KeighleyWeb-Hub

In 2005 , Keighley will celebrate 700 years of having a market charter, for on 17th October 1305, King Edward I granted the privilege to Henry de Kighley (Keighley), who held the title of "Steward and Master Forester of Blackburnshire, under the Earl of Lincoln", a market charter to "hold a Market, Fair, and Free Warren in Keighley".

The Charter, (numbered 33), was to be witnessed by The earls of Gloucester & Hertford, Hereford & Essex, Lincoln, Pembroke and Winchester, and also the Bishop of Coventry & Lichfield.

It reads:
"Know ye that we have granted and by this our Charter have confirmed to our beloved and faithful Henry de Kighley, that he and his heirs may have one market on every seventh day, being Wednesday, at his Manor of Keighley in the county of York, and one fair therein every year lasting three days, namely: one the eve on that day and on the following of St. Simon and St. Jude, unless that market and that fair be to the injury of neighbouring fairs. And that they may have free warren in all demesne lands of the manor aforesaid; but so neverless that those lands may not be in the boundaries of our forests, so that no one may enter those lands for the purpose of chasing in or over them, or of taking anything which may pertain to the warren, without the license of the said Henry or his heirs under the penalty to our forest court of ten pounds. Wherefore we will and firmly determine for us and for all our heirs, that the said Henry and his heirs may have the aforesaid market and fair upon his said manor, with all liberties and free customs to that kind of market and fair belonging, Etc. Given under our hands at Westminster, 17th day of October, one thousand and three hundred and five".

For but a few occasions during times of plague, (when it was held at Exley Head), the market was held on the Church Green, but in November 1833, it was relocated a short distance to the area which is now a car park.

This new location lasted 138 years, when in 1971, the present indoor market was opened.

The market did return during the mid 1980's to the previous location whilst the indoor market was receiving a much needed new roof and modernisation.

The right to hold the market had passed down the line of Henry de Kighley until it reached the ownership of the Duke of Devonshire who, in 1929 commissioned Chatsworth Estates Co.. to let it known that he was to offer the rights of the market for sale. The then Keighley Corporation expressed a wish to purchase the rights but withdrew their interest in June 1930 when the price was £68,000 was considered too high.

A market company, comprising of six shareholders, who had in 1847 obtained an 85 year lease to trade at the market from the then Lord of the Manor, the Earl of Burlington, then purchased the rights and market property for a undisclosed sum.

In 1949, the Keighley Town Council finally purchased the rights and property to the market for the sum of £60,000. With the advent of the 1974 reconstruction of local government and the loss of an independent Keighley, the market passed into the hands of the Metropolitan Council of the City of Bradford.

Hopefully soon, Keighley Town Council may be granted back the right to hold market again.


Description of the Town Coat of Arms By Ian Dewhirst	The Herald's College granted the Borough Arms of Keighley on February 7th, 1883, after the incorporation of the borough by Royal Charter on July 28th, 1882. This version of the Keighley Coat of Arms was drawn by Christopher Kelly in 2001 and is the Keighley WebSites version, not the official Coat of Arms. The dragon's head was the crest of the ancient knightly family of Kighley which held the manor for sixteen generations. Edward I, in the 33rd year of his reign (1305) granted them a Market Charter. The last male representative, Henry Kighley. died in 1567, leaving two daughters as co-heirs. "Anne, the elder, married (by licence dated March 21st, 1580-I) William Cavendish, esquire, son of Sir Wm. Cavendish of Hardwick, afterwards created Baron Cavendish of Hardwick in 1605, and Earl of Devonshire in 1618; their descendant, the present Duke of Devonshire, is lord of the manor of Keighley". To show the connection between the two families and to emphasise the friendly. relations between them, a serpent. Which is the Cavendish crest, is twined round the head of the dragon and the heads of both animals are turned in the same direction. The circle, which encloses the wavy lines of blue, (known in heraldry as "a fountain"), at the bottom of the crest, is the emblem of water and refers to the situation of Keighley in a well-watered valley, the streams of which flow through the town and used to supply the early factories with waterpower before the steam-engine came into general use. Like the crest, the shield is a combination of the arms of the Keighley and Cavendish families: the black fesse and the silver background belong to the former and the three stags' heads to the latter. The fountain reappears in the fesse and the embattled border indicates the antiquity of the town. The motto may be interpreted in three ways. While recognising the geographical situation of the town on the banks of the Worth, and acknowledging the value of its waters to the town's industry, it presents a moral challenge to the citizens that they should justify themselves "By Worth". Reproduced with permission, *© 1974 Ian Dewhirst*
Keighley in the Domesday Book By Ian Dewhirst	CYHHA, an Old English thane passed otherwise into oblivion, had cultivated a forest clearing and given his name to what we now call Keighley. This the Norman clerks found, whilst compiling William the Conqueror's Domesday Book in 1086: "In Chichelai, Ulchel, and Thole, and Ravensuar, and William had six carucates to be taxed". We are indebted to those Normans for our first written record of the district. The Saxon landscape they surveyed emerges sketchily, its heavily wooded valleys dotted with clearings (-ley and -thwaite place-names). Land was measured by the carucate, traditionally the extent that could be cultivated with one plough and eight oxen in one year - upward of 120 acres, by a probably generous local estimate. In Utley (Utta's clearing). one William was taxed a carucate; William and Gamelbar shared another at Oakworth (oak-tree enclosure). William held carucate at Newsholme (new houses); Ravensuar, two at Laycock (small stream); Ardulf, one at Riddlesden (Rethal's valley) - probably the same Ardulf who, with four carucate at Morton (moorland farmstead), ranked as the locality's biggest landowner; whilst Ernegis had one at Marley (a clearing frequented by martens) and a half at Hainsworth (Hagena's enclosure). "and they are waste", having presumably suffered during the Conqueror's subjection of the North. Reproduced with permission, *© 1974 Ian Dewhirst*
Keighley's Market Charter *By Christopher M Kelly*	In 2005 , Keighley will celebrate 700 years of having a market charter, for on 17th October 1305, King Edward I granted the privilege to Henry de Kighley (Keighley), who held the title of "Steward and Master Forester of Blackburnshire, under the Earl of Lincoln", a market charter to "hold a Market, Fair, and Free Warren in Keighley". The Charter, (numbered 33), was to be witnessed by The earls of Gloucester & Hertford, Hereford & Essex, Lincoln, Pembroke and Winchester, and also the Bishop of Coventry & Lichfield. It reads: "Know ye that we have granted and by this our Charter have confirmed to our beloved and faithful Henry de Kighley, that he and his heirs may have one market on every seventh day, being Wednesday, at his Manor of Keighley in the county of York, and one fair therein every year lasting three days, namely: one the eve on that day and on the following of St. Simon and St. Jude, unless that market and that fair be to the injury of neighbouring fairs. And that they may have free warren in all demesne lands of the manor aforesaid; but so neverless that those lands may not be in the boundaries of our forests, so that no one may enter those lands for the purpose of chasing in or over them, or of taking anything which may pertain to the warren, without the license of the said Henry or his heirs under the penalty to our forest court of ten pounds. Wherefore we will and firmly determine for us and for all our heirs, that the said Henry and his heirs may have the aforesaid market and fair upon his said manor, with all liberties and free customs to that kind of market and fair belonging, Etc. Given under our hands at Westminster, 17th day of October, one thousand and three hundred and five". For but a few occasions during times of plague, (when it was held at Exley Head), the market was held on the Church Green, but in November 1833, it was relocated a short distance to the area which is now a car park. This new location lasted 138 years, when in 1971, the present indoor market was opened. The market did return during the mid 1980's to the previous location whilst the indoor market was receiving a much needed new roof and modernisation. The right to hold the market had passed down the line of Henry de Kighley until it reached the ownership of the Duke of Devonshire who, in 1929 commissioned Chatsworth Estates Co.. to let it known that he was to offer the rights of the market for sale. The then Keighley Corporation expressed a wish to purchase the rights but withdrew their interest in June 1930 when the price was £68,000 was considered too high. A market company, comprising of six shareholders, who had in 1847 obtained an 85 year lease to trade at the market from the then Lord of the Manor, the Earl of Burlington, then purchased the rights and market property for a undisclosed sum. In 1949, the Keighley Town Council finally purchased the rights and property to the market for the sum of £60,000. With the advent of the 1974 reconstruction of local government and the loss of an independent Keighley, the market passed into the hands of the Metropolitan Council of the City of Bradford. Hopefully soon, Keighley Town Council may be granted back the right to hold market again. *© 2004 Christopher M Kelly*
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