Emley is a village in the parish of Denby Dale, in the Kirklees district of West Yorkshire, England. It is between Huddersfield and Wakefield. In 2011 it has a population of 1,497. It is east of Huddersfield and west of Wakefield. The village dates from Anglo-Saxon times and is on high ground, close to the Emley Moor transmitting station.
History
The name "Emley" is derived from an Old English personal name, Em(m)a or Eama, and lēah, a wood or woodland clearing. The village was recorded as Amalaie and Amelai in the 1086 Domesday Book and usually as Emmeley by the 13th century. The Saxon settlement was at Emley Park. An influx of invading Danes settled in the area in the 9th century, as evidenced by place names ending in by and thorpe.
Manor
After the Norman Conquest, Godric, a descendant of the original Saxon settlers, was retained as lord of the manor by William the Conqueror and Emley became part of the Royal Manor of Wakefield. Godric passed the manor to his son, Ketelbern, some time after 1080, and he in turn passed it to his son Godric. Godric's descendants adopted the Norman practice of having a surname; William Fitzgodric, born in 1140, was lord of the manor followed by his son William using the surname Fitzwilliam. The Fitzwilliams retained the manor for many generations. They lived in a moated house on the site of the Old Hall in Emley Park. When Edward II marched against the Scots in 1312 in retaliation against border raids, he summoned his nobles to provide men-at-arms. Sir William Fitzwilliam and men from Emley joined the king at Berwick-on-Tweed, and they may have fought with the king in the Battle of Bannockburn. His son William was executed at Pontefract for his part in Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster's rebellion. Sir John Fitzwilliam and the rector died in 1348, possibly from the Black Death, and by 1350 the manor was described as "ruinous". The Fitzwilliams left Emley at this time and moved to another property at Sprotborough.
In 1417 a Sir John Fitzwilliam succeeded his father at the age of 20 and served Henry V in France during the Hundred Years Wars; he died in Rouen in 1421. His heir, a 12-month-old son, William was lord of the manor until 1474 when the manor passed to his 10-year-old grandson William. He died young and without issue and the Fitzwilliam association with Emley came to an end. He left his estate to Thomas Soothill, who had married his aunt, and he in turn left it to their daughter Elizabeth, who married Sir Henry Savile. The Savile family became lords of the manor. Sir Henry Savile came from a family whose history has been recorded since 1160. The Savile family seat was Thornhill Hall. Most of the Saviles never lived in Emley and rarely visited; their estate was managed by stewards or agents. Sir George's first son, Edward was "of weak intellect" and after him the manor passed to his cousin, George who married Mary Talbot of Rufford Abbey. Their son George inherited the manor when he was 11 but died five years later and the manor passed to his brother William, a staunch Royalist who was with the king at Nottingham in 1642 at the start of the English Civil War. In October 1643 he commanded the Royalist cavalry at the Battle of Winceby and was made Governor of Sheffield and later York. Sir William died at York fighting for the king in January 1644. Sir George Savile inherited the manor at the age of 11 but lived at Rufford Abbey. John Saville, born in 1828, inherited the manor in 1856 and was created 1st Baron Savile in 1888. When the 2nd Baron Savile died in April 1931, Rufford was sold and the 3rd Baron, George Savile, who inherited the manor, bought Gryce Hall near Kirkburton. George Halifax Lumley Savile, born in 1919, made his home at Gryce Hall. He died in June 2008 with no children, and the manor passed to his nephew, John Anthony Thornhill Lumley-Savile, who sold Gryce Hall and other lands in Yorkshire.
Industry
Mining had an important role but before coal mining began, iron ore was discovered around Bentley Grange which led to the establishment of iron ore mines and a forge by the monks of Byland Abbey under a licence granted by Sir William Fitzwilliam (the first lord of the manor to adopt the name Fitzwilliam) in 1217 and another endorsed by his son Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam in 1237. Grange, a name associated with many buildings in and around Emley including Bentley Grange, is a reference to Byland Abbey's outlying monastic farming estate, typically where sheep were kept. The remains of bell pits around Bentley Grange, a scheduled monument, are medieval workings from when iron ore was mined from the Tankersley seam.