Mirfield

From 1894 to 1974, Mirfield was an urban district in the West Riding of Yorkshire until it was merged into the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees. In 1988 a parish council was formed, one of five in Kirklees, the others being:- Denby Dale, Meltham, Kirkburton and Holme Valley. As a parish council an additional tax precept to the Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council tax is levied on the town's residents. It is made up of 16 councillors who serve for a fixed four-year term, and represent wards within the parish.[2] The members elect a town mayor, who serves for a fixed one-year term.

The Mirfield Show is an annual agricultural event held on the third Sunday in August at Mirfield showground. It is organised and run by the Mirfield Agricultural Society (MAS) as a non-profit making event for the families of Mirfield and district.[4]

Local residents introduced the Mirfield Food & Craft Fayre in April 2012,[5] scheduled to be run the last Saturday of each month and "help raise the profile of Mirfield, be a benefit to local traders, businesses, organisations and charities, and add more destination events to the Yorkshire calendar".[6]

There are two secondary schools in Mirfield: Mirfield Free Grammar and Sixth Form and Castle Hall School.

Primary schools include Battyeford CE Primary School, Crossley Fields, Old Bank, Hopton Primary School and Crowlees Junior and Infant School, all of which were assessed by Ofsted as 'Grade 1 – Outstanding' in the March 2007 inspection.[7]

St Mary's Church

The 13th century St Mary's Church was rebuilt in 1826 but proved too small for the growing population and was regarded as too minor for the growing district. A new church, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, was built a few yards to the northwest, on the site of Castle Hall, a mansion then home to the families of Mirfields (sometimes spelled Mirfin), Hetons and Beaumonts.[8] At Scott's suggestion, the tower of the earlier church, which retains some medieval work, was retained.

St. Mary's Church was also the boyhood church of Sir Patrick Stewart, of Star Trek fame.[9]

The College of the Resurrection is a Church of England theological college. There, Rowan Williams, later the Archbishop of Canterbury, lectured from 1975 for two years and Archbishop Trevor Huddleston spent his last days.

During the 18th century, a canal was constructed through the town linking the River Calder with other rivers in the area. The canal is part of the Calder and Hebble Navigation. Its construction resulted in many industries in Mirfield, such as the textiles and boat yards. The canal is still in use for recreational users with duck-feeding being especially popular.

Mirfield is the base of the Safe Anchor Trust, a charity founded in 1995 to provide canal boat trips for vulnerable and special needs people.[10] In 2012, Princess Anne commissioned a new boat for the Trust.[11]

• Lee Blakeley, theatre director
• Alun Cochrane, comedian
• Debbie Lindley, TV weather presenter[12]
• Richard Reed, co-founder of Innocent Drinks[13]
• Brian Robinson, cyclist, the first Briton to win a stage of the Tour de France
• Mary Snell-Hornby, translation scholar
• Sir Patrick Stewart, actor
• Andi Durrant, radio presenter and music producer
• Hilda Annetta Walker, artist
• David Whyte, Poet, Philosopher

There are many national businesses based in Mirfield including John Cotton Group Ltd and Furniture And Choice.[14][15]

The town has a variety of local independent shops as well as national chains such as Lidl, Tesco and Co-op Food.

Mirfield is the home of Mirfield Petanque Club who currently play in the West Yorkshire Petanque League.

• Náchod, Czech Republic

• 
  St Mary's Church, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott
• 
  The tower of the 1826 church

• Listed buildings in Mirfield
• Mirfield Reporter

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mirfield.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Mirfield.

• Mirfield Town Council homepage
• Mirfield in Pictures
• Mirfield to Low Moor railway line
• Kirklees Council Website, Mirfield Information page