Dewsbury
West Yorkshire
Situated in the Kirklees metropolitan district, Dewsbury is 5 miles west of
The crow-fly distances do however belie considerable travelling times by urban roads. A station stop for some express as well as local train services gives the town some relief in travelling times to places such as Huddersfield and Leeds.
Dewsbury has origins as a crossing point of the River Calder where there was early establishment of a church, now Dewsbury Minster.
The town's major growth, however, came as the centre of a district known as the Heavy Woollen District during its booming trade in heavy woollen cloth during the industrial revolution. The Heavy Woollen District also included other nearby towns, including Batley and Heckmondwike.
Although the textile trade saw a heavy decline, Dewsbury still has an active town centre, with a bustling market, pubs, shops, sports centre and an impressive town hall with 700-seater concert hall.
The textile boom provided a town centre with a mixture of mills, market, warehouses and shops and some fine Victorian buildings with some very impressive stonework. Most of these are now in need of considerable regeneration which can only partly be tackled by the metropolitan district council with the help of recent lottery funding.
The geography and character of the area, however, continues to provide a tangiable divide between the northern part of Kirklees around Dewsbury and the southern part of Kirklees, including Huddersfield and its extensive hinterland. A curious fact outlining the divide is that only minor roads connect the two parts of the district. There is no motorway, A-road or B-road linking the two parts of Kirklees without travelling out of the district along the route.
In common with other areas, Dewsbury has been hit by recent cuts in council services, including the recent closure of the town's museum at Crow Nest Park. The town's services are controlled solely by the metropolitan district authority, Kirklees Council, as it does not have its own town council (civil parish council) as in many other parts of Yorkshire where large towns have been absorbed into larger authorities run from elsewhere.
Town features



















Entertainment

Wakefield Old Road
Dewsbury Town Hall, an impressive Victorian grade-II listed building, provides a 700-seater concert hall in the town. It hosts a classical concert season and performances by well-known musicians, comedians and tribute acts. It is a venue for a pantomime and classical music concerts, including popular lunchtime performances.
Sport


Places to Visit
Oakwell Hall and Country Park
Nutter Lane, Birstall
Find out more at the

with further information at the

Locate on map:

Spen Valley Greenway
Dewsbury to OakenshawThe Greenway is a disused railway route which once provided Bradford with a direct and faster route to other parts of Yorkshire and towards London as well as connecting the densely populated areas of Cleckheaton, Liversedge and Heckmondwike with major towns and cities. Today it is a pleasant green corridor providing an escape from the mass of traffic on the poor local road network increasingly pressured by a growing need to commute to big cities. The Greenway offers views towards distant moors and is home to a number of sculptures including a flock of sheep made from industrial scrap and a circle of 40 giant steel hoops. The traffic-free route forms part of Route 66 of the National Cycle Network, providing a gentle ascent from the edge of Dewsbury to Oakenshaw on the outskirts of Bradford.
National Coal Mining Museum for England
The National Coal Mining Museum for England is mid-way between
More details at the

Whistlestop Valley formerly Kirklees Light Railway
Whistelstop Valley is a rebranding of the Kirklees Light Railway, a 15-inch-gauge light railway on the trackbed of the former Clayton West branch line from the Huddersfield-Penistone-Sheffield line. The branch had survived the Beeching axe of the 1960s but eventually closed to coal traffic in 1979 and passengers from the large commuter villages of
More information at the

Yorkshire Sculpture Park
West Bretton
The Yorkshire Sculpture Park is the UK's leading open-air sculpture gallery, situated at More information at the
Yorkshire Sculpture Park website.

Find on map:
Yorkshire Sculpture Park



Travel
Dewsbury station Wellington Road
Station managed by: TRANSPENNINE EXPRESS. Operator/s: NORTHERN, TRANSPENNINE EXPRESS.

External link to National Rail live departure board for services at this station (opens in new tab).
Dewsbury bus station Aldhams Road

Link to Metro - external web page with details of services and buses at this bus station.
Road travel
Dewsbury has a ring road, numbered 
Emergency services
West Yorkshire Police 
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Local government
Metropolitan district council
Kirklees Council covers a large metropolitan district based in
They include those in the former county borough of
Kirklees Council is made up of 69 councillors with three councillors per ward in 23 wards. Councillors are elected for four-year terms with one-third involved in elections in three out of four years. Councillors elect a Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Kirklees each year.
Link to
Kirklees Council website.

Political composition after May 2024 election:
69 members


County strategic authority
West Yorkshire Combined AuthorityCovers some combined services of the five metropolitan district councils of






Elected mayor:

Police and Crime Commissioner
The Police and Crime Commissioner for West YorkshireThis role has become one of the many responsibilities of the West Yorkshire elected mayor since May 2021.

Fire Authority
West Yorkshire Fire AuthorityThe fire authority is made up of elected members of each of the five metropolitan district councils of West Yorkshire - Bradford, Calderdale, Leeds, Kirklees and Wakefield.

Parliamentary constituency
Dewsbury and BatleyElected MP:
National government region
Yorkshire and the HumberCeremonial county
West YorkshireHistoric
1862-1913 Municipal borough1913-1974 Dewsbury County Borough within the West Riding of Yorkshire