Robin Hood's Grave

Robin Hood's Grave is the name given to a monument in Kirklees Park Estate, West Yorkshire, England, near the now-ruined Kirklees Priory. It is alleged to be the burial place of English folk hero Robin Hood.

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Kirklees Priory

Kirklees Priory was a Cistercian nunnery whose site is in the present-day Kirklees Park, Clifton near Brighouse, Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It was originally in the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Dewsbury. The priory dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St James was founded by Reiner le Fleming, Lord of the manor of Wath upon Dearne, in 1155 during the reign of Henry II. The priory gives its name to the Kirklees metropolitan district council, formed in 1974 and including the towns of Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Batley, though the priory is just outside the district's boundary itself and is in neighbouring Calderdale. Nuns from the priory were involved in scandals between 1306 and 1315. Archbishop of York William Greenfield wrote to the prioress about rumours concerning Alice Raggid, Elizabeth Hopton, and Joan Heton. Rumours implied they had been seeing religious and secular men in the nunnery and their behaviour led to the house being considered one of disrepute. The priory was not dissolved by the Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries Act in 1535, but continued for worship and hospitality. Cecilia Topcliffe was the prioress, and the convent consisted of the nuns who had been there on 4 February 1536, who continued as before the passing of the Act. In 1539, after the Second Act of Dissolution, Joan Kyppes surrendered the priory, which had eight inmates. At the date of surrender the whole property was worth £29 18s. 9d. The site was granted to John Tasburgh and Nicholas Savill; the church and priory buildings were demolished, and the stone was used to build Low Hall, now known as Old Farm. A local inn, The Three Nuns, was named after Cecilia Topclife, Joan Leverthorpe and Katherine Grace, who sought refuge at the site of a guesthouse of the priory and ran it as a hostelry. The present inn was built in 1939 and the site of the guest house is buried under the car park. All that remains of Kirklees Priory are the long double-aisled barn, and parts of the Old Farm House, calf house and the gatehouse; all are still standing as Old Farm. They are all Grade I listed buildings. The gatehouse was on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register, but following extensive repair work was removed from the list. The landscaping of Kirklees Park was surveyed by the landscape gardener, Francis Richardson, in 1757. It contains a collection of medieval buildings preserved by the Armytage family since the 16th century. The priory is featured in the medieval legend of Robin Hood. According to the ballad Robin Hood's Death, Robin was killed by the prioress of Kirklees. She was medically treating Robin via bleeding, but treacherously drained too much of his blood instead. A monument in the woods near the River Calder claims to be Robin Hood's Grave.

Cooper Bridge railway station

Cooper Bridge was a railway station built by the Manchester and Leeds Railway to serve the town of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England.

Huddersfield Broad Canal

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 (6 km) 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.

Kirklees Hall

Kirklees Hall is a 16th-century Grade I listed Jacobean hall, close to the English village of Clifton in Calderdale, West Yorkshire. The first evidence of a hall constructed at Kirklees was that of Sir Thomas Gargrave, who conveyed the property to the Pilkington family. After the estate was acquired by the up-and-coming Armytage family, the stone built hall was altered c.1770 by John Carr for the Sir George Armytage, 3rd Baronet. The Armytage family went on to occupy the hall for several generations. Lady Armytage (d: 2008 aged 81), sold the property in 1983 and moved into Priory Gardens a property she built within Kirklees Park estate adjacent to Old Farm (formerly Low Hall) and the Kirklees Priory site. The former gatehouse part of the Old Farm (Low Hall) complex can still be seen, though the site is on private land and has no public access. Kirklees Hall and grounds designed after Francis Richardson are now a collection of luxury residences set in 18 acres and are annexed from Kirklees Park estate which are private with no public access.