In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Sowerby like this:
SOWERBY, a village, a township, three chapelries, and a sub-district, in Halifax parish and district, W. R. Yorkshire. The village stands on an eminence near the river Calder, 1 mile W by S of Sowerby-Bridge r. station, and 4 WSW of Halifax. The township contains also the villages of Triangle and Cragg-Vale, which have post-offices under Halifax, and part of the town of Sowerby-Bridge, which has a post-office‡ under Normanton. ...
Acres, 3,670. Real property, £21,925. Pop. in 1851, 7,908; in 1861, 8,753. Houses, 1,778. Much of the land is moor. Many of the inhabitants are employed in cotton-mills, woollen-mills, and foundries. Roman coins were found in 1678. There are, within the township, five churches, eight dissenting chapels, six national schools, alms houses for 6 persons, and other charities £141.The chapelries of S. are St. Peter, St. Mary, and St. George. The livings are p. curacies in the diocese of Ripon. Value, of St. P. £300;* of St. M. and St. G., each £150.* Patron of St. P. and St. G., the Vicar of Halifax; of St. M., alternately the Crown and the Bishop. St. P.'s church is in the Grecian style, with a tower; and contains a statue of Archbishop Tillotson, who was a native. St. M. 's church is in the early decorated style, with a tower and spire; and St. G.'s church is in the Norman style, with a tower.—The sub-district contains also Norland township and part of Warley. Pop., 13,945. Houses, 2,894.
Sowerby through time
Sowerby is now part of Calderdale district. Click here for graphs and data of how Calderdale has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Sowerby itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Sowerby, in Calderdale and West Riding | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/1154
Date accessed: 25th April 2024
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