Batley
West Yorkshire
It is situated 6 miles west-north-west of Wakefield, 8 miles north-east of Huddersfield, 8 miles south-west of Leeds, 8 miles south-east of Bradford and 9 miles east of Halifax.
Batley is also just 2 miles from West Yorkshire's 6th most populated town Dewsbury, with which, since 1974, it has been joined as part of the large Huddersfield-based metropolitan district of Kirklees, the seventh-largest metropolitan authority in the country.
Despite the proximity to its neighbour, Batley had proudly been, until 1974, quite a substantial borough in its own right, with its town centre surrounded by a dozen districts and with a fine town hall, which was opened next to its Market Square in 1853. Batley Town Hall still offers a concert hall and popular venue for community groups.
Batley was already in existence at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 as Bateleia, but was then a small settlement of 11 households, this including the local priest.
Modest growth in the town's size saw the founding of Batley Grammar School in 1612, a school still in existence today.
Batley is also famous for its biscuits. It was in 1853 that Michael Spedding started making brandy snaps at his Batley bakery. His son-in-law Fred Ellis Fox took over in 1897 and the name of Fox's continues as one of Britain's best-known biscuit brands to this day and still has one of its bakeries in Batley, where it is based.
Another claim to fame for Batley began in 1967 when it became the unlikely location of a Las Vegas-inspired nightclub, the Batley Variety Club, which attracted many of the top entertainers of the era. A club continued under new names from the late 1970s, most famously as The Frontier, which closed its doors in 2016 to become a gym.
Town features

















Travel
Batley station Station Road
Station managed by: NORTHERN. Operator/s: NORTHERN, TRANSPENNINE EXPRESS.

Link to Northern - external website providing information on all services at this station.
Bus travel
Buses operate from Batley Bus Station in St James Street and from stops including in nearby Commercial Street nearby.
Metro - Batley Bus Station
Link to Metro - external web page with details of services and buses at this bus station.
Road travel
Batley can be reached via the A652 B6123 B6124 B6128
Places to Visit
Oakwell Hall and Country Park
Nutter Lane, BirstallFind out more at the

with further information at the

Locate on map:

Spen Valley Greenway
Dewsbury to OakenshawThe Greenway is a disused railway route which once provided Bradford with a direct and faster route to other parts of Yorkshire and towards London as well as connecting the densely populated areas of Cleckheaton, Liversedge and Heckmondwike with major towns and cities. Today it is a pleasant green corridor providing an escape from the mass of traffic on the poor local road network increasingly pressured by a growing need to commute to big cities. The Greenway offers views towards distant moors and is home to a number of sculptures including a flock of sheep made from industrial scrap and a circle of 40 giant steel hoops. The traffic-free route forms part of Route 66 of the National Cycle Network, providing a gentle ascent from the edge of Dewsbury to Oakenshaw on the outskirts of Bradford.
National Coal Mining Museum for England
The National Coal Mining Museum for England is mid-way between
More details at the

Whistlestop Valley formerly Kirklees Light Railway
Whistelstop Valley is a rebranding of the Kirklees Light Railway, a 15-inch-gauge light railway on the trackbed of the former Clayton West branch line from the Huddersfield-Penistone-Sheffield line. The branch had survived the Beeching axe of the 1960s but eventually closed to coal traffic in 1979 and passengers from the large commuter villages of
More information at the

Yorkshire Sculpture Park
West Bretton
The Yorkshire Sculpture Park is the UK's leading open-air sculpture gallery, situated at More information at the
Yorkshire Sculpture Park website.

Find on map:
Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Peak District National Park
The vast area of the Peak District National Park extends into southern and western parts of the Kirklees district near Holme, Meltham and Marsden. Buses run from Holmfirth into the National Park, which stretches from Yorkshire into Derbyshire and beyond. For more details see our
Emergency services
West Yorkshire Police 
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Local government
Metropolitan district council
Kirklees Council covers a large metropolitan district based in
They include those in the former county borough of
Kirklees Council is made up of 69 councillors with three councillors per ward in 23 wards. Councillors are elected for four-year terms with one-third involved in elections in three out of four years. Councillors elect a Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Kirklees each year.
Link to
Kirklees Council website.

Political composition after the May 2022 election:
County strategic authority
West Yorkshire Combined Authority
Covers some combined services of the five metropolitan district councils of






Operates with elected mayor Tracy Brabin as chairman and as decision-maker for some responsibilities after May 2021 election.

Police and Crime Commissioner
The Police and Crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire
This role has become one of the many responsibilities of the West Yorkshire elected mayor since May 2021.

Fire Authority
West Yorkshire Fire Authority
The fire authority is made up of elected members of each of the five metropolitan district councils of West Yorkshire - Bradford, Calderdale, Leeds, Kirklees and Wakefield.

Ceremonial county
West Yorkshire
Historic
-1974 Within the West Riding of Yorkshire