page_title: Addingham
section_title: 19th century: Thriving textile industry
hierarchical_section_title: Addingham / History / 19th century: Thriving textile industry
caption_attribution_description: English: West Hall Suspension Bridge, Addingham Suspension footbridge crossing the River Wharfe near West Hall, Addingham. The current structure replaced the original 1895 bridge which was washed away in a flood in 1935.
context_page_description: Addingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of West Yorkshire. It is situated near the A65, 6 miles south east of Skipton, 3 miles west of Ilkley, 19 miles north west of Bradford and around 20 miles north west of Leeds. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is located in the valley of the River Wharfe and is only 1 mile from the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The name is thought to mean "homestead associated with a man called Adda", although in the Domesday Book, the village was referred to as "Ediham", which may have referred to Earl Edwin of Bolton Abbey. The 2001 census numbered Addingham's population at 3,599, increasing to 3,730 at the 2011 Census.
  The area around Addingham is thought to have been populated from at least Bronze Age times, indicated by the 'cup and ring' carved stones that can be found on Addingham Moor. Its beginnings may date back to the late Mesolithic period, as evidenced by the scattered remains of early flint tools across Rombald's Moor to the south.
context_section_description: The start of the 19th century saw the textile industry begin to thrive in the village – existing mills, such as the one at High Mill which had been built in 1787 to produce corn, were converted and extended and used for linen, cotton, worsted and finally silk spinning, while other new mills were built, such as Town Head Mill and Fentimans, the latter of which was built in 1802 originally to spin cotton and was later converted into a sawmill in the 1860s. Several small workshops were also built, as well as three storey high workers' houses, in which the lower two floors would be for domestic use, and the top floor would house the looms, with inter-connecting doors along the row of houses. These buildings still exist today, and examples can be seen on Stockinger Lane.
  In 1826, Low Mill, now under the tenancy of Jeremiah Horsfall, was the scene of a Luddite uprising.
  In the census reports between 1831 and 1861, it was reported that there was a dramatic decline in the population of the village, and the 1841 census stated that this was due to the closure of Low Mill. In the 1851 census, so many of the houses at Low Mill were reported as empty that it is assumed that the mill remained closed until then. By 1861, hand loom weavers had practically disappeared. However, shortly afterwards, Samuel Cunliffe Lister re-opened Low Mill, with commercial operations being handled at Piece Hall at 19 Main Street.
  In 1875, the Lord of the Manor, Richard Smith of London, proposed the construction of 20 streets, each with 40 to 50 houses. Small shops lined the Main Street, such as grocers, greengrocers and butchers. An Addingham co-operative society was formed; it prospered sufficiently to buy land on Bolton Road and build new premises and a row of cottages. The old ferry which brought parishioners from Beamsley was replaced by a foot bridge, and around about the same time a horse-drawn bus service to Ilkley was introduced.
  By the end of the 19th century, there were five operating mills in the village, three of them owned by Lister, and the village was thriving again.
caption: Suspension bridge crossing the River Wharfe near West Hall, Addingham. The current structure replaced the original 1895 bridge which was washed away in a flood in 1935.
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