Batley, United Kingdom

Methodism came to Batley in the 1740s through the evangelism of John Nelson, a lay preacher from Birstall and frequent companion of the movement's founder John Wesley. Two leading figures in the early Methodist movement, John William Fletcher and Mary Bosanquet, were married at All Saints Church in Batley in 1781. By the 1780s meetings were being held in the town and the first Methodist chapel was established around 1800.

During the late 18th century, the main occupations in the town were farming and weaving. The Industrial Revolution reached Batley in 1796 with the arrival of its first water powered mills for carding and spinning. During the next half century the population grew rapidly, from around 2,500 at the start of the 19th century to 9,308 at the 1851 census. The parish of Batley at this point included Morley, Churwell and Gildersome, with a total population of 17,359.

Before the industrial revolution, wool was made in Batley for centuries as a cottage industry. Samuel Jubb, a 19th-century mill owner and local historian, noted that this was "a manufacture for which the place is well adapted, on account of its possessing a good supply of water and coal, and its central situation in relation to the principal local markets, being about equidistant from Leeds, Huddersfield, Bradford, Halifax, and Wakefield." The water he referred to was not the beck but the large aquifer beneath the town, which was tapped for cleaning and dying wool.

A toll road built in 1832 between Gomersal and Dewsbury had a branch to Batley (the present day Branch Road) which allowed for "the growing volumes of wool, cloth and coal" to be transported. Until then there had only been foot and cart tracks. Around the same time there were strikes in the mills, which led to an influx of Irish workers who settled permanently. Initially this led to antagonism from residents, due to the lower wages paid to the Irish workers and general anti-Roman Catholic sentiment, but this faded in time. By 1853 Catholic services were held regularly in the town; its first Roman Catholic church, St Mary of the Angels, was not built until 1870 and is still in existence.

By 1848 there was a railway station in Batley, and in 1853 Batley Town Hall was erected. It was enlarged in 1905, and is in the Neoclassical style, with a corbelled parapet and pilasters rising to a centre pediment. In 1868 Batley was incorporated as a municipal borough, the former urban district of Birstall was added to it in 1937.

1853 also saw the establishment of a small confectionery shop by Michael Spedding. His business expanded, moving to larger premises in 1927 becoming Fox's Biscuits. Today, along with Tesco, it is one of the largest employers in the town.

During the late 19th century, Batley was the centre of the shoddy and mungo trade in which wool, rags and clothes were recycled by reweaving them into blankets, carpets and uniforms. In 1861 there were at least 30 shoddy mills in Batley. The owners of the recycling businesses were known as the "shoddy barons". There was a "shoddy king" and a "shoddy temple", properly known as the Zion Chapel. This imposing building in the town centre was opened in 1870, and reflected the popularity of the Methodist movement. The chapel is still active today. In 1875 local woman Ann Ellis led a weavers strike against the shoddy mill owners who were planning to reduce wages.

At the close of the 19th century, growth in population changed the form of governmental institutions above the parish of Batley; the Morley division of the wapentake of Agbrigg and Morley was disused as special purpose districts were formed.

The library was built in 1907 with funds donated by the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The library has been modernised, with a microfilm viewer, and reels of the Batley News dating back 120 years. The newspaper was founded by James Fearnsides – a local printer. His grandson, Clement, later became the mayor of Batley. The first records of coal mining in Batley date back to the 16th century at White Lee; the last pit in the town closed in 1973.

On the nights of 14 and 15 March 1941, the West Yorkshire area as a whole was subject to a Nazi air raid. Batley came through relatively unscathed with one unexploded ordnance being located near the Healey Mill area (opposite Healey Community Centre to be precise) whilst Cleckheaton, located 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north-west, suffered from seven bombs that exploded as intended. Leeds, located 6 miles (9.7 km) north-east, went through two nights of damage as, "The raid caused more than 100 serious fires, damaged over 4,500 buildings and resulted in 65 people losing their lives."