Our village has history, history that we should all know when living in Drighlington. We are proud to have our War Memorial site in the heart of the village, learn more about our wonderful village.

Our Village

Overview of Drighlington History

*Taken from Wikipedia

The earliest mention of Drighlington is to be found in the Domesday Book where it is described as “Dreslintone”, and its modern name is derived from this root. The Roman road from York to Chester through the village and its mark may be seen in the more or less straight run from Birkenshaw to Drighlington traffic lights. In 1576 Queen Elizabeth I granted Letters of Patent to one James Brooke allowing him to hold a market every second Thursday and two horse and cattle fairs annually.

The village is also the site of the Battle of Adwalton Moor fought on 30 June 1643 in the First English Civil War between the armies of King Charles I and the Parliamentarians. The Royalist army under the Earl of Newcastle defeated the Parliamentarians under the command of Lord Ferdinando Fairfax and his son Sir Thomas. There are four commemorative stones with plaques depicting the battle at strategic points around the common and there is an information board on the wall of the community hall.

Image 1: A plaque that depicts the battle which is shown on the moor. Image 2: William Cavendish, Earl of Newcastle (Royalist) Image 3: Sir Thomas Fairfax (Parliamentary Commander)

A more in-depth version of the battle of Adwalton Moor can be found here.

James Margetson, a native of Drighlington, built and endowed the Drighlington Free Grammar School and endowed it (1678). It was replaced in 1875 by the Drighlington Board School. The school today has now been turned into homes but still has still kept the original character of the school. The current local primary school which is on Moorland Road paid tribute to the greats in their logo design.

The emblems within the logo have specific significance. A bishop’s hat reflects James Margetson who was born in Drighlington in 1600. He became Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland. He founded the original school in 1641, leaving a children’s trust. The circle and the crown represent the opposing forces of the Roundheads and Cavaliers who fought on Drighlington Moor in 1643. William Cavendish of the Cavaliers, defeated Sir Thomas Fairfax who was a Parliamentarian Roundhead. The cross represents Reverend Hammond, who built a Sunday school, vicarage and church in 1878. Children are taught about these local historic characters. We divide the school into four “sports house groups” (Margetson, Cavendish, Fairfax and Hammond) to commemorate the contribution to our community made by these historic people.

War Memorial

The village’s War Memorial was re-dedicated on Sunday 8th July 2012 after plaques bearing the names of those who died during the First and Second World Wars were added and a new cross put up on the site at the junction of Whitehall Road and Whitehall Grove. The memorial has been in place since 1933
but it has been completely restored with the help of local builder Robert Childe and the names of the men finally put in place.

The afternoon began with a parade, headed by Drighlington Band, through the village to the memorial where a joint service, led by the Rev Mike Godfrey, the Rev David Hulme, Pastor Paul Hinton and the Rev Susan Askey, was attended by around 300 people.

Among those there were Deputy Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire Major F Hardy, the Lord Mayor of Leeds Coun Ann Castle, David Marshall from the Royal British Legion Leeds group and Steven Slater representing Drighlington Parish Council, who laid wreaths at the memorial. Leeds Sea Cadets unit and the Leeds Royal British Legion were also invited, along with the Morley branch of the Legion and the village’s Scouts.

Conductor of Drighlington Band Mr Jim Davis played the Last Post and Reveille.

Over £6,000 was raised for the memorial by Drighlington Parish Council with the help of members of the Royal British Legion and Leeds City Council. Leeds City Councillor Tom Leadley paid tribute to the efforts, saying “Drighlington Parish Council deserves every credit for delivering this challenging project. The memorial was in significant need of refurbishment and the Parish Council has led the campaign to pull together different funding partners to deliver something special.”

Derek Lacey from Drighlington Parish Council said: “It was lovely for Drighlington village. It’s important that we properly remember these men.”

As you can see Drighlington has a History and we should be very proud to live within the village and our community. Please take a look at some of the images below of how it currently looks.