Holmfirth | |
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Holmfirth viewed from Cliffe Lane, above the town |
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Holmfirth shown within West Yorkshire | |
Population | 5,173 |
OS grid reference | SE142081 |
Civil parish | |
Metropolitan borough | |
Metropolitan county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | HOLMFIRTH |
Postcode district | HD9 |
Dialling code | 01484 |
Police | West Yorkshire |
Fire | West Yorkshire |
Ambulance | Yorkshire |
EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
UK Parliament | |
Holmfirth is a small town on the A6024 Woodhead Road in the Holme Valley, within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Centred upon the confluence of the Holme and Ribble rivers, Holmfirth is 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Huddersfield and 13 miles (21 km) northeast of Glossop. It mostly consists of stone-built cottages nestled in the Pennine hills. The Peak District National Park around Holme Moss is 4 miles (6.4 km) to the south of the town.
Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Holmfirth was once a centre for pioneering film-making by Bamforth & Co., which later switched to the production of saucy seaside postcards. Between 1973 and 2010 both Holmfirth and the Holme Valley became well known as the filming location of the BBC's situation comedy Last of the Summer Wine.
The town originally grew up around a corn mill and bridge in the 13th century. Three hundred years later Holmfirth expanded rapidly as the growing cloth trade grew and the production of stone and slates from the surrounding quarries increased. The present parish church was built in 1778 after the church built in 1476 was swept away in a flood the previous year. In 1850 Holmfirth railway station opened, on the branch line built by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company.
Ancient documents have the town's name spelt 'Holm Frith' which can be translated as 'Holly Wood', though the word "Firth" is an old English name meaning 'wood and woodland' indicating the name means Holme woods.