BURLEY-IN-WHARFEDALE CONSERVATION AREA
Historical Development
Burley in Wharfedale is situated in the base of the Wharfe valley on the south bank of the River Wharfe, c.2 m. to the west of Otley. Evidence of early activity in the area is provided by artefacts and earthworks, dating from the Mesolithic to the Iron Age periods, to the south of Burley on the steeply rising ground of the Ilkley and Burley Moors.
The first known reference to Burley is a Saxon charter of c. 972, which records the place name Burhley. In the late Anglo-Saxon period Burhley was one of many vills or settlements which made up the Otley estate of the Archbishops of York. At the time of the Domesday survey of 1086 the estate comprised of arable, pasture, woodland and moorland, the majority of land being waste. Recorded as Burghelia in the Domesday records, the place-name probably derived from the Old English elements burh and leah meaning "a forest glade or clearing, near a fortification". In 1265 the manor was sold by the Ralph, son of German Mansel to Archbishop Walter Giffard, and remained with this family until 1325 when it was conveyed by Hugh de Babington to John de Calverley with the manorial mill.
A 14th century extent of Otley indicate that routes along the south of the Wharfe valley from Otley, Burley to Ilkley and Bradford were well established by this period. Tenants were required to travel considerable distances to fairs and markets such as at Skipton and Bradford. Jefferys' map of 1775 probably reflects the line of these medieval roadways, and shows Burley settlement at a crossing point between the east-west and north-south routes. An early route of a presumed Roman road (Margary 729) is believed to pass to the south of Burley connecting the Roman forts of Adel and Ilkley.
The manorial mill, possibly stood on the site of the modern corn mill, to the north of St. Mary's church. Little is known about the development of Burley in the medieval period, but the earliest foci possibly occurred on routes in the vicinity of the mill, the chapel (which stood on the site of the present St Mary's Church) and the manorial hall. The chapel is mentioned in 1498 when Robert Calverley bequeathed a messe-booke of prynte to Burley chapel. Further development, according to Jefferys' map of 1775, was mainly confined to Main Street, with buildings extending westwards, from the chapel, in a linear pattern along both sides of Main Street. A deed poll of 1627-28, recording 20 messuages and 10 cottages at Burley held by Walter Calverley, gives an indication as to the size of Burley in the 17th century. Remnants of former strip fields, which extended from the rear of properties on Main Street, are recorded on the O.S. 1851 map, to the north of Main Street. Back Lane, also recorded on the O.S. 1851 map, probably provided means of access to strip fields to the south of the street.
Burley remained a mainly small agricultural society until the 19th century when over half of households was associated with textile manufacture. The population in 1822 is recorded as 1,200 which grew to 1,984 by 1855, boosted at the time by the increase in mill-workers. In the hundred years between 1801 and 1901 the population grew from 842 to 3,310 inhabitants, boosted in the second half of the century by the coming of the railway in 1865, after which it attracted commuters to the main urban centres of Leeds and Bradford (much as the present-day village does). A significant change in the fortunes of the village came in 1850 when Greenholme Mill was bought by Wm Fison and Wm Forster who ceased cotton manufacture in favour of worsted production. The mill became the leading commercial industry in the area and continued in production until 1966. Development within this period included the building of Iron Row for cotton workers by Greenwood and Whitaker, and the Queen's Hall in Main Street, constructed in 1868 by mill owners who wished to improve facilities within the village. In 1861 proposals between the Midland and North Eastern Railway (NER) led to the opening of the Otley and Ilkley Joint Line in 1865.
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