Shibden Valley

53°43′34″N 1°50′20″W / 53.726°N 1.839°W / 53.726; -1.839

Shibden Valley

Shibden Valley (also known as Shibden Dale)[1] is to the east of Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, where the community of Shibden lies. The name of the Shibden valley comes from scepe dene meaning "sheep valley" or "Sheep Vale".[2] The area was heavily involved in wool production[3] but was also a site of much coal production and flagstones from Northowram, Southowram and Hipperholme areas.[4]

The Red Beck stream flows down the valley, joining the River Calder at Brookfoot.[5] It runs for 6 miles (10 km) and drains an area of 6 square miles (16 km2).[6]

Southowram stands on the southern side of the valley, and Northowram stands on the northern side of the valley. Shibden Valley stretches from Halifax through to Queensbury in the south-west of Bradford.[7] A medieval road, the Magna Via, crosses west to east in the lower part of the valley over Beacon Hill.[8] This was an ancient road between Halifax and Wakefield and the road still retains its Hollow way character with stone setts for some of the route.[9] The A58 also crosses the valley as does the Caldervale line between Bradford Interchange and Halifax, though this is in a 1,105-yard (1,010 m) tunnel under Beacon Hill.[10]

Shibden Hall lies in the valley set in the grounds of Shibden Park which is accessible to the public and has walks, a boating lake and a miniature railway.[11][12]

  1. ^ "288" (Map). Bradford & Huddersfield. 1:25,000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey. 2015. ISBN 9780319244852.
  2. ^ The story of old Halifax at the Internet Archive
  3. ^ Crabtree, Diane (11 April 2011). "Change brings a desirable home". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  4. ^ "A walk around Beacon Hill and Shibden Dale, Halifax" (PDF). wyorksgeologytrust.org. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Shibden Hall Halifax". www.calderdale.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  6. ^ "Red Beck, Source to Calder and Hebble". environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  7. ^ "Landscape Character Supplementary Planning Document Volume 6: Thornton and Queensbury" (PDF). bradford.gov.uk. October 2008. p. 11. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  8. ^ Historic England. "Magna Via (1005782)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Register of ancient monuments Reference number 1005782 Magna Via Dark Lane Southowram Halifax Calderdale". www.calderdale.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  10. ^ Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (2016). Railway track diagrams. Book 2, Eastern (4 ed.). Frome: TRACKMaps. 41. ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1.
  11. ^ "Shibden Miniature Railway | Britain's Great Little Railways". www.bglr.org. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  12. ^ "Shibden Park". www.calderdale.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 January 2019.