Savile Town

Savile Town is a suburb of Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England, lying just to the south of the River Calder and just north of a railway line.

Markazi Masjid in Savile Town
Drinking fountain
Cardwell Terrace with business premises

It consists of late Victorian housing, which varies between long terraces, semi-detached and detached housing. The mills on the banks of the Calder supplied employment to Savile Town for several decades; these were mostly woollen, and some cotton. As the mills closed, the area became run-down. Recent regeneration has seen most of the units now reoccupied; Clinton Cards is based in the area.

History

The area is named for Thomas Savile, who once owned the townships of Dewsbury and Thornhill. He also gave his name to the bridge that leads to the town centre and founded Wakefield Cathedral and Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. There are several roads in Dewsbury, Ossett and Wakefield that have "Savile" in their names. There were once two collieries named "Savile"; one on Owl Lane at the Dewsbury-Ossett border, and one near Methley. Prior to 1910, Savile Town was part of the Thornhill Urban District. In 1910, the district was abolished, and the area became part of the town of Dewsbury.

Demographics

Savile Town is perhaps most famous for its role in the British Muslim community[1] and has experienced significant white flight, with the 2011 census recording a 93% Asian Muslim population and experiencing significant economic decline.[2] As reported in 2016, fewer than one per cent of the suburb's residents were White British, the smallest indigenous percentage in the United Kingdom.[3]

The area is home to the Markazi mosque, one of the largest mosques in Europe, which follows the Tablighi Jamaat school of thought.[4][5]

Savile Town's demographics have been largely influenced by its industrial past, which required an influx of workers from India and Pakistan, who ended up migrating to the area due to demand from British factory owners. The nature of moving to a new unfamiliar country led to many over the years settling in the same areas; this is a pattern that can be seen in many other industrial towns in the UK.

Education

Savile Town has one primary school and one secondary school.[6]

Notable residents

Savile Town has been branded an "extremist hotspot" [7] after producing the highest number of Islamist extremists in the United Kingdom, including three of the four suicide bombers who carried out the 7 July 2005 London bombings and their leader Mohammad Sidique Khan. It was also the home of Britain's youngest convicted Islamist extremist, Hamaad Munshi and Britain's youngest suicide bomber, Talha Asmal.[8][9]

Rageh Omaar's Channel 4 Dispatches documentary "Immigration: The Inconvenient Truth, Part 2" (2008)[10] used eyewitness accounts to suggest that in the eyes of residents, the area does not feel safe.[11]

Savile Town has been the home of Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a British lawyer, politician and member of the House of Lords, who from 2010–12 was co-Chair of the Conservative Party. She served in David Cameron's Cabinet, first as the Minister without portfolio between 2010–12, then as the Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and as the Minister of State for Faith and Communities (styled as "Senior Minister of State"), until her resignation citing her disagreement with Government policy.

Football club

Savile Town is also home to a Sunday league football club called Savile Town FC. It was most recently awarded FA Charted Development Club Of The Year. Its home ground is Savile Town Park on Park Road.

References
  1. "Saturday afternoon in Dewsbury - Le Monde diplomatique - English edition". Mondediplo.com. 13 November 2006. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  2. Hirst, Andy; Rinne, Sinni (2017). "RESEARCH REPORT: Pilot evaluation of Kumon Y'all befriending project" (PDF). Equality and Human Rights Commission.
  3. "Mixed blessings of immigration in God's own country". Financial Times. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  4. "Muslime in Europa" (in German). Zmo.de. 1 July 2002. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  5. Wainwright, Martin (10 November 2005). "Jihad videos left in mosques in tube bomber's town". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  6. "Education | League Tables | Secondary schools in Kirklees". BBC News. 10 January 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  7. Jeeves, Paul. "West Yorkshire fun park terror plot foiled as two arrested in 'extremist hotspot'". Express. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  8. "Suicide bombing seems to have become a new Yorkshire tradition". The Spectator. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  9. Halliday, Josh. "'Open outpouring of grief' in home town of Britain's youngest suicide bomber". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  10. "Immigration: The Inconvenient Truth". Channel 4. 21 April 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  11. McKinstry, Leo. "We cannot sit back and let Sharia law take root in Britain". Daily Express. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
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