Huddersfield

Huddersfield
Market town
The railway station and statue of Harold Wilson, the university's Queensgate campus, Kirklees Stadium, St Peter’s church, Folly Hall Mills and the town hall
Huddersfield is located in West Yorkshire
Huddersfield
Huddersfield
Location within West Yorkshire
Population141,692 (2021 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceSE 145 165
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Areas of the town
Post townHuddersfield
Postcode districtHD1-5, HD7-8
Dialling code01484
PoliceWest Yorkshire
FireWest Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire
53°38′42″N 1°46′47″W / 53.6450°N 1.7798°W / 53.6450; -1.7798

Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into the similar-sized Colne is to the south of the town centre which then flows into the Calder in the north eastern outskirts of the town.

The rivers around the town provided soft water required for textile treatment in large weaving sheds; this made it a prominent mill town with an economic boom in the early part of the Victorian era Industrial Revolution. The town centre has much neoclassical Victorian architecture. An example is its railway station, which is a Grade I listed building described by John Betjeman as "the most splendid station façade in England".[2] It won the Europa Nostra award for architecture.

Huddersfield hosts the University of Huddersfield and three colleges: Greenhead College, Kirklees College and Huddersfield New College. The town is the birthplace of rugby league with the local team, Huddersfield Giants, playing in the Super League. It also has a professional football team called Huddersfield Town, that currently competes in the EFL League One, as well as two Rugby Union clubs Huddersfield R.U.F.C. and Huddersfield YM RUFC. Notable people include Labour British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and film star James Mason.

The town has been classed under Yorkshire, the West Riding of Yorkshire and West Yorkshire for statistics throughout its history. The town's population in 1961 was 130,652 with an increase to 162,949 at the 2011 census; it is in the West Yorkshire Built-up Area.[3][4] The town is 14 miles (23 km) south-west of Leeds, 12 miles (19 km) west of Wakefield, 23 miles (37 km) north-west of Sheffield and 24 miles (39 km) north-east of Manchester.

  1. ^ "Huddersfield (West Yorkshire, Yorkshire and the Humber, United Kingdom) – Population Statistics, Charts, Map, Location, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  2. ^ "St George's Square finally finished – £4m and 550 days later". The Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 23 October 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  3. ^ "Denis Kilcommons: Huddersfield is the 11th biggest town in Britain". The Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 4 June 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  4. ^ "Britain's 20 biggest towns". The Telegraph. 18 August 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2014.