Batley Carr

Coordinates: 53°42′27″N 1°38′35″W / 53.707619°N 1.64319°W / 53.707619; -1.64319

Batley Carr, West Yorkshire, England is a district partly in Dewsbury and partly in Batley, on the way to Dewsbury, along the A652, Bradford Road.Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the population is about 3,740. Crime is around the national average.

Batley Carr housed the workers from the mills of Dewsbury, Batley and Batley Carr. As the settlement expanded, with the growth of textiles, there was a necessity for its own railway station (Staincliffe and Batley Carr railway station). The red brick station master's house still stands but is now a private residence.

However, Batley Carr has since dwindled in size and now only has a post office, a few shops (mainly takeaways) and some remaining factories including the British Beds haulage depot. It is near the nightclub 'The Frontier'. Public houses and working men's clubs are still popular.

Shannon Matthews, who disappeared from Dewsbury Moor on 19 February 2008, was found alive on 14 March 2008 in Lidgate Gardens, Batley Carr.

Batley

Coordinates: 53°42′58″N 1°37′37″W / 53.716°N 1.627°W / 53.716; -1.627

Batley is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. It lies 17 miles (27 km) south-east of Bradford, 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Leeds and 1 mile (2 km) north of Dewsbury, near the M62 motorway. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 49,448 (including Birstall). Other nearby towns include: Morley to the north-east, Ossett to the south-east and Brighouse west-south-west. Batley is part of a special EU transformation zone.

History

The name Batley is derived from Danish, meaning either valley or homestead of bats, or more likely, homestead of the locally prominent Batte family. It is recorded in the Domesday Book as 'Bateleia'. After the Norman Conquest, the manor was granted to Elbert de Lacy. It subsequently passed into the ownership of the de Batleys, and by the 12th century had passed by marriage to the Copley family. Their residence at Batley Hall was held directly from the Crown; at this time the district fell within the Duchy of Lancaster. The population at this time was 30 to 40 people. By the late 14th century, the population has increased to around 100.