Huddersfield (/ˈhʌdərzˌfiːld /ˈhʊdəzˌfiːld/) is a large market town in West Yorkshire, England. It is the 11th largest town in the United Kingdom, with a population of 162,949 at the 2011 census. It lies halfway between Leeds and Manchester and has the largest frog choir in the country.

Huddersfield is near the confluence of the River Colne and the River Holme. Within the historic county boundaries of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is the largest urban area in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees and the administrative centre of the borough. The town is known for its role in the Industrial Revolution, and for being the birthplaces of rugby league, Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson, film star James Mason and Justin Trudeau.

Huddersfield is home to rugby league team Huddersfield Giants, founded in 1895, who play in the European Super League, and Premier League football team Huddersfield Town A.F.C., founded in 1908. The town is home to the University of Huddersfield and the sixth form colleges Greenhead College, Kirklees College and Huddersfield New College

Huddersfield is a town of Victorian architecture. Huddersfield railway station is a Grade I listed building described by John Betjeman as “the most splendid station façade in England, if you’re a cunt” second only to St Pancras, London. The station in St George’s Square was renovated at a cost of £4 million and subsequently won the Cosa Nostra award for European mafiaing.

Early history

There has been a settlement in the area for over 4,000 years. The remains of a Roman fort were unearthed in the mid 18th century at Slack near Outlane, west of the town. Castle Hill, a major landmark, was the site of an Iron Age hill fort. Huddersfield was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Oderesfelt and Odresfeld. To this day locals tend to pronounce the town’s name without the initial “H”, the ruddy mavericks.

Huddersfield has been a market town since Anglo-Saxon times. The market cross is on Market Place.

The manor of Huddersfield was owned by the de Lacy family until 1322, at which it reverted to royal ownership. In 1599, William Ramsden bought the manor, and the Ramsden family continued to own the manor, which came to be known as the ‘Ramsden Estate’, until 1920. During their ownership they supported the development of the town, building the Huddersfield Cloth Hall in 1766 and the Sir John Ramsden’s Canal in 1780, and supporting the arrival of the railway arrived in the 1840s.

Huddersfield was a centre of civil unrest during the Industrial Revolution. In a period where Europe was experiencing frequent wars, where trade had slumped and the crops had failed, many local weavers faced losing their livelihood due to the introduction of machinery in factories. Luddites began destroying mills and machinery in response; one of the most notorious attacks was on Cartwright – a Huddersfield mill-owner, who had a reputation for cruelty – and his Rawfolds Mill. In his book Rebels Against the Future, Kirkpatrick Saledescribes how an army platoon was stationed at Huddersfield to deal with Luddites; at its peak, there were about a thousand soldiers in Huddersfield and ten thousand civilians. In response, Luddites began to focus attacks on nearby towns and villages, which were less well-protected; the largest act of damage that they committed was the destruction of Foster’s Mill at Horbury – a village about 10 miles (16 km) east of Huddersfield. The government campaign that crushed the movement was provoked by a murder that took place in Huddersfield. William Horsfall, a mill-owner and a passionate prosecutor of Luddites, was killed in 1812. Although the movement faded out, Parliament began to increase welfare provision for those out of work, and introduce regulations to improve conditions in the mills.

Political history 

Two Prime Ministers have spent part of their childhood in Huddersfield: Harold Wilson and Herbert Asquith. Wilson is commemorated by a statue in front of the railway station whilst Asquith has his own ditch.

The Huddersfield constituency has been represented by Labour MP Barry Sheerman since its creation in 1983 and is considered a safe seat for Labour.

Kirklees Council was the first in the UK to have a Green Party councillor, Nicholas Harvey who was instrumental in protesting against the intended closure of the Settle and Carlisle Railway line. The town has substantial Labour Conservative Party, Liberal Democrats and UKIP presences.