Horsforth

Coordinates: 53°50′03″N 1°38′34″W / 53.83413°N 1.64288°W / 53.83413; -1.64288

Horsforth is a town and civil parish within the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, in West Yorkshire, England, lying to the north west of Leeds. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 18,928. Horsforth was considered to have the largest population of any village in the United Kingdom during the latter part of the 19th century. It became part of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in 1974, and became a civil parish with town council in 1999.

History

Horsforth was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Horseford, Horseforde, Hoseforde; but late-ninth-century coins with the legend ORSNA FORD and OHSNA FORD may have come from Horsforth. The name derives from Old English hors or, to judge from the coins, *horsa ('horse') in the genitive plural form horsa/horsna + ford 'ford', thus meaning 'horses' ford'. This refers to a river crossing on the River Aire that was subsequently used to transport woollen goods to and from Pudsey, Shipley and Bradford. The original ford was situated off Calverley Lane, but was replaced by a stone footbridge at the turn of the 19th century.