Tong village
| Tong Village | |
|---|---|
 Tong Village
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| Tong Village shown within West Yorkshire | |
| OS grid reference | SE221307 |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRADFORD |
| Postcode district | BD4 |
| Dialling code | 01274 |
| Police | West Yorkshire |
| Fire | West Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| UK Parliament | |
Tong Village is a village in the City of Bradford metropolitan district, West Yorkshire, England. It is a historic village, and is sometimes thought to be a smaller version of the larger area of Tong, which is a local election ward.
Evidence of early activity within the Tong area is sparse, an undated flint found within the grounds of Tong Hall represents the prehistoric period. Later artefacts within the general area include a Roman pre-Flavian coin (i.e. before 69AD) and two coins dating to the second and third centuries found in the vicinity of Westgate Hill.
The village was an integral part of the Tempest estate, comprising workers' cottages, farmsteads and ancillary buildings. By 1725 a linear settlement extended eastwards from the chapel, towards Keepers Lane and Hill Green. Dwellings were mainly located to the front of Tong Lane with barns or outbuildings to the rear. It is believed settlement may have initially comprised two focal points, near the church and at Hill Green. Rebuilding work/renovation of village buildings, undertaken by the Tempests, occurred in the 17th and early 18th centuries.
These works included the rebuilding of the 12th-century chapel by Sir George Tempest in 1727, and the construction of the village school and master's house in 1736. A vicarage also superseded the parsonage adjacent to the church. Church Farmhouse similarly dates from the 18th century. Although there is little remaining evidence of any permanent settlement of the area from prehistoric to through Roman times, St James Church provides conclusive evidence of an earlier settlement of some importance at Tong in Saxon times. Excavations undertaken during the restoration of the church in the 1970s uncovered the fragmentary walls and foundation stones of two earlier buildings contained within the footprint of the remains of a Norman-era church which was built circa 1140.
The discovery of grave markers within these two buildings alludes to the fact that a church existed on the site of the present day church from the eleventh century, and, moreover, prior to the Norman invasion of 1066.
St James Church is the only identifiable pre-Conquest church in West Yorkshire and is therefore of considerable historic interest. Around the time of the Norman invasion, it is known that Tong Manor was farmed and was owned by a Saxon named Stainulf. As happened across the country after 1066, the Norman invaders knocked down existing churches and built a new place of worship, often on the site of the church they demolished, and, under William the Conqueror, high ranking Normans were installed as the new lords and overlords of the English manors.
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Wikipedia