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Coordinates: 53°42'29?N 1°49'30?W? / ?53.708022, -1.825003
Southowram is a village in West Yorkshire, England that stands on the hill top to the east of Halifax, and is roughly equidistant from Halifax and Brighouse.
Southowram stands on the south side of Shibden valley. A small Pennine village with outlying regions of Bank Top, Brookfoot and Siddal. Northowram stands on the northern side of the valley.
Walterclough Hall lies nearby.
History
Parts of the centre of the village were demolished and built over in the 1970s and 1980s. Many old buildings remain though, as do the ancient stocks on Towngate. Old buildings were unfortunately lost on New Street, to be replaced by council housing. More such housing is to be found on the lower part of the village, however Southowram remains in the main an area of a mixture of older historic housing, and attractive private housing.
A number of old halls and farms which survived until the 1940s and 1950s were lost in subsequent decades.
Some photographs of the village in the 1960s and earlier exist, but are in private hands.
There were quite a few photos of the village in The Shoulder of Mutton.
Law Hill House
In 1837, 19-year-old, Emily Bronte came to teach at the three-storey house which was then an exclusive boarding school. However, she only lasted about six months because of the strict lifestyle demanded. She was also homesick and in a collection of letters, Charlotte wrote about her her sister had to work from 6am to 11pm each day and was more of a governess than a teacher. Emily wrote poetry while at Law Hill and became fascinated by the story of intrigue and feuding which surrounded the house’s builder, Jack Sharp, and his near neighbours, the Walker family of Walterclough. It is said she reflected the story in the plot of Wuthering Heights and that the central character was based on Sharp himself.
Industries
Local industries have included farming, mining for coal and fireclay, brick-manufacture, and stone quarrying and mining. With the exception of farming, which is in decline[citation needed], quarrying, which is continued by Marshalls plc, these industries are more or less defunct. Marshalls plc continues to extract stone in the area, and the company which was privately owned moved its headquarters to Huddersfield in recent years.
A number of Judd walls which retain quarry waste can still be seen in the locality, especially those on the valley opposite Hove Edge. These walls include a rather splendid set of steps set into the side, which lead into a small narrow ginnel to permit passage along a public footpath.
Religion
The C Of E church of St Anne's situated below the village proper, is the only remaining place of worship, various non-conformist chapels having closed over the years, most recently Southowram Methodist Church which used to be at the lower end of Chapel Lane. Althought the Methodist chapel building has been closed the Methodist Church in Southowram continues. The Methodist congregation meet for worship and other activities in the village community centre.
St Anne's has an idyllic location, surrounded by trees and fields, and this suits it's architecture of an old stone built church with a bell tower along with clock.
Sport
Southowram is home to Southowram cricket club, who play at Ashday Lane, and Beacon Rangers who play on Beacon Hill. Beacon Rangers are a junior team only whereas the cricket club is home to three senior teams and U11, U13, U15 & U17 teams at junior level. All senior teams play in their respective premier divisions.
Education
The local school is in the centre of the village, on Law lane. It is a feeder school for Brighouse High. It is called Withinfields Primary School. The new building was built in 1997 after the old school, being inadequate for modern needs was demolished, and is now a housing estate. The school has an enviable situation in that it has been built so it can be easily expanded if and when the village should expand.
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