Addingham.info

Addingham village

 (See map)
The village is situated about 17miles north west of Leeds in the county of West Yorkshire in northern England. The land to the south slopes up to Rombald's Moor and to north lies the peak of Beamsley Beacon with the valley of Wharfedale to the west of it going north west into the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The river Wharfe runs through the edge of the village. The nearest towns are Ilkley (3 miles east) and Skipton (7 miles west).

The village grew up on the A65 road (now by-passed) which goes northwest from Leeds, through Skipton and on to Cumbria and the Lake District. The Skipton to Ilkley railway came to the village in the 1880s but was closed in the 1960s.

The area around Addingham was populated from at least Bronze Age times, as shown by the 'cup & ring' carved stones found on Rombald's Moor to the south. The first documentary mention referred to the Archbishop of York staying here in 867AD so it is certainly an ancient settlement.

The village used to be called 'Long Addingham' because it grew up round three centres - Church Street in the east, The Green (about a mile away) in the west and The Old School in between.

The earliest of the existing houses were built in the 17C when it was a farming community, but the real growth was in the late 18C and early 19C when the textile industry arrived and five mills (plus other loomshops and weaving sheds) were established making it a busy industrial community.

Addingham had a population of 3599 at the 2001 census, has its own Parish Council and is within the area of the Bradford Metropolitan District Council together with Ilkley Parish Council.