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Sowerby Bridge

Sowerby Bridge
Sowerby Bridge in 2005.jpg
Sowerby Bridge skyline
Sowerby Bridge is located in West Yorkshire
Sowerby Bridge
Sowerby Bridge
Sowerby Bridge shown within West Yorkshire
Population 11,703 (Ward2011)
OS grid reference SE058233
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town SOWERBY BRIDGE
Postcode district HX6
Dialling code 01422
Police West Yorkshire
Fire West Yorkshire
Ambulance Yorkshire
EU Parliament Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
YorkshireCoordinates: 53°42′N 1°55′W / 53.70°N 1.91°W / 53.70; -1.91

Sowerby Bridge /ˌsɔːrbi ˈbrɪ/ is a market town in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. The Calderdale Council ward population at the 2011 census was 11,703.

Always pronounced Sorby Bridge, the town was originally a fording point over the once much-wider River Calder where it joins the River Ryburn. The town takes its name from the historic bridge which spans the river in the town centre. Before the Industrial Revolution the area was divided between the parishes of Sowerby, Norland, Skircoat and Warley. The boundaries between them being the rivers Calder and Ryburn and Warley Clough, which is now largely culverted. Textiles and engineering industry grew up around the bridge. By the mid-19th century the population had grown and the settlement became an urban district in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1894.

From 1892 to 1930 Pollit & Wigzell manufactured stationary steam engines for the cotton and woollen mills of Yorkshire, Lancashire and India. Wood Brothers, an engineering and millwright company, also produced engines from its Valley Iron Works. The Markfield Beam Engine is an example for its work.

Council buildings on Hollins Mill Lane, the old swimming pool, council offices and fire station will be transferred to the community group, Sowerby Bridge Fire and Water, and will be renovated for community use.


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