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Birkenshaw

BIRKENSHAW, an ecclesiastical district, in the parish of Birstal, wapentake of Morley, W. riding of York, 6½ miles (E.) from Leeds; containing 3000 inhabitants, of whom 1803 are in the hamlet. This place, which is situated at the junction of the Leeds and Halifax, and Dewsbury and Bradford turnpike-roads, in the heart of a district abounding with coal, iron-ore, and building-stone, has been rapidly increasing in importance, and is now an extensive, populous, and thriving village. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the coal-mines, and in the extensive worsted factories of the Messrs. Ackroyd and others; in the combing of wool; and in the weaving of stuffs and woollen-cloths, the former for the Bradford, and the latter for the Leeds market. The church, dedicated to St. Paul, was erected in 1829, at an expense of £2929, by the Parliamentary Commissioners, on a site given by the late Emanuel Emmet, Esq.: it is in the early English style, with a square embattled tower crowned with pinnacles and surmounted by a spire, and contains 702 sittings. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Vicar of Birstal, with a net income of £150, and a handsome residence built in 1835 at an expense, including the purchase of nearly five acres of land, of £2000.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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