Are there any Grade I listed buildings in Huddersfield - and which are the most impressive?

The question for #AskExaminer this week gives us a chance to showcase our magnificent town which has some of the finest examples of architecture you will find anywhere in the West Riding, if not the world.

The highest listing, Grade I, is awarded only to buildings of “exceptional interest”, according to Historic England. Only 2.5 per cent of listed buildings are given the highest rating.

Among the Grade I listed buildings is the Church of All Hallows on Westgate, Almondbury, which has been a place of worship for more than 900 years. Historians believe it dates from the 12th century, although it has had many alterations in the centuries which followed.

One of Huddersfield’s best-known mansions, Banney Royd, Edgerton, also has a Grade I listing. It has seven acres of gardens, 10 bedrooms and was built by noted architect Edgar J Wood in 1902.

Banney Royd, Halifax Road, Edgerton

The town’s railway station, not surprisingly, is Grade I listed.

The foundation stone was laid by Josh Fitzwilliam, the Lord Lieutenant, on October 9, 1846, when a public holiday was declared and church bells rang from dawn til dusk - although it wasn’t completed until October 1850.

The frontage was once described by John Betjeman as “the most splendid in England”.

Huddersfield Railway Station.

Another Church of All Hallows, this one in Kirkburton, enjoys its Grade I status. Its history goes back to the early 1200s, with most of the structure dating from the 13th century.

Inside there is a late-medieval nave ceiling and a small window in the chancel may once have opened from the cell of a hermit.

All Hallows Church, Kirkburton.
All Hallows Church, Kirkburton.

Woodsome Hall, on Woodsome Road at Fenay Bridge, has also been given the highest listing which states that it is an “extremely fine hall house...built in stages for four generations of the Kaye family..between the early 16th and mid 17th century."

The first recorded dweller at Woodsome is thought to be Gilbert de Notton in 1236. The Tyas family lived there until 1370.

Woodsome Hall

Over in Emley, the Church of St Michael the Archangel, which dates from the 14th century, is Grade I listed.

And a little further afield there are Grade I listed Lees Hall at Thornhill Lees; Oakwell Hall, Birstall; All Saints, Batley and St Michael and All Angels, Thornhill.

Chris Marsden, chairman of Huddersfield Civic Society, says Huddersfield has many splendid listed buildings.

His own favourites are:

Grade II* listed Folly Hall Mill.

Grade II listed Queensgate Market

Grade II listed Bath House (Amenity Block), formerly of Thomas Broadbent and Sons

Grade I listed Banney Royd

Grade I listed Huddersfield Railway Station.

  • Do you have a question for #AskExaminer? Email: andrew.robinson@trinitymirror.com