland shown within West Yorkshire
Population	14,554
OS grid reference	SE106208
Metropolitan borough	Calderdale
Metropolitan county	West Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ELLAND
Postcode district	HX5
Dialling code	01422
Police	West Yorkshire
Fire	West Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
EU Parliament	Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament	Calder Valley
List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire

Elland is a market town in Calderdale, in the county of West Yorkshire, England, south of Halifax, by the River Calder and the Calder and Hebble Navigation. Its name comes from "ea-land", land near the water. It has a population of 14,554.^[1]

[edit] History

Mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book as Elant and as being of more importance at that time than the nearby towns of Halifax and Huddersfield, Elland was a centre of wool production. The decline of the woolen industry has had a significant effect on the town, with many of the mills having been demolished or turned over to other uses, mainly apartments.

Elland is of some interest as one of the relatively few cases in which continuity of tenure can be demonstrated from before the Norman Conquest into the Middle Ages, as the Eland family were, in origin, Anglo-Saxon thegns. The Manor of Elland, with Greetland and Southowram, forms an island of the Honour of Pontefract in the surrounding Manor of Wakefield. In 1350 Sir John de Eland was murdered, as was his son in the following year, which extinguished the family in the male line and the Manor of Elland passed into the hands of the Savile family. From this period, the manor house ceased to be the principal dwelling of a gentry family, as the Saviles had their seat at the moated manor of Thornhill. Elland Hall was therefore never completely reconstructed and, when it was dismantled and excavated in 1975 by the West Yorkshire Archaeology Unit, it was found to incorporate a 13th-century solar wing – one of the earliest secular buildings in the county. The manor house stood on a knoll aligned with the bridge over the River Calder and was destroyed because of the construction of Calderdale Way. The farm buildings, however, survive.

The Fleece

At the request of John de Warenne, 8th Earl of Surrey, Edward II granted a charter, to John de Eland, for a free market on Tuesday at his Manor of Elland, and two fairs.

Elland was famous for its durable flagstones which, thanks to the nearby canal, could be transported very economically all over the county. Elland is also the home of the "Gannex" raincoat and is famous for its traditional sweet factory, Dobsons ([1])which is still producing traditional boiled sweets today.

Buildings of interest in the town include the Parish church of St Mary's the Virgin, the former Rose and Crown in Northgate, the Old Town Hall off Southgate, Southgate Methodist Church and the Fleece Inn (reputedly haunted) at the top of Westgate. Waxman ceramics on Elland Lane. it hosts a unique art facility 'Art Cafe' which provides classes and workshops for artists

[edit] Transport

Elland is served by the Calder and Hebble Navigation, opened to the town in the late 1700's to serve the growing industrialisation of the Calder Valley.

It was served by Elland railway station until closure in 1962, however the line is still in use as a passenger service for the Caldervale Line.

The A643 road begins in Leeds and used to end in Elland. The A643 Elland Road goes past the Leeds United AFC football ground which is also named Elland Road. It now ends at junction 23 of the M62 Motorway.

[edit] References