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West Ardsley

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by PamD (talk | contribs) at 12:12, 29 October 2007 (+EL genuki). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

West Ardsley is commonly used to refer to an area on the south-west edge of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, possessing a WF postcode. It roughly approximates to an amalgamation of Tingley, Woodkirk, Hill Top, Upper Green and Common Side. The parish church is at Woodkirk.

West Ardsley appears on ordnance survey 1:50,000 map sheet 104, however the nearby settlement of East Ardsley (or Ardsley East) is in larger print. In truth, although there are many roadsigns pointing to "West Ardsley" and some clubs and local organisations refer to it in their name, there is no one single, self-contained area with the name. The hamlets of Tingley, Hill Top, Upper Green and Common Side have merged together through urban sprawl whilst Woodkirk remains isolated. The post office took the decision to classify all addresses in the former area as "Tingley, Wakefield" whilst Woodkirk remains separate and comes under Dewsbury's address. However, some residents dislike this dominance by Tingley, and prefer to write their address as "West Ardsley, Wakefield".

Historically, Ardsley is a derivative of 'Erdeslau' - under which name it appears in the Domesday Book. The details are available at the national archive website. In Arthur Mee's The King's England series, he wrote under Woodkirk, "Sometimes called 'West Ardsley'." This was incorrect, yet Woodkirk was the centre of the parish, as it had the church.

West Ardsley is also the home of the annual Lee Gap fair - a horse fair originally chartered by King Stephen in 1139 (citation) - which makes it reputedly England's oldest horse fair. The fair used to stretch over two weeks, but as the horse trade has diminished now takes place only on the first and last days of that fortnight - known as "first o'lee" and "latter lee". Today, the main attendees are Gypsies and travellers.

There is a historic parish of West Ardsley, whose parish boundaries all fall within the "Morley South" ward.

  • "The Ancient Parish of Woodkirk". GENUKI. Retrieved 2007-10-29. West Ardsley was in this parish
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