Discover 20 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Huddersfield (United Kingdom). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Huddersfield Art Gallery, Kirklees Stadium, and Castle Hill. Also, be sure to include Huddersfield Town Hall in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Huddersfield (England).
Table of Contents
Huddersfield Art Gallery
Art gallery in Huddersfield, England. The Huddersfield Art Gallery is an art gallery in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, northern England. It is currently owned and operated by Kirklees Council.[1]
Kirklees Stadium
Stadium in Huddersfield, England. Kirklees Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of football club Huddersfield Town and rugby league side Huddersfield Giants, both of whom moved from Leeds Road.
The stadium was a venue at the Rugby League World Cup in 1995, 2000 and 2013, in addition to the 1999 Rugby World Cup. It is owned by both clubs, as well as Kirklees Council. Its naming rights have passed from constructors Alfred McAlpine to pharmaceutical company Galpharm International in 2004, then to John Smith's Brewery eight years later.[2]
Address: Stadium Way, HD1 6PG Huddersfield (Dalton)
Castle Hill
997-foot historic hilltop tower. Castle Hill is a scheduled ancient monument in Almondbury overlooking Huddersfield in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. The hilltop has been settled for at least 4,000 years. The scheduled monument comprises the remains of a late-Bronze Age or early Iron Age univallate hillfort with a single raised bank, a later Iron Age multivallate hillfort, a 12th-century motte-and-bailey castle, and the site of a deserted medieval village. The grade II listed Victoria Tower on the summit of Castle Hill is by far the most conspicuous landmark in Huddersfield. The hill has been a place of recreation for hundreds of years and the easily discernible remains of past occupation have made it a subject for legend, speculation and scientific study. It is located on UK Maps at grid reference SE152140.[3]
Address: Lumb Lane, Almondbury, HD4 6TA Huddersfield (Almondbury)
Huddersfield Town Hall
Huddersfield Town Hall is a municipal facility in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. It is a Grade II listed building.[4]
George Hotel
Building in Huddersfield, England. The George Hotel in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, is a Grade II listed building famous as the birthplace of rugby league football in 1895. The 60 bed hotel was built in 1851 and closed in January 2013, with the receivers looking for a new buyer.
The three-star rated George Hotel, which has an Italianate façade, was designed by William Walker. The Victorian era hotel was built around 1851.[5]
Tolson Museum
Historical and natural history exhibits. The Tolson Memorial Museum, also known as Tolson Museum, is housed in Ravensknowle Hall, a Victorian mansion in Ravensknowle Park on Wakefield Road in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. The museum was given to the town by Legh Tolson in memory of his two nephews who were killed in the First World War. Originally a natural history museum, it is run by Kirklees Council and has a wide range of exhibits related to the area's cultural and industrial history.[6]
Address: Wakefield Rd, HD5 8DJ Huddersfield (Almondbury)
The Parish
Building in Huddersfield, England. St Peter's Church, also known as Huddersfield Parish Church, is a Church of England parish church in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. There has been a church on the site since the 11th century, but the current building dates from 1836. It is situated on the Kirkgate near Southgate in the centre of the town. It is a Grade II* listed building.[7]
Address: 28 Kirkgate, HD1 1QQ Huddersfield (Newsome)
St Patrick's Church
Parish church in Huddersfield, England. St Patrick's Church is a Roman Catholic church in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. It serves the Parish of the Holy Redeemer in the Deanery of Huddersfield, in the Diocese of Leeds.
Built in 1832 for use as a parish church, it was designed by Joseph Kaye, an architect from Bradford. It is situated on the junction between New North Road and Castlegate in the centre of the town. It is a Grade II listed building.[8]
Colne Valley Museum
Museum in Golcar, England. The Colne Valley Museum is located within the Colne Valley at Golcar, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. The museum consists of four converted 19th century weavers' cottages. The museum provides an insight into what life was like for a weaver in the early 1850s. The museum includes a clog maker's workshop, a handloom chamber, a spinning room, a cropping room, kitchen and living rooms. The museum is run entirely by voluntary members.[9]
Address: Cliffe Ash, HD7 4PY Huddersfield (Golcar)
Lawrence Batley Theatre
Theatre in Huddersfield, England. The Lawrence Batley Theatre is a theatre in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England which offers drama, music, dance and comedy.
The theatre is named after Lawrence Batley, a local entrepreneur and philanthropist, who founded a nationwide cash and carry chain.
The building was originally built in 1819 as a Methodist chapel, called the Queen Street Chapel. The architect is unknown but the chief mason was Joseph Kaye, the man who was also responsible for Huddersfield station. It was opened on 9 July 1819 and the reporter in the Leeds Mercury described it as "one of the most handsome and commodious chapels in the kingdom; being capable of accommodating 3000 persons, and has been erected at an expense of from 8 to £10,000". The chapel became a mission in 1906 until a decline in numbers saw the mission move out of the building in 1970 to a new building in King Street. In 1973 the building was converted into an arts centre. However serious structural problems were discovered by Kirklees Metropolitan Council in 1975 and the Arts Centre was rehoused into Venn Street Arts Centre and the building remained vacant before being sublet to Novosquash Limited and converted to a squash club known as The Ridings. It also housed a restaurant and a The Catacombs Disco. In 1989 the Kirkless Theatre Trust was given the go ahead to save the building from deterioration and launch Huddersfield's newest theatre. Building work for the theatre started in September 1992 and took 4 years to complete.[10]
Address: Queen St, HD1 2SP Huddersfield (Newsome)
Holy Trinity Church
Holy Trinity Church is a Church of England parish church in the town of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1819 and is a grade II* listed building. The church is situated just off Trinity Street, named after the church and forming part of the main A640 road from Huddersfield to Rochdale, and is just outside the town centre, in the suburb of Marsh. The parish forms part of the diocese of Leeds.[11]
Address: Trinity St, HD1 4DT Huddersfield (Greenhead)
Greenhead Park
Park in Huddersfield, England. Greenhead Park is an urban park located 0.5 miles west of the town centre of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It is one of the largest parks in Huddersfield and was originally opened in 1884. It is an English Heritage grade II listed property and is also in a Conservation Area.
It is a very popular park, attracting an estimated 250,000 visitors each year. It is popular with visitors from all walks of life, including students at lunchtime from the local colleges—Greenhead College and Kirklees College. The park features tennis courts, a skate park, play area and the last remaining paddling pool in Kirklees. Greenhead Park is also home to Huddersfield Pétanque Club.[12]
Address: Park Drive, Huddersfield (Greenhead)
Colne Bridge
Bridge. Colne Bridge is an historic 18th-century bridge near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. A Grade II listed stone-built arch bridge, it spans the River Colne between Bradley and Kirkheaton. A Colne Bridge was mentioned in the Fountains Abbey records of the 12th century. It gave its name to a village, and also to Colne Bridge Mill which was destroyed by fire in 1818.
According to Ted Ruddock, Colne Bridge may have been the design inspiration for John Smeaton's work on the Blackfriars Bridge.[13]
Church of St Mark
Parish church. The former St Mark's Church, Old Leeds Road, Huddersfield, was an Anglican parish church in West Yorkshire, England. It was previously known as St Mark's, Leeds Road, before the road name was changed. This building was designed in 1886 by William Swinden Barber when the parish of St Peter's was split and a new building was required to accommodate a growing congregation. It was opened in 1887. Among the vicars posted in this benefice were the very popular Canon Percy Holbrook, the notoriously unfortunate Reverend Jonas Pilling who was involved in a standoff with his congregation for many years, the sociable Reverend Robert Alfred Humble who died in mysterious circumstances, and the eloquent preacher Reverend Joseph Miller, who had previously been a Congregational minister. The building was sold by the Church of England in 2001, and it has been converted into a block of offices.[14]
Huddersfield Narrow Canal
The Huddersfield Narrow Canal is an inland waterway in northern England. It runs just under 20 miles from Lock 1E at the rear of the University of Huddersfield campus, near Aspley Basin in Huddersfield, to the junction with the Ashton Canal at Whitelands Basin in Ashton-under-Lyne. It crosses the Pennines by means of 74 locks and the Standedge Tunnel.[15]
Turnbridge Lift Bridge
Bridge in Huddersfield, England. The Turnbridge Lift Bridge is a lift bridge which spans the Huddersfield Broad Canal at Turnbridge, Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Officially known as Turnbridge, it is bridge number 17 on the Huddersfield Broad Canal.
Located at Quay Street, off St Andrews road, it opened in 1865 and replaced an earlier swing bridge. A combination of wheels, chains and counter-weights were used to lift the deck of the bridge out of the way of passing canal barges.
Previously windlass operated, it was refurbished in 2002 and is now electrically powered.[16]
St Thomas's Church
Church in Huddersfield, England. St Thomas's Church is a Church of England church in the Diocese of Leeds. It is situated in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England and is a Grade II* listed building. The church was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and built between 1857 and 1859. It was consecrated in 1859 and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2009.
St Thomas's stands in the Modern Catholic tradition of the Church of England. As the parish rejects the ordination of women, it receives alternative episcopal oversight from the Bishop of Wakefield (currently Tony Robinson).[17]
Greenhead College
Sixth form college in Huddersfield, England. Greenhead College is a sixth form college, and former grammar school, located in Huddersfield, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. The current principal is Simon Lett. With over 2300 students, it is a large sixth form college, attracting students from as far afield as Wakefield, Manchester, Barnsley, Bradford, Leeds, Halifax, Wetherby and even Wales. It is located next to Greenhead Park which is one of the largest parks in Huddersfield.[18]
Address: Greenhead College, Greenhead Rd, HD1 4ES Huddersfield (Greenhead)
Huddersfield Broad Canal
Canal in England. The Huddersfield Broad Canal or Sir John Ramsden's Canal, is a wide-locked navigable canal in West Yorkshire in northern England. The waterway is 3.75 miles long and has 9 wide locks. It follows the valley of the River Colne and connects the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Cooper Bridge junction with the Huddersfield Narrow Canal near Aspley Basin in Huddersfield.
Construction was authorised in 1774, and the canal opened two years later. It became part of a trans-Pennine route in 1811 when the Huddersfield Narrow Canal joined it at Aspley Basin. Traffic was hampered by the long narrowboats used on the narrow canal that could not use Ramsden's Canal's shorter locks. Goods were transhipped at Aspley Basin, and although shorter narrowboats were built, its success as a trans-Pennine route was overshadowed by the Rochdale Canal which had wide locks throughout and joined the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Sowerby Bridge. The canal passed into railway ownership in 1845, but prospered into the 20th century. Railway ownership ceased in 1945, when it was bought by the Calder and Hebble Navigation, at which point the narrow canal across the Pennines was abandoned. The broad canal carried commercial traffic, particularly coal for power stations, until 1953.
After the formation of British Waterways in 1962, the canal was designated a cruiseway in 1968, which meant that it was mainly for leisure traffic. Use of the canal has increased significantly since the Huddersfield Narrow Canal re-opened in 2001, as it is no longer a dead end. Many of its structures have been given listed building status, in recognition of their historic importance.[19]
Woodsome Hall
Woodsome Hall is a 16th-century country house in the parish of Almondbury, near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It is now the clubhouse of Woodsome Hall Golf Club and a Grade I listed building.
Built in the Elizabethan era as a hall house, Woodsome evolved in stages in the possession of several generations of the local Kaye family. The main hall range is built in two storeys with gabled forward projecting wings and a two storey gabled porch. At the rear of each end are L-shaped extensions forming a courtyard with a fountain.[20]