Hartshead

The centre of Hartshead village
Hartshead is located in West Yorkshire
Hartshead
Hartshead
Location within West Yorkshire
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
PoliceWest Yorkshire
FireWest Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire
53°41′53″N 1°43′30″W / 53.698°N 1.725°W / 53.698; -1.725

Hartshead is a village in the Kirklees district of West Yorkshire, England, 3.7 miles (6 km) west of Dewsbury[1] and near to Hartshead Moor.[2]

The village has pre-Norman Conquest origins; the Walton Cross is believed to be dated from the 11th century.[3]

The name Hartshead is derived from Herteshevet or Herteshede which is Scandinavian in origin and means Hill of Heort, Heort meaning Hart in modern English.[4]

Patrick Brontë served as curate of St Peter's Church in Hartshead between 1811 and 1815,[5] in which time he met his wife, Maria Branwell (although they met in Rawdon, some dozen or so miles away from Hartshead).[6] They were married in Guiseley and became the parents of Anne, Branwell, Charlotte and Emily Brontë.[7]

Kirklees Hall is between Hartshead and the nearby village of Clifton.

Robin Hood is reputed to have been buried near Hartshead[8] or in the grounds of the nearby Kirklees Hall.[9] The exact place is not known, as the gravestone has been moved at least 3 times.

  1. ^ "GENUKI: Dewsbury Supplementary". www.genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  2. ^ "288" (Map). Bradford & Huddersfield. 1:25,000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey. 2015. ISBN 9780319244852.
  3. ^ Historic England. "Walton Cross, 100 yards north of Walton Cross Farmhouse (Grade II*) (1313305)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  4. ^ "Malcolm Bull's Calderdale Companion : Foldout". www.calderdalecompanion.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  5. ^ "Brontë, Patrick". Clergy of the Church of England Database. King's College London. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  6. ^ Juliet Barker The Brontes
  7. ^ "Reverend Patrick Brontë | Brontë Parsonage Museum". www.bronte.org.uk. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  8. ^ "History of Hartshead, in Kirklees and West Riding | Map and description". www.visionofbritain.org.uk. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  9. ^ "New book explores myths surrounding Robin Hood's grave at Kirklees Estate". Huddersfield Examiner. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2017.