Emley Village Trail
The Village Trail is approximately 3 miles long. Allow a couple of hours for a leisurely stroll. Stout footwear is advisable.
There is a small car park in the centre of the village near the Post Office and public transport to Emley from local towns.
Look out for the Emley Village Trail waymarkers to help guide you around the trail.
Starting point: the Stone Cross by the village car park.
Although there is evidence of a Danish settlement in the area in the ninth and tenth centuries, the earliest written reference to Emley that we are aware of is in the Domesday Book of 1086, when William the Conqueror ordered a survey to be made of all England. There were three families in Emley then. In 1203 Emley was known as ‘Emmesleia’. Historians think that a person called Emma or Eama may have lived here. ‘Leah’ is the name given to a forest glade or clearing. Emma + Leah would probably be the origin of Emley’s name.
Emley was granted a royal charter in 1253 to hold weekly markets. The stone Cross in the centre of the village is the remains of the market cross, the upper part of which was destroyed during the civil war.
Leaving the white stone cross behind you turn and walk down Church Street passing St Michael's Church on the left.
Note the cross in the church yard wall by the war memorial. This was the symbol of the Knights Hospitallers of Wakefield who owned much of the land around Emley. The aim of this ancient monastic order was to care for the sick and to raise funds to protect the pilgrims in the Holy Land during the Great Crusades. The cross was removed from a cottage which stood near the former Co-operative store (now the village store).
Turn right onto School Line and walk, past Emley First School on your left, until you reach Rodley Lane.
Follow the lane for about 150 metres, then bear right on Thorncliffe Lane. Pass Thorncliffe Farm on your right and just past the farm climb over the stone and wooden stile in the wall on your right.
Thorncliffe Lane is a very old road. It used to be stone flagged and was the main road from Emley to Wakefield. In January 1643, Parliamentarian troops, after raiding the church and collecting 55 sheep and other things from Parson Farington proceeded to Thorncliffe, the home of Mrs Farington’s sister, Mrs Hare.
Follow the hedgerow on your right for 200 metres and cross a wooden stile. Continue to follow the hedge and wall on your right until you meet a stile down the bank. Cross here, then turn immediately left over the stile by the gate, and follow the hedge on your left up to and over the next stile.
You cannot see the next stile yet so, if the mast is visible, point the number six of your watch at the mast and then walk in the direction of twelve on your watch, (east) towards the bottom right hand corner of the field.
As you walk across the field you will see the huge remains of ancient bell pits on your left (now fenced off).
Iron ore was mined in these pits from a ‘black band’ of ore known as the Tankersley Seam which ran through local coal seams. Iron was mined and processed by the monks in Emley long before the industry became important in the Sheffield area. Once melted down using charcoal from local woods, iron ingots were taken by packhorse through Midgley to the River Calder to go to Selby or York.
Continue across the fields for 300 metres or so, until you find a gate and wooden stile just left of a clump of holly trees. Through the stile keep the wooden fence on your right and continue walking straight ahead for 150 metres to the next stile at the bottom of the field. Do not turn right or climb over this stile, but turn left and follow the fence.
This section of path is part of the 'Kirklees Way' long distance footpath which runs for 72 miles around Kirklees District.
The wide open fields in this area were open cast mined for coal and restored in the 1960's, as were Bank Woods over to the right which were replanted with conifers. The open farmland here is ideal for some species of bird and if you look and listen as you go you are likely to hear skylark and lapwing and maybe a curlew if you are lucky!
Follow the fence and hedge on your right over two stiles bringing you onto the bottom of Leisure Lane.
In the 13th Century there was a Monks Hospice or Infirmary for the poor and lepers in Emley. The Hospice was known as ‘lezzes’ or Lazar’s taking its name from Lazarus who was brought back from the dead by Jesus. This is the probable origin of the name Leisure Lane.
Short Cut 1
If you turn left up Leisure Lane here it will bring you back to Thorncliffe Lane where you can retrace your steps into the village.
Otherwise cross the lane and immediately opposite, cross the stile into the next field. Continue forward following the Kirklees Way, crossing the next wooden stile and walking down the slope in the field. Pass the wooden gate and cross a metal rung stile under the trees, bear left under the trees, over the small stone footbridge (or 'clapper' bridge) across Clough Dike.
The wooded ribbon of the Dike provides a well used haven for wild animals, plants and birds. As you pass look for lesser celandine and wood sorrel on the stream bank and keep an eye out for flocks of finches and tits in the trees above.
You cannot see the next stile yet, so walk up the slope of the field heading for the right of the two big oak trees in the hedge in front of you. When you get to the stile by the right hand tree turn left and follow the hedge to the corner.
On your left is Furnace Grange Farm where the iron from local bell pits was melted down in furnaces by the monks.
Climb over the stile and walk forward across the field bearing a little left to a wooden stile leading onto a concrete roadway. Over the stile turn left up the road for 20 metres, then turn right following the roadway heading uphill towards the Mast for half a mile.
The ancient trackways to Furnace Grange and Kirkby Grange are flanked in parts by very old hedgerows. You can tell this by the variety of trees and shrubs in the hedges. See if you can spot hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, elder, holly and ivy, as well as wild garlic, dog’s mercury, bluebells and 'lords and ladies'.
Follow the lane to Clough Road, the main road between Emley and Flockton.
Short Cut 2
If you turn left along Clough Road it will take you back up into the village.
Two large houses across the road face you. Turn right, then left just past them into Kirkby Lane. A few metres up this lane, on your left is Kirkby Grange. Take the right fork and follow the lane as it twists and turns for half a mile heading towards the Mast almost directly in front of your view.
In 1969 the first television mast at Emley collapsed under the weight of ice which built up during freak weather conditions. This resulted in the building of a new tower which at 1080 feet high is the tallest concrete structure in Europe.
After half a mile you will come to Upper Crawshaw Farm. As you reach the modern barns on the left of the bend, turn left into the field. You should see the church directly in front of you. Follow the edge of the field and the wall for some 200 metres as it bears right taking you over a 'crooked' stone stile. Turn left to face the church again and walk across the corner of the field.
After 100 metres pass the raised grassy mound. The path then runs unmarked across the open field with the right hand field slightly higher than the field on your left. At the end of the next hedge turn left to face the church and follow the hedge on your left. Walk down the path over the metal rung stile and down to the footbridge across Outlane Dike. Walk up towards the church heading for the clump of holly bushes.
Go over the stile into the churchyard, go through the gate on the right and leave the churchyard. Turn left up the lane and on to Church Street.
The church is thought to date from the 14th century. The remains of an earlier Norman church were found and displayed in St. Michael’s. In 1380 the people of Emley were wanting a new and larger church for the growing village population. The money to build this new church was raised by Church ales being sold.
Turn right on Church Street as you exit from the front of the church yard and you return to the Post Offlice and Stone Cross to complete the trail.
This trail has been researched and designed by the children of Emley First School, with help from Emley Footpath Society.
The project has been funded by Denby Dale Parish Countryside Project with the support of Denby Dale Parish Council, Kirklees Metropolitan Council and The Countryside Agency.
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