Mirfield
Mirfield is a small town and civil parish within the Kirklees borough of West Yorkshire, England, near Dewsbury. It is on the main road between Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Wakefield, and has a total resident population of 18,620.[1]
The town is served by Mirfield railway station.
Geography and administration
From 1894 to 1974, Mirfield formed an urban district of the West Riding of Yorkshire, when it was merged into the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees. It gained a parish council in 1988.
Education
There are two secondary schools in Mirfield: Mirfield Free Grammar and Sixth Form and Castle Hall. Amongst the primary schools there are Battyeford, Crossley Fields (formerly Wellhouse), Old Bank and Hopton J, I and N school and Crowlees Junior and Infant School that was assessed by Ofsted as 'Grade 1 - Outstanding' in the March 2007 inspection.[2]
Ecclesiastical connections
The 13th century St Mary's Church was rebuilt in 1826. However, this church itself proved too small for the growing population, and was also regarded as too mean for the growing district. A completely new church, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, was built a few yards to the northwest, on the site of the old Castle Hall, a mansion which was home to the families successively of Mirfields (sometimes spelled Mirfin), Hetons and Beaumonts.[3] At Scott's suggestion, the tower of the earlier church, which retains some medieval work, was retained.
The College of the Resurrection was where Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, lectured from 1976 for two years. Archbishop Trevor Huddleston spent his last days in Mirfield here.
Notable people
It is the birthplace of:
- Henry Brailsford, journalist
- Brian Robinson, the first Briton ever to win a stage of the Tour de France
- Patrick Stewart, who plays Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation
- The Bronte sisters[citation needed]