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Damage to the 400 year old plasterwork on Bishop Bonner’s Cottage, Dereham the workman used a coarse wire brush to take off the paint stripper, the work was signed off twice by building Surveyor Anna High causing irreparable damage. This kind of work needs a specialist to over see the work and to carry out the work. The Town Council and Dereham’s heritage have been very badly served and it will cost a lot to put this right but it will never be the same again.
Detail of plaster ornamentation inside the Lincoln Theatre, built in 1922 and restored in 1994, at 1215 U Street NW. Scanned photo I took in 1995.
“Harvest”. Plasterwork in the smoke-room of "The Vines" Public House, Lime Street, Liverpool. Still in place in 1992. Work arranged by Walter Gilbert in association with Louis Weingartner and the Bromsgrove Guild. Modelling by Louis Weingartner. Casting by The Bromsgrove Guild. Photo by Phillip Medhurst. Plasterwork 1908. Photo 1992.
Estate history
The original Hall formed part of a Saxon estate owned by Wulfric Spott, who died in 1002 and left the estate to Burton-on-Trent Abbey. In the Domesday Book the estate was owned by Roger de Poitou. In 1225 the Lordship of Sutton-in-the-Dale had been given by King Henry III to Peter de Hareston, but by 1401 it had been purchased by John Leke of Gotham.[2]
A later John Leke was made a knight by King Henry VIII. His son Francis Leke was created a Baronet by King James I in 1611, and elevated to Earl of Scarsdale by King Charles I in 1640. When the English Civil War broke out, Leke joined the Cavaliers and the Hall's structure was strengthened, particularly so with Bolsover Castle on the opposite hillside swearing loyalty to the Roundheads. When a Parliamentarian force of 500 men led by Sir John Gell surrounded the estate, Leke resisted until the house was stormed and he was taken prisoner. With the estate seized by Oliver Cromwell's forces, after the end of the war a forfeiture fine of £18,000 was levied and paid for Leke's support of the imprisoned King Charles.[2]
House history
The existing structure is believed to be the fourth or fifth built on the site. In 1724, Nicholas Leke, 4th Earl of Scarsdale commissioned the building of a design by architect Francis Smith, to develop a Georgian mansion with gardens, using parts of the existing structure.[2]
On a scale and quality with Chatsworth House, internally it featured both oak ornamental panels and stucco plasterwork by Italian craftsmen Francesco Vassalli and the brothers Giuseppe and Adalberto Artari;[3] carved Adamesque fireplaces in both marble and Blue John, and a carved mahogany staircase.[4]
Following the death of the 4th Earl, Member of Parliament Godfrey Bagnall Clarke purchased the estate in 1740. After his death in 1774 the Marquis of Ormonde then gained ownership by marriage, and after his death in 1824, Richard Arkwright Junior of Cromford Mill fame, became the owner.[4] William Arkwright of Sutton Scarsdale was High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1890.
The Arkwright family
The Temple of Pan, or the 'Doric Temple', was built in the 1720s by the architect John James of Greenwich. The interior contains fine rococo plasterwork.
Lanhydrock is the perfect country house and estate, with the feel of a wealthy but unpretentious family home. Follow in the footsteps of generations of the Robartes family, walking in the 17th-century Long Gallery among the rare book collection under the remarkable plasterwork ceiling. After a devastating fire in 1881 the house was refurbished in the high-Victorian style, with the latest mod cons. Boasting the best in country-house design and planning, the kitchens, nurseries and servants' quarters offer a thrilling glimpse into life 'below stairs', while the spacious dining room and bedrooms are truly and deeply elegant
Lanhydrock is the perfect country house and estate, with the feel of a wealthy but unpretentious family home. Follow in the footsteps of generations of the Robartes family, walking in the 17th-century Long Gallery among the rare book collection under the remarkable plasterwork ceiling. After a devastating fire in 1881 the house was refurbished in the high-Victorian style, with the latest mod cons. Boasting the best in country-house design and planning, the kitchens, nurseries and servants' quarters offer a thrilling glimpse into life 'below stairs', while the spacious dining room and bedrooms are truly and deeply elegant
A wider view of that plasterwork. Starts to give you an idea of just how magnificent that ceiling must have been when the plaster had just dried.
For more on Hadrian's Villa (Villa Adriana locally), go and have a look at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrian's_Villa or sights.seindal.dk/sight/901_Hadrians_Villa.html
The chapel is built in an undemonstrative Georgian style, well-proportioned with restrained detailing, reflecting the temperate values of the Independent congregation in the early C19; The interior has surprisingly delicate plasterwork decoration and, most significantly, an almost intact galleried interior with a full set of original panelled and numbered box pews. This is the oldest surviving Independent chapel in Lincolnshire with its original seating intact, and a rare example nationally of a remarkably well-preserved non-conformist chapel of this period.
The chapel and adjoining manse was erected by the Barton Independent congregation in 1806. There was a considerable growth in the number of dissenting congregations during this period: out of the 1,961 licences granted by the Lincoln Diocese between 1740 and 1844, nearly half were for Independents or Protestant Dissenters. In Lincolnshire, the Independents grew from one or two congregations described as Presbyterian or Independent in the early C18 to having 38 places of worship by 1851. The Barton Independents were the oldest dissenting congregation in the town. Their earliest recorded place of worship was a house in King Street and they met at several locations before the Providence Chapel, as it was then called, was established in 1806. The Independents were the first dissenting group in Barton to build a chapel and have a burial ground solely for their own use. This has now been cleared of above ground memorials with the exception of two tombstones which survive in situ, one of which bears an inscription to the Rev. John Winterbottom (the Chapel's second Pastor), his wife, Ann, and their daughter Sarah Ann. Several headstones are stacked up nearby.
During the ministry of James Hoyle between 1859 and 1864 the chapel was refurbished, involving the addition of the entrance porch, the re-slating of the roof, and the installation of the pulpit and communion rail. The extension for the organ chamber and vestry/meeting room was built before 1887 when it is shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map, and the chapel windows were re-glazed in 1898. The Sunday School to the north-east of the chapel was built between 1865 and 1873 during a time when the Nonconformist and Anglican churches in the town were developing their Sunday and Day Schools. The school was converted into domestic use in the early 1990s. In 1972 the Barton Congregational Church was incorporated into the United Reformed Church and closed in 1991.
Built in 1398 as a border fortress to keep the troublesome Welsh in line, Chirk Castle has been rebuilt several times over the centuries to turn it into a luxurious and comfortable country house. The medieval towers were largely hollowed-out to provide expansive rooms which were then decorated in the neo-classical style with Robert Adam-style plaster ceilings, Mortlake tapestries and the finest furniture. Today the castle retains the stolid outlook of a fortress, but the walls which were originally 15ft thick are now pierced by the delicate tracery of Elizabethan and later windows. The setting, on top of a granite outcrop on part of Offa's Dyke, and 828ft elevation give commanding views across the Cheshire plain to distant Beeston Castle to the East and south across Shropshire to the Wreakin, Long Mynd and beyond.
Ornate plaster work frieze, above the cinema screen.
Regent Cinema, Blackpool.
Copies of my photos can be purchased as stretched canvases or glossy photo prints from my website. www.hickey-fry.com
Detail of some fine plasterwork on one of the vaulted arches in the Great Baths.
For more on Hadrian's Villa (Villa Adriana locally), go and have a look at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrian's_Villa or sights.seindal.dk/sight/901_Hadrians_Villa.html
Lanhydrock is the perfect country house and estate, with the feel of a wealthy but unpretentious family home. Follow in the footsteps of generations of the Robartes family, walking in the 17th-century Long Gallery among the rare book collection under the remarkable plasterwork ceiling. After a devastating fire in 1881 the house was refurbished in the high-Victorian style, with the latest mod cons. Boasting the best in country-house design and planning, the kitchens, nurseries and servants' quarters offer a thrilling glimpse into life 'below stairs', while the spacious dining room and bedrooms are truly and deeply elegant
Beautifully ornate stonework over the doorway of one of the imposing buildings on Ludgate Hill, City of London EC4.
e Court and Gardens, inside the house. The plasterwork was decorated by a Hare Krishna group in the early 80's. It was decided the keep the bright colours as removing them would harm the plasterwork.
"The chapel was soon turned into a temple room, a printing press was moved to the site and a novice training programme and a school were established. In Croome Court’s Red Wing, the devotees installed a television editing studio, with sand bags in the ceiling to provide soundproofing.
There was a primary school for the children of the devotees and Croome became a worldwide centre for the training of students in Krishna consiousness.
About 150 devotees lived on the premises at Croome including monks, nuns and some married couples.
From 1982, a split in the movement and consequent lack of manpower meant that the college was becoming too expensive to maintain and, in June 1984, the movement withdrew from the property.
With the closure of their school, some operations were moved to other parts of the country with some families returning to the previous headquarters near Watford.
Traces of their residence at Croome can still be seen in some decoration around the house, especially in the Dining Room. It was repainted in vibrant colours which can still be seen today and are complimented by our new exhibit showing some of Croome's porcelain collection."
The Alhambra Theatre is a theatre in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, named after the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain, which was the place of residence of the Emir of the Emirate of Granada. It was built in 1913 at a cost of £20,000 for theatre impresario Francis Laidler, and opened on Wednesday 18 March 1914. In 1964, Bradford City Council bought the Alhambra for £78,900 and in 1974, it was designated a Grade II listed building. It underwent extensive refurbishment in 1986. Today it is a receiving house for large-scale touring theatre of all types and the main house seats 1,456.
History
Francis Laidler, who already owned two music halls in Bradford, opened the new Alhambra Theatre in 1914. The architects were Chadwick and Watson, who described it as "English renaissance of the Georgian period".
Building
The building is recognisable for its large domed turret with giant-paired Corinthian columns, an iconic landmark on the Bradford skyline together with the complementary domes on the adjacent, disused Bradford Odeon. Behind this, the building is stepped up, culminating in tall square towers with smaller domes.
It is situated on a sloping site amongst other Bradford landmarks – the National Media Museum, aforementioned Bradford Odeon, the former Windsor Baths building and Bradford City Park. The entrance to the building is on the corner on the other side of the building to the dome and has a distinctive iron and glass canopy.
Elsewhere, the exterior is faced in white faience, which has now been painted white and grey. The faience was produced by Gibbs and Canning of Tamworth.
Inside, the auditorium consists of two tiers, a balcony and an aisle. It is highly decorated with plasterwork. There is moulded plasterwork to the curved balcony fronts and elliptically bowed balconies to the boxes, which are situated in round arched openings with giant fluted Corinthian columns. The circular auditorium ceiling is decorated and has a small rectangular dome to centre. There is a rectangular proscenium arch.
Organisation
The Alhambra is part of the Bradford Theatres group, which also includes St. George's Hall and King's Hall, Ilkley.
The theatre is also a member of the Dance Consortium, a group of theatres who collaborate to bring international dance theatre to the UK.
Facilities
The 1,400 capacity main house is a major touring venue and hosts a wide range of stage shows from ballet and opera to variety and comedy, musicals, drama and, of course, the annual pantomime. Regular visits are made from prestigious companies such as Opera North, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet Theatre, Matthew Bourne's New Adventures and the Royal National Theatre to complement spectacular West End musicals such as Grease, Miss Saigon, Whistle Down the Wind and The Phantom of the Opera. Wicked started its world tour at the Alhambra Theatre in 2016
Studio Theatre
The complex also houses a smaller studio theatre, with seating for 200, or standing room for 300. This is mainly used for new comedy, including tours by Alun Cochrane, Tom Stade & Patrick Monahan.
Catering
In 2012 a new restaurant, called "Restaurant 1914" was opened at the top of the Alhambra theatre, with views overlooking Bradford City Park. Restaurant 1914 was constructed at a cost of £250,000 and has more than doubled the dining capacity of the theatre.
In popular culture
The Alhambra appears in the 211 second long, short film Bradford Silver Jubilation (1935). It's decorated in flags and buntin to celebrate George V's Silver Jubilee.
On Christmas Eve 1973, Junior Showtime did a Babes in the Wood pantomime episode at The Alhambra. It starred Bobby Bennett as Robin Hood, Peter Goodwright as Alan A'Dale, Susan Maughan as Maid Marian, Roy Rolland as Nanny Riley, John Gower as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Eddie Large as Private Large, Syd Little as Private Little, Colin Prince as Little John, Norman Collier as Will Scarlett, Bonnie Langford as Babe Tilly, and Mark Curry as Babe Willy.
The Dresser (1983 film) starring Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay was filmed at The Alhambra, as the main location of the film.
In March and April 1987, Tom O'Connor spent 5 days presenting The Tom O'Connor Roadshow live from The Alhambra stage, while his co-host Debbie Greenwood explored the rest of the city.
Testimony (1988 film) starring Ben Kingsley filmed at The Alhambra.
Kate Nash's music video for Mouthwash was filmed at The Alhambra on the 20 August 2007, and had earlier filmed at the Bristol Hippodrome in late July or early August 2007. Nash performed with the touring cast of Starlight Express on both occasions, who learned two new routines for the video. It features Nash backstage of the theatres, and on the theatre stages playing the piano while the show is being performed.
In 2020 BBC Three's reality magic series School of Hard Tricks, consisted of 6 Bradfordians learning how to do magic in just three weeks, which they then performed in front of a live audience at The Alhambra.
Bradford Odeon is the name applied to two different cinemas in central Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. One, in Godwin Street, was built in 1930 and survives; the other, in Manchester Road, was built in 1938 and demolished in 1969.
Godwin Street building
The cinema, originally built as a 3,318 seat cine-variety theatre, was the largest outside London, and the third largest in England. It was completed in 1930 as the New Victoria. It is on the site of William Whittaker's brewery and malting, which had closed in 1928. It is a Renaissance Revival building designed by the architect William Illingworth, with copper-covered cupolas on two corners complementing those on the neighbouring Bradford Alhambra theatre. The New Victoria combined a 3,318-seat auditorium, 450 square feet (42 m2) ballroom and 200-seat restaurant. The auditorium was primarily a cinema, but also a concert and ballet venue with a stage, orchestra pit, Wurlitzer organ and excellent acoustics.
As a cinema it was the third largest in Britain when it opened, with only the Trocadero at Elephant & Castle and Davis Theatre at Croydon being larger. By 1930 cinemas had converted to screen sound pictures, which had been introduced in 1927, but the New Victoria was the first cinema in Britain to be purpose-built for "talkies". It was built at a cost of £250,000 for Provincial Cinematograph Theatres, backed by the Gaumont British Picture Corporation. In 1950 the complex was renamed the Gaumont, by this time both the Odeon and Gaumont circuits were controlled by Circuits Management Association Ltd., a subsidiary of the Rank Organisation. With the city's Odeon scheduled for re-development by Bradford Corporation, Rank decided to redevelop the Gaumont as a twin cinema and bingo club and on 30 November 1968 it closed for nine months. By the time that the building was ready to re-open, the original Odeon had been closed for five months and the new complex opened on 21 August 1969 with the Odeon name.
The Gaumont as the Odeon
The Rank Organisation converted the Gaumont into a complex with the former circle divided into two film auditoria, one of 1,200 and the other of 467 seats. The former stalls were converted into a 1,000 seat Top Rank bingo hall, replacing the company's bingo operation in the former Majestic cinema in Morley Street. The "Odeon" name was transferred to the new two-screen cinema, which opened in August 1969. The bingo hall opened later in the year.
The Gaumont (formerly New Victoria) ballroom had also closed in 1968, and it remained unused for 20 years. In 1988 Rank had it converted into a 244-seat auditorium and reopened that June as a third screen of the cinema.
In 1991 Rank had plans prepared to convert the bingo hall into three film auditoria and the former restaurant into retail units. In 1994 it had plans prepared to divide the 1,200-seat auditorium into three auditoria and the 467-seat auditorium into two. Neither plan was implemented.
In the 1990s the Gallagher Group planned to redevelop a site at Thornbury on the eastern edge of Bradford into a leisure park that would include a 13-screen multiplex. The cinema chain originally contracted to operate it withdrew, so Odeon (Rank had sold the cinema chain to Cinven in February 2000) took its place and in July 2000 opened the new cinema as the Odeon Leeds-Bradford. It closed the Bradford Odeon in June 2000 and the Odeon Cinema Leeds in 2001.
Live music
The New Victoria / Gaumont was a distinguished venue for live music. Big bands played for dancers in its ballroom, and its season included charity balls hosted by the Grand Order of Water Rats and the National Union of Journalists. The main auditorium was the largest concert venue in the north of England. The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) played at its opening gala in 1930, and a subsequent LSO concert was conducted by Leopold Stokowski. Further classical music performances included the London Festival Ballet in 1952 and the Italian tenor Beniamino Gigli in 1954.
The Gaumont's main auditorium continued to host stage performances. In 1950 it hosted an ice show, Babes in the Wood on Ice.
UK tours of the most successful popular music acts included concerts at the Gaumont, including Billy Daniels (1953), Frankie Laine (1953), Bill Haley & His Comets (1957), Buddy Holly (1958), Paul Anka, Count Basie and the Peruvian soprano Yma Sumac. In 1960 the Gaumont hosted Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran's first ever British concert, and Vince Eager was the supporting act.
1963 was a notable year at the Gaumont. In February Helen Shapiro headlined a concert there, with supporting performances by Danny Williams and Kenny Lynch. At the bottom of the bill was a new band called The Beatles, who were about to release their first LP record Please Please Me. In October The Everly Brothers headlined a concert with supporting acts by Bo Diddley and another new British band, The Rolling Stones. In December The Beatles returned, headlining a concert playing to two packed houses with supporting performances from The Barron Knights, Tommy Quickly, Billy J. Kramer, Cilla Black and Rolf Harris.
The Rolling Stones returned in 1965, this time heading the bill. Tom Jones sang at the Gaumont in 1968.
Redevelopment proposals
Since 2000, asbestos has been removed from the former New Victoria / Gaumont building but it has remained unused. In 2003 the regional development agency Yorkshire Forward bought it for £3 million and proposed to redevelop the site. Public opposition quickly formed the Bradford Odeon Rescue Group (BORG), whose campaign included a "Hug the Odeon" event in July 2007 in which an estimated 1,000 people encircled the building in a human chain. BORG's supporters include Richard Attenborough, George Clarke and Jonathan Foyle.
In 2009 an open public campaign began which included several websites, Twitter accounts and Facebook groups created by members of the public. As part of the public 'Save The Odeon' campaign, a series of demonstrations around the building were organised by members of the public, such as an alternative Christmas lights switch-on, projections onto the towers of the building during the opening of City Park, and pinning 'get well soon' cards and flowers to the building during maintenance works. The public campaign gathered the support of David Hockney, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Jenny Agutter, Michael Winner and Imelda Staunton.
Yorkshire Forward contracted a commercial property development company, Langtree Group, to demolish the building and redevelop the site. However, in March 2012 Yorkshire Forward was abolished as a result of HM Treasury's 2010 Spending Review, and in September 2012 ownership of the building passed to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).
In late 2013 the HCA sold the building to Bradford City Council for a nominal £1 on condition that the latter invest £1.32 million in its maintenance and repair. The city council has invited bids to redevelop the building, retaining as much as possible of its original fabric.
After a gap of 45 years, live music is foremost in current proposals to restore and reopen the New Victoria / Gaumont. Two parties, Bradford Live and Bradford One, have each proposed to remove the partitions and false walls inserted in 1968–69 and restore the original auditorium as a single performance space. Bradford One says the restored auditorium would provide part-standing capacity for 3107 people, or for 2,487 people all seated. Bradford Live says redevelopment would cost £20 million and claims it could increase capacity from the original 3,318 seats to between 3,500 and 4,000.
As of January 2019 Bradford Live and NEC Group International working together have secured £4 million funding and aim to start construction in summer 2019. As of 29 January 2020 expected opening was in 2021. The redevelopment of the Bradford Odeon into Bradford Live suffered numerous setbacks and delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and parts of the existing building needing to be fully replaced rather than simply refurbished, pushing the completion of the new venue to 2024.
In popular culture
The Godwin Street building, under the name New Victoria, was the subject of an episode entitled The Palace of Dreams in the UK TV series Portillo's Hidden History of Britain, broadcast 30 November 2018 on Channel 5.
Bradford is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the 1974 reform, the city status has belonged to the larger City of Bradford metropolitan borough. It had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 census; the second-largest subdivision of the West Yorkshire Built-up Area after Leeds, which is approximately 9 miles (14 km) to the east. The borough had a population of 546,976, making it the 9th most populous district in England.
Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city grew in the 19th century as an international centre of textile manufacture, particularly wool. It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the earliest industrialised settlements, rapidly becoming the "wool capital of the world"; this in turn gave rise to the nicknames "Woolopolis" and "Wool City". Lying in the eastern foothills of the Pennines, the area's access to supplies of coal, iron ore and soft water facilitated the growth of a manufacturing base, which, as textile manufacture grew, led to an explosion in population and was a stimulus to civic investment. There is a large amount of listed Victorian architecture in the city including the grand Italianate city hall.
From the mid-20th century, deindustrialisation caused the city's textile sector and industrial base to decline and, since then, it has faced similar economic and social challenges to the rest of post-industrial Northern England, including poverty, unemployment and social unrest. It is the third-largest economy within the Yorkshire and the Humber region at around £10 billion, which is mostly provided by financial and manufacturing industries. It is also a tourist destination, the first UNESCO City of Film and it has the National Science and Media Museum, a city park, the Alhambra theatre and Cartwright Hall. The city is the UK City of Culture for 2025 having won the designation on 31 May 2022.
History
The name Bradford is derived from the Old English brad and ford the broad ford which referred to a crossing of the Bradford Beck at Church Bank below the site of Bradford Cathedral, around which a settlement grew in Anglo-Saxon times. It was recorded as "Bradeford" in 1086.
Early history
After an uprising in 1070, during William the Conqueror's Harrying of the North, the manor of Bradford was laid waste, and is described as such in the Domesday Book of 1086. It then became part of the Honour of Pontefract given to Ilbert de Lacy for service to the Conqueror, in whose family the manor remained until 1311. There is evidence of a castle in the time of the Lacys. The manor then passed to the Earl of Lincoln, John of Gaunt, The Crown and, ultimately, private ownership in 1620.
By the middle ages Bradford, had become a small town centred on Kirkgate, Westgate and Ivegate. In 1316 there is mention of a fulling mill, a soke mill where all the manor corn was milled and a market. During the Wars of the Roses the inhabitants sided with House of Lancaster. Edward IV granted the right to hold two annual fairs and from this time the town began to prosper. In the reign of Henry VIII Bradford exceeded Leeds as a manufacturing centre. Bradford grew slowly over the next two-hundred years as the woollen trade gained in prominence.
During the Civil War the town was garrisoned for the Parliamentarians and in 1642 was unsuccessfully attacked by Royalist forces from Leeds. Sir Thomas Fairfax took the command of the garrison and marched to meet the Duke of Newcastle but was defeated. The Parliamentarians retreated to Bradford and the Royalists set up headquarters at Bolling Hall from where the town was besieged leading to its surrender. The Civil War caused a decline in industry but after the accession of William III and Mary II in 1689 prosperity began to return. The launch of manufacturing in the early 18th century marked the start of the town's development while new canal and turnpike road links encouraged trade.
Industrial Revolution
In 1801, Bradford was a rural market town of 6,393 people, where wool spinning and cloth weaving were carried out in local cottages and farms. Bradford was thus not much bigger than nearby Keighley (5,745) and was significantly smaller than Halifax (8,866) and Huddersfield (7,268). This small town acted as a hub for three nearby townships – Manningham, Bowling and Great and Little Horton, which were separated from the town by countryside.
Blast furnaces were established in about 1788 by Hird, Dawson Hardy at Low Moor and iron was worked by the Bowling Iron Company until about 1900. Yorkshire iron was used for shackles, hooks and piston rods for locomotives, colliery cages and other mining appliances where toughness was required. The Low Moor Company also made pig iron and the company employed 1,500 men in 1929. when the municipal borough of Bradford was created in 1847 there were 46 coal mines within its boundaries. Coal output continued to expand, reaching a peak in 1868 when Bradford contributed a quarter of all the coal and iron produced in Yorkshire.
The population of the township in 1841 was 34,560.
In 1825 the wool-combers union called a strike that lasted five-months but workers were forced to return to work through hardship leading to the introduction of machine-combing. This Industrial Revolution led to rapid growth, with wool imported in vast quantities for the manufacture of worsted cloth in which Bradford specialised, and the town soon became known as the wool capital of the world.
A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of Bradford Moor Barracks in 1844.
Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and a county borough in 1888, making it administratively independent of the West Riding County Council. It was honoured with city status on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, with Kingston upon Hull and Nottingham. The three had been the largest county boroughs outside the London area without city status. The borough's boundaries were extended to absorb Clayton in 1930, and parts of Rawdon, Shipley, Wharfedale and Yeadon urban districts in 1937.
Bradford had ample supplies of locally mined coal to provide the power that the industry needed. Local sandstone was an excellent resource for building the mills, and with a population of 182,000 by 1850, the town grew rapidly as workers were attracted by jobs in the textile mills. A desperate shortage of water in Bradford Dale was a serious limitation on industrial expansion and improvement in urban sanitary conditions. In 1854 Bradford Corporation bought the Bradford Water Company and embarked on a huge engineering programme to bring supplies of soft water from Airedale, Wharfedale and Nidderdale. By 1882 water supply had radically improved. Meanwhile, urban expansion took place along the routes out of the city towards the Hortons and Bowling and the townships had become part of a continuous urban area by the late 19th century.
A major employer was Titus Salt who in 1833 took over the running of his father's woollen business specialising in fabrics combining alpaca, mohair, cotton and silk. By 1850 he had five mills. However, because of the polluted environment and squalid conditions for his workers Salt left Bradford and transferred his business to Salts Mill in Saltaire in 1850, where in 1853 he began to build the workers' village which has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Henry Ripley was a younger contemporary of Titus Salt. He was managing partner of Edward Ripley & Son Ltd, which owned the Bowling Dye Works. In 1880 the dye works employed over 1000 people and was said to be the biggest dye works in Europe. Like Salt he was a councillor, JP and Bradford MP who was deeply concerned to improve working class housing conditions. He built the industrial Model village of Ripley Ville on a site in Broomfields, East Bowling close to the dye works.
Other major employers were Samuel Lister and his brother who were worsted spinners and manufacturers at Lister's Mill (Manningham Mills). Lister epitomised Victorian enterprise but it has been suggested that his capitalist attitude made trade unions necessary. Unprecedented growth created problems with over 200 factory chimneys continually churning out black, sulphurous smoke, Bradford gained the reputation of being the most polluted town in England. There were frequent outbreaks of cholera and typhoid, and only 30% of children born to textile workers reached the age of fifteen. This extreme level of infant and youth mortality contributed to a life expectancy for Bradford residents of just over eighteen years, which was one of the lowest in the country.
Like many major cities Bradford has been a destination for immigrants. In the 1840s Bradford's population was significantly increased by migrants from Ireland, particularly rural County Mayo and County Sligo, and by 1851 about 10% of the population were born in Ireland, the largest proportion in Yorkshire. Around the middle decades of the 19th century the Irish were concentrated in eight densely settled areas situated near the town centre. One of these was the Bedford Street area of Broomfields, which in 1861 contained 1,162 persons of Irish birth—19% of all Irish born persons in the Borough.
During the 1820s and 1830s, there was immigration from Germany. Many were Jewish merchants and they became active in the life of the town. The Jewish community mostly living in the Manningham area of the town, numbered about 100 families but was influential in the development of Bradford as a major exporter of woollen goods from their textile export houses predominately based in Little Germany and the civic life of Bradford. Charles Semon (1814–1877) was a textile merchant and philanthropist who developed a productive textile export house in the town, he became the first foreign and Jewish mayor of Bradford in 1864. Jacob Behrens (1806–1889) was the first foreign textile merchant to export woollen goods from the town, his company developed into an international multimillion-pound business. Behrens was a philanthropist, he also helped to establish the Bradford chamber of commerce in 1851. Jacob Moser (1839–1922) was a textile merchant who was a partner in the firm Edelstein, Moser and Co, which developed into a successful Bradford textile export house. Moser was a philanthropist, he founded the Bradford Charity Organisation Society and the City Guild of Help. In 1910 Moser became the first Jewish Lord Mayor of Bradford.
Jowett Cars Eight badge
To support the textile mills, a large manufacturing base grew up in the town providing textile machinery, and this led to diversification with different industries thriving side by side. The Jowett Motor Company founded in the early 20th century by Benjamin and William Jowett and Arthur V Lamb, manufactured cars and vans in Bradford for 50 years. The Scott Motorcycle Company was a well known producer of motorcycles and light engines for industry. Founded by Alfred Angas Scott in 1908 as the Scott Engineering Company in Bradford, Scott motorcycles were produced until 1978.
Independent Labour Party
The city played an important part in the early history of the Labour Party. A mural on the back of the Bradford Playhouse in Little Germany commemorates the centenary of the founding of the Independent Labour Party in Bradford in 1893.
Regimental colours
The Bradford Pals were three First World War Pals battalions of Kitchener's Army raised in the city. When the three battalions were taken over by the British Army they were officially named the 16th (1st Bradford), 18th (2nd Bradford), and 20th (Reserve) Battalions, The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment).
On the morning of 1 July 1916, the 16th and 18th Battalions left their trenches in Northern France to advance across no man's land. It was the first hour of the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Of the estimated 1,394 men from Bradford and District in the two battalions, 1,060 were either killed or injured during the ill-fated attack on the village of Serre-lès-Puisieux.
Other Bradford Battalions of The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment) involved in the Battle of the Somme were the 1st/6th Battalion (the former Bradford Rifle Volunteers), part of the Territorial Force, based at Belle Vue Barracks in Manningham, and the 10th Battalion (another Kitchener battalion). The 1/6th Battalion first saw action in 1915 at the Battle of Aubers Ridge before moving north to the Yser Canal near Ypres. On the first day of the Somme they took heavy casualties while trying to support the 36th (Ulster) Division. The 10th Battalion was involved in the attack on Fricourt, where it suffered the highest casualty rate of any battalion on the Somme on 1 July and perhaps the highest battalion casualty list for a single day during the entire war. Nearly 60% of the battalion's casualties were deaths.
The 1/2nd and 2/2nd West Riding Brigades, Royal Field Artillery (TF), had their headquarters at Valley Parade in Manningham, with batteries at Bradford, Halifax and Heckmondwike. The 1/2nd Brigade crossed to France with the 1/6th Battalion West Yorks in April 1915. These Territorial Force units were to remain close to each other throughout the war, serving in the 49th (West Riding) Division. They were joined in 1917 by the 2/6th Battalion, West Yorks, and 2/2nd West Riding Brigade, RFA, serving in the 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division.
Recent history
Bradford's Telegraph and Argus newspaper was involved in spearheading the news of the 1936 Abdication Crisis, after the Bishop of Bradford publicly expressed doubts about Edward VIII's religious beliefs (see: Telegraph & Argus#1936 Abdication Crisis).
After the Second World War migrants came from Poland and Ukraine and since the 1950s from Bangladesh, India and particularly Pakistan.
The textile industry has been in decline throughout the latter part of the 20th century. A culture of innovation had been fundamental to Bradford's dominance, with new textile technologies being invented in the city; a prime example being the work of Samuel Lister. This innovation culture continues today throughout Bradford's economy, from automotive (Kahn Design) to electronics (Pace Micro Technology). Wm Morrison Supermarkets was founded by William Morrison in 1899, initially as an egg and butter merchant in Rawson Market, operating under the name of Wm Morrison (Provisions) Limited.
The grandest of the mills no longer used for textile production is Lister Mills, the chimney of which can be seen from most places in Bradford. It has become a beacon of regeneration after a £100 million conversion to apartment blocks by property developer Urban Splash.
In 1989, copies of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses were burnt in the city, and a section of the Muslim community led a campaign against the book. In July 2001, ethnic tensions led to rioting, and a report described Bradford as fragmented and a city of segregated ethnic communities.
The Yorkshire Building Society opened its new headquarters in the city in 1992.
In 2006 Wm Morrison Supermarkets opened its new headquarters in the city, the firm employs more than 5,000 people in Bradford.
In June 2009 Bradford became the world's first UNESCO City of Film and became part of the Creative Cities Network since then. The city has a long history of producing both films and the technology that produces moving film which includes the invention of the Cieroscope, which took place in Manningham in 1896.
In 2010 Provident Financial opened its new headquarters in the city. The company has been based in the city since 1880.
In 2012 the British Wool Marketing Board opened its new headquarters in the city. Also in 2012 Bradford City Park opened, the park which cost £24.5 million to construct is a public space in the city centre which features numerous fountains and a mirror pool surrounded by benches and a walk way.
In 2015 The Broadway opened, the shopping and leisure complex in the centre of Bradford cost £260 million to build and is owned by Meyer Bergman.
In 2022, Bradford was named the UK City of Culture 2025, beating Southampton, Wrexham and Durham. The UK City of Culture bid, as of 2023, was expected to majorly stimulate the local economy and culture as well as attracting tourism to the city. By 2025, the UK City of Culture bid is expected to support potential economic growth of £389 million to the city of Bradford as well as to the surrounding local areas, creating over 7,000 jobs, attracting a significant amount of tourists to the city and providing thousands of performance opportunities for local artists.
Lanhydrock is the perfect country house and estate, with the feel of a wealthy but unpretentious family home. Follow in the footsteps of generations of the Robartes family, walking in the 17th-century Long Gallery among the rare book collection under the remarkable plasterwork ceiling. After a devastating fire in 1881 the house was refurbished in the high-Victorian style, with the latest mod cons. Boasting the best in country-house design and planning, the kitchens, nurseries and servants' quarters offer a thrilling glimpse into life 'below stairs', while the spacious dining room and bedrooms are truly and deeply elegant
Lanhydrock is the perfect country house and estate, with the feel of a wealthy but unpretentious family home. Follow in the footsteps of generations of the Robartes family, walking in the 17th-century Long Gallery among the rare book collection under the remarkable plasterwork ceiling. After a devastating fire in 1881 the house was refurbished in the high-Victorian style, with the latest mod cons. Boasting the best in country-house design and planning, the kitchens, nurseries and servants' quarters offer a thrilling glimpse into life 'below stairs', while the spacious dining room and bedrooms are truly and deeply elegant
The Alhambra Theatre is a theatre in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, named after the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain, which was the place of residence of the Emir of the Emirate of Granada. It was built in 1913 at a cost of £20,000 for theatre impresario Francis Laidler, and opened on Wednesday 18 March 1914. In 1964, Bradford City Council bought the Alhambra for £78,900 and in 1974, it was designated a Grade II listed building. It underwent extensive refurbishment in 1986. Today it is a receiving house for large-scale touring theatre of all types and the main house seats 1,456.
History
Francis Laidler, who already owned two music halls in Bradford, opened the new Alhambra Theatre in 1914. The architects were Chadwick and Watson, who described it as "English renaissance of the Georgian period".
Building
The building is recognisable for its large domed turret with giant-paired Corinthian columns, an iconic landmark on the Bradford skyline together with the complementary domes on the adjacent, disused Bradford Odeon. Behind this, the building is stepped up, culminating in tall square towers with smaller domes.
It is situated on a sloping site amongst other Bradford landmarks – the National Media Museum, aforementioned Bradford Odeon, the former Windsor Baths building and Bradford City Park. The entrance to the building is on the corner on the other side of the building to the dome and has a distinctive iron and glass canopy.
Elsewhere, the exterior is faced in white faience, which has now been painted white and grey. The faience was produced by Gibbs and Canning of Tamworth.
Inside, the auditorium consists of two tiers, a balcony and an aisle. It is highly decorated with plasterwork. There is moulded plasterwork to the curved balcony fronts and elliptically bowed balconies to the boxes, which are situated in round arched openings with giant fluted Corinthian columns. The circular auditorium ceiling is decorated and has a small rectangular dome to centre. There is a rectangular proscenium arch.
Organisation
The Alhambra is part of the Bradford Theatres group, which also includes St. George's Hall and King's Hall, Ilkley.
The theatre is also a member of the Dance Consortium, a group of theatres who collaborate to bring international dance theatre to the UK.
Facilities
The 1,400 capacity main house is a major touring venue and hosts a wide range of stage shows from ballet and opera to variety and comedy, musicals, drama and, of course, the annual pantomime. Regular visits are made from prestigious companies such as Opera North, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet Theatre, Matthew Bourne's New Adventures and the Royal National Theatre to complement spectacular West End musicals such as Grease, Miss Saigon, Whistle Down the Wind and The Phantom of the Opera. Wicked started its world tour at the Alhambra Theatre in 2016
Studio Theatre
The complex also houses a smaller studio theatre, with seating for 200, or standing room for 300. This is mainly used for new comedy, including tours by Alun Cochrane, Tom Stade & Patrick Monahan.
Catering
In 2012 a new restaurant, called "Restaurant 1914" was opened at the top of the Alhambra theatre, with views overlooking Bradford City Park. Restaurant 1914 was constructed at a cost of £250,000 and has more than doubled the dining capacity of the theatre.
In popular culture
The Alhambra appears in the 211 second long, short film Bradford Silver Jubilation (1935). It's decorated in flags and buntin to celebrate George V's Silver Jubilee.
On Christmas Eve 1973, Junior Showtime did a Babes in the Wood pantomime episode at The Alhambra. It starred Bobby Bennett as Robin Hood, Peter Goodwright as Alan A'Dale, Susan Maughan as Maid Marian, Roy Rolland as Nanny Riley, John Gower as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Eddie Large as Private Large, Syd Little as Private Little, Colin Prince as Little John, Norman Collier as Will Scarlett, Bonnie Langford as Babe Tilly, and Mark Curry as Babe Willy.
The Dresser (1983 film) starring Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay was filmed at The Alhambra, as the main location of the film.
In March and April 1987, Tom O'Connor spent 5 days presenting The Tom O'Connor Roadshow live from The Alhambra stage, while his co-host Debbie Greenwood explored the rest of the city.
Testimony (1988 film) starring Ben Kingsley filmed at The Alhambra.
Kate Nash's music video for Mouthwash was filmed at The Alhambra on the 20 August 2007, and had earlier filmed at the Bristol Hippodrome in late July or early August 2007. Nash performed with the touring cast of Starlight Express on both occasions, who learned two new routines for the video. It features Nash backstage of the theatres, and on the theatre stages playing the piano while the show is being performed.
In 2020 BBC Three's reality magic series School of Hard Tricks, consisted of 6 Bradfordians learning how to do magic in just three weeks, which they then performed in front of a live audience at The Alhambra.
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days, which was longer than any of her predecessors, is known as the Victorian era. It was a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, the British Parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India.
Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After the deaths of her father and grandfather in 1820, she was raised under close supervision by her mother and her comptroller, John Conroy. She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father's three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate issue. Victoria, a constitutional monarch, attempted privately to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality.
Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, earning Victoria the sobriquet "grandmother of Europe". After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, British republicanism temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond jubilees were times of public celebration. Victoria died in 1901 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, at the age of 81. The last British monarch of the House of Hanover, she was succeeded by her son Edward VII of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Bradford is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the 1974 reform, the city status has belonged to the larger City of Bradford metropolitan borough. It had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 census; the second-largest subdivision of the West Yorkshire Built-up Area after Leeds, which is approximately 9 miles (14 km) to the east. The borough had a population of 546,976, making it the 9th most populous district in England.
Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city grew in the 19th century as an international centre of textile manufacture, particularly wool. It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the earliest industrialised settlements, rapidly becoming the "wool capital of the world"; this in turn gave rise to the nicknames "Woolopolis" and "Wool City". Lying in the eastern foothills of the Pennines, the area's access to supplies of coal, iron ore and soft water facilitated the growth of a manufacturing base, which, as textile manufacture grew, led to an explosion in population and was a stimulus to civic investment. There is a large amount of listed Victorian architecture in the city including the grand Italianate city hall.
From the mid-20th century, deindustrialisation caused the city's textile sector and industrial base to decline and, since then, it has faced similar economic and social challenges to the rest of post-industrial Northern England, including poverty, unemployment and social unrest. It is the third-largest economy within the Yorkshire and the Humber region at around £10 billion, which is mostly provided by financial and manufacturing industries. It is also a tourist destination, the first UNESCO City of Film and it has the National Science and Media Museum, a city park, the Alhambra theatre and Cartwright Hall. The city is the UK City of Culture for 2025 having won the designation on 31 May 2022.
History
The name Bradford is derived from the Old English brad and ford the broad ford which referred to a crossing of the Bradford Beck at Church Bank below the site of Bradford Cathedral, around which a settlement grew in Anglo-Saxon times. It was recorded as "Bradeford" in 1086.
Early history
After an uprising in 1070, during William the Conqueror's Harrying of the North, the manor of Bradford was laid waste, and is described as such in the Domesday Book of 1086. It then became part of the Honour of Pontefract given to Ilbert de Lacy for service to the Conqueror, in whose family the manor remained until 1311. There is evidence of a castle in the time of the Lacys. The manor then passed to the Earl of Lincoln, John of Gaunt, The Crown and, ultimately, private ownership in 1620.
By the middle ages Bradford, had become a small town centred on Kirkgate, Westgate and Ivegate. In 1316 there is mention of a fulling mill, a soke mill where all the manor corn was milled and a market. During the Wars of the Roses the inhabitants sided with House of Lancaster. Edward IV granted the right to hold two annual fairs and from this time the town began to prosper. In the reign of Henry VIII Bradford exceeded Leeds as a manufacturing centre. Bradford grew slowly over the next two-hundred years as the woollen trade gained in prominence.
During the Civil War the town was garrisoned for the Parliamentarians and in 1642 was unsuccessfully attacked by Royalist forces from Leeds. Sir Thomas Fairfax took the command of the garrison and marched to meet the Duke of Newcastle but was defeated. The Parliamentarians retreated to Bradford and the Royalists set up headquarters at Bolling Hall from where the town was besieged leading to its surrender. The Civil War caused a decline in industry but after the accession of William III and Mary II in 1689 prosperity began to return. The launch of manufacturing in the early 18th century marked the start of the town's development while new canal and turnpike road links encouraged trade.
Industrial Revolution
In 1801, Bradford was a rural market town of 6,393 people, where wool spinning and cloth weaving were carried out in local cottages and farms. Bradford was thus not much bigger than nearby Keighley (5,745) and was significantly smaller than Halifax (8,866) and Huddersfield (7,268). This small town acted as a hub for three nearby townships – Manningham, Bowling and Great and Little Horton, which were separated from the town by countryside.
Blast furnaces were established in about 1788 by Hird, Dawson Hardy at Low Moor and iron was worked by the Bowling Iron Company until about 1900. Yorkshire iron was used for shackles, hooks and piston rods for locomotives, colliery cages and other mining appliances where toughness was required. The Low Moor Company also made pig iron and the company employed 1,500 men in 1929. when the municipal borough of Bradford was created in 1847 there were 46 coal mines within its boundaries. Coal output continued to expand, reaching a peak in 1868 when Bradford contributed a quarter of all the coal and iron produced in Yorkshire.
The population of the township in 1841 was 34,560.
In 1825 the wool-combers union called a strike that lasted five-months but workers were forced to return to work through hardship leading to the introduction of machine-combing. This Industrial Revolution led to rapid growth, with wool imported in vast quantities for the manufacture of worsted cloth in which Bradford specialised, and the town soon became known as the wool capital of the world.
A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of Bradford Moor Barracks in 1844.
Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and a county borough in 1888, making it administratively independent of the West Riding County Council. It was honoured with city status on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, with Kingston upon Hull and Nottingham. The three had been the largest county boroughs outside the London area without city status. The borough's boundaries were extended to absorb Clayton in 1930, and parts of Rawdon, Shipley, Wharfedale and Yeadon urban districts in 1937.
Bradford had ample supplies of locally mined coal to provide the power that the industry needed. Local sandstone was an excellent resource for building the mills, and with a population of 182,000 by 1850, the town grew rapidly as workers were attracted by jobs in the textile mills. A desperate shortage of water in Bradford Dale was a serious limitation on industrial expansion and improvement in urban sanitary conditions. In 1854 Bradford Corporation bought the Bradford Water Company and embarked on a huge engineering programme to bring supplies of soft water from Airedale, Wharfedale and Nidderdale. By 1882 water supply had radically improved. Meanwhile, urban expansion took place along the routes out of the city towards the Hortons and Bowling and the townships had become part of a continuous urban area by the late 19th century.
A major employer was Titus Salt who in 1833 took over the running of his father's woollen business specialising in fabrics combining alpaca, mohair, cotton and silk. By 1850 he had five mills. However, because of the polluted environment and squalid conditions for his workers Salt left Bradford and transferred his business to Salts Mill in Saltaire in 1850, where in 1853 he began to build the workers' village which has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Henry Ripley was a younger contemporary of Titus Salt. He was managing partner of Edward Ripley & Son Ltd, which owned the Bowling Dye Works. In 1880 the dye works employed over 1000 people and was said to be the biggest dye works in Europe. Like Salt he was a councillor, JP and Bradford MP who was deeply concerned to improve working class housing conditions. He built the industrial Model village of Ripley Ville on a site in Broomfields, East Bowling close to the dye works.
Other major employers were Samuel Lister and his brother who were worsted spinners and manufacturers at Lister's Mill (Manningham Mills). Lister epitomised Victorian enterprise but it has been suggested that his capitalist attitude made trade unions necessary. Unprecedented growth created problems with over 200 factory chimneys continually churning out black, sulphurous smoke, Bradford gained the reputation of being the most polluted town in England. There were frequent outbreaks of cholera and typhoid, and only 30% of children born to textile workers reached the age of fifteen. This extreme level of infant and youth mortality contributed to a life expectancy for Bradford residents of just over eighteen years, which was one of the lowest in the country.
Like many major cities Bradford has been a destination for immigrants. In the 1840s Bradford's population was significantly increased by migrants from Ireland, particularly rural County Mayo and County Sligo, and by 1851 about 10% of the population were born in Ireland, the largest proportion in Yorkshire. Around the middle decades of the 19th century the Irish were concentrated in eight densely settled areas situated near the town centre. One of these was the Bedford Street area of Broomfields, which in 1861 contained 1,162 persons of Irish birth—19% of all Irish born persons in the Borough.
During the 1820s and 1830s, there was immigration from Germany. Many were Jewish merchants and they became active in the life of the town. The Jewish community mostly living in the Manningham area of the town, numbered about 100 families but was influential in the development of Bradford as a major exporter of woollen goods from their textile export houses predominately based in Little Germany and the civic life of Bradford. Charles Semon (1814–1877) was a textile merchant and philanthropist who developed a productive textile export house in the town, he became the first foreign and Jewish mayor of Bradford in 1864. Jacob Behrens (1806–1889) was the first foreign textile merchant to export woollen goods from the town, his company developed into an international multimillion-pound business. Behrens was a philanthropist, he also helped to establish the Bradford chamber of commerce in 1851. Jacob Moser (1839–1922) was a textile merchant who was a partner in the firm Edelstein, Moser and Co, which developed into a successful Bradford textile export house. Moser was a philanthropist, he founded the Bradford Charity Organisation Society and the City Guild of Help. In 1910 Moser became the first Jewish Lord Mayor of Bradford.
Jowett Cars Eight badge
To support the textile mills, a large manufacturing base grew up in the town providing textile machinery, and this led to diversification with different industries thriving side by side. The Jowett Motor Company founded in the early 20th century by Benjamin and William Jowett and Arthur V Lamb, manufactured cars and vans in Bradford for 50 years. The Scott Motorcycle Company was a well known producer of motorcycles and light engines for industry. Founded by Alfred Angas Scott in 1908 as the Scott Engineering Company in Bradford, Scott motorcycles were produced until 1978.
Independent Labour Party
The city played an important part in the early history of the Labour Party. A mural on the back of the Bradford Playhouse in Little Germany commemorates the centenary of the founding of the Independent Labour Party in Bradford in 1893.
Regimental colours
The Bradford Pals were three First World War Pals battalions of Kitchener's Army raised in the city. When the three battalions were taken over by the British Army they were officially named the 16th (1st Bradford), 18th (2nd Bradford), and 20th (Reserve) Battalions, The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment).
On the morning of 1 July 1916, the 16th and 18th Battalions left their trenches in Northern France to advance across no man's land. It was the first hour of the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Of the estimated 1,394 men from Bradford and District in the two battalions, 1,060 were either killed or injured during the ill-fated attack on the village of Serre-lès-Puisieux.
Other Bradford Battalions of The Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire Regiment) involved in the Battle of the Somme were the 1st/6th Battalion (the former Bradford Rifle Volunteers), part of the Territorial Force, based at Belle Vue Barracks in Manningham, and the 10th Battalion (another Kitchener battalion). The 1/6th Battalion first saw action in 1915 at the Battle of Aubers Ridge before moving north to the Yser Canal near Ypres. On the first day of the Somme they took heavy casualties while trying to support the 36th (Ulster) Division. The 10th Battalion was involved in the attack on Fricourt, where it suffered the highest casualty rate of any battalion on the Somme on 1 July and perhaps the highest battalion casualty list for a single day during the entire war. Nearly 60% of the battalion's casualties were deaths.
The 1/2nd and 2/2nd West Riding Brigades, Royal Field Artillery (TF), had their headquarters at Valley Parade in Manningham, with batteries at Bradford, Halifax and Heckmondwike. The 1/2nd Brigade crossed to France with the 1/6th Battalion West Yorks in April 1915. These Territorial Force units were to remain close to each other throughout the war, serving in the 49th (West Riding) Division. They were joined in 1917 by the 2/6th Battalion, West Yorks, and 2/2nd West Riding Brigade, RFA, serving in the 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division.
Recent history
Bradford's Telegraph and Argus newspaper was involved in spearheading the news of the 1936 Abdication Crisis, after the Bishop of Bradford publicly expressed doubts about Edward VIII's religious beliefs (see: Telegraph & Argus#1936 Abdication Crisis).
After the Second World War migrants came from Poland and Ukraine and since the 1950s from Bangladesh, India and particularly Pakistan.
The textile industry has been in decline throughout the latter part of the 20th century. A culture of innovation had been fundamental to Bradford's dominance, with new textile technologies being invented in the city; a prime example being the work of Samuel Lister. This innovation culture continues today throughout Bradford's economy, from automotive (Kahn Design) to electronics (Pace Micro Technology). Wm Morrison Supermarkets was founded by William Morrison in 1899, initially as an egg and butter merchant in Rawson Market, operating under the name of Wm Morrison (Provisions) Limited.
The grandest of the mills no longer used for textile production is Lister Mills, the chimney of which can be seen from most places in Bradford. It has become a beacon of regeneration after a £100 million conversion to apartment blocks by property developer Urban Splash.
In 1989, copies of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses were burnt in the city, and a section of the Muslim community led a campaign against the book. In July 2001, ethnic tensions led to rioting, and a report described Bradford as fragmented and a city of segregated ethnic communities.
The Yorkshire Building Society opened its new headquarters in the city in 1992.
In 2006 Wm Morrison Supermarkets opened its new headquarters in the city, the firm employs more than 5,000 people in Bradford.
In June 2009 Bradford became the world's first UNESCO City of Film and became part of the Creative Cities Network since then. The city has a long history of producing both films and the technology that produces moving film which includes the invention of the Cieroscope, which took place in Manningham in 1896.
In 2010 Provident Financial opened its new headquarters in the city. The company has been based in the city since 1880.
In 2012 the British Wool Marketing Board opened its new headquarters in the city. Also in 2012 Bradford City Park opened, the park which cost £24.5 million to construct is a public space in the city centre which features numerous fountains and a mirror pool surrounded by benches and a walk way.
In 2015 The Broadway opened, the shopping and leisure complex in the centre of Bradford cost £260 million to build and is owned by Meyer Bergman.
In 2022, Bradford was named the UK City of Culture 2025, beating Southampton, Wrexham and Durham. The UK City of Culture bid, as of 2023, was expected to majorly stimulate the local economy and culture as well as attracting tourism to the city. By 2025, the UK City of Culture bid is expected to support potential economic growth of £389 million to the city of Bradford as well as to the surrounding local areas, creating over 7,000 jobs, attracting a significant amount of tourists to the city and providing thousands of performance opportunities for local artists.
Enough to strike fear into the heart of any prisoner ; this portrait of the devil with his tongue hanging out, looks down from the corner of Edward Goudge's magnificent plasterwork ceiling in the courtroom of Sessions House, Northampton. According to local tradition , if the prisoner ( or, presumably, a witness) told a lie, then the devil's tongue would start to wag.
The last two women to be hanged in England for witchcraft, Elinor Shaw and Mary Phillips, both of Oundle, were tried here in 1705. They at least are two people who may well have believed the story.
Interior Doors, Fresco, Plasterwork, Windows and Alcoves with Geometric Plasterwork of the Red Sandstone Jahangiri Mahal Palace of Agra Fort (Qila-i-Akbari) (Actually Built by the Mughal Emperor Akbar, designed by Qasim Khan Mir Barr-wa-Bahr, 1565AD-1573AD)
Architecture of India
Buildings of India
Art of India
Crafts of India
Forts of India
Palaces of India
Archaeology of India
Cities of India
Agra
Uttar Pradesh
India
The Jahangiri Mahal is mostly built of lakhauri brick faced with red sandstone. The brick is only visible where the facing has been destroyed.
Taken at Latitude/Longitude:27.177708/78.023134. 0.89 km South-East Belanganj Uttar Pradesh India (Map link)
The plasterwork frieze showing Diana in the Forest. Diana symbolises Queen Elizabeth. It must have been a fairly colourful and bright frieze when the house was first built.
The house was built for the possibility of a Royal visit from Elizabeth I. The Royal visit never came.
This room would have been originally used to receive visitors, dine and dance. Bess of Hardwick lay in state here when she died in February 1608. In the 19th century a bed was set up for a time in the bay. Although I cannot imagine that this would be a particularly warm bedroom.
Lanhydrock is the perfect country house and estate, with the feel of a wealthy but unpretentious family home. Follow in the footsteps of generations of the Robartes family, walking in the 17th-century Long Gallery among the rare book collection under the remarkable plasterwork ceiling. After a devastating fire in 1881 the house was refurbished in the high-Victorian style, with the latest mod cons. Boasting the best in country-house design and planning, the kitchens, nurseries and servants' quarters offer a thrilling glimpse into life 'below stairs', while the spacious dining room and bedrooms are truly and deeply elegant
Lanhydrock is the perfect country house and estate, with the feel of a wealthy but unpretentious family home. Follow in the footsteps of generations of the Robartes family, walking in the 17th-century Long Gallery among the rare book collection under the remarkable plasterwork ceiling. After a devastating fire in 1881 the house was refurbished in the high-Victorian style, with the latest mod cons. Boasting the best in country-house design and planning, the kitchens, nurseries and servants' quarters offer a thrilling glimpse into life 'below stairs', while the spacious dining room and bedrooms are truly and deeply elegant
The classical church at Gunton, tucked away in the grounds of the private Gunton Hall, but accessible to visitors and cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust.
The church was commissioned in 1767 from the great architect Robert Adam (the only church he ever designed) to replace a previously demolished medieval building. The classical temple facade and portico along with the clean simplicity of the interior (which would look more at home in a City of London church) are a real surprise in this very rural Norfolk setting.
The church is usually kept open and welcoming for visitors, though requires access via otherwise very private looking lanes in the grounds of neighbouring Gunton Hall.
For more see below:-
Lanhydrock is the perfect country house and estate, with the feel of a wealthy but unpretentious family home. Follow in the footsteps of generations of the Robartes family, walking in the 17th-century Long Gallery among the rare book collection under the remarkable plasterwork ceiling. After a devastating fire in 1881 the house was refurbished in the high-Victorian style, with the latest mod cons. Boasting the best in country-house design and planning, the kitchens, nurseries and servants' quarters offer a thrilling glimpse into life 'below stairs', while the spacious dining room and bedrooms are truly and deeply elegant
The Great Drawing Room on the first floor is part of the original state rooms. Its ceiling dates to the early seventeenth century.
The Hall of the Abencerrajes (Sala de los Abencerrajes) is located in front of the Hall of the Two Sisters (Sala de Dos Hermanas). The walls have plasterwork covers and a tile skirting board from the 16th century, of Renaissance style. A wonderful dome of mocarabes rests on eight pendentives of mocarabes. The windows that are where the dome starts let a faint light filter through and illuminate the mocarabes creating a magic atmosphere.
The Alhambra is an ancient palace, fortress and citadel located in Granada, Spain. It was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1984.
The eighth-century-old site was named for the reddish walls and towers that surrounded the citadel — al-qal’a al-hamra in Arabic means red fort or castle. It is the only surviving palatine city of the Islamic Golden Age and a remnant of the Nasrid Dynasty, the last Islamic kingdom in Western Europe.
The Alhambra is located on the Sabika hill — a strategic vantage point that provides views of the city and plain of Granada. The Alhambra complex had three main sections: The Alcazaba, a military base that housed guards and their families; the palatial zone, which contained several palaces for the sultan and his kin; and the Medina, a quarter where court officials lived and worked.