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Bygone days

With over 1660 listed buildings in the area, you'll soon see why the Guardian dubbed Huddersfield 'the Athens of the North'. Even the 330m high Emley Moor television mast - which you can see for miles around Kirklees - is listed.

Quaint weavers' cottages contrast sharply with our titanic mills and grand Victorian architecture - all legacies from our textile industrial past. You can get a feel for life as a nineteenth century textile worker at the Colne Valley Museum, or visit the National Coal Mining Museum for a genuine insight into the hard-working lives of miners through the ages.

Castle Hill and Victoria Tower

 

Standing over 900 feet above sea level Castle Hill dominates the local landscape, providing spectacular, often windswept views.

The history of human activity on the hill goes back over 4000 years. The site was developed as an iron age hill fort, surrounded by defensive ditches and ramparts. In the Middle Ages there was a castle on the hill, of which the well remains. The present tower was built to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee of 1897. The site is a scheduled ancient monument. More information about the hill and its history can be found in displays at Tolson Museum.

Victoria Tower

Perched on Castle Hill overlooking Huddersfield, the tower was completed in 1899 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's reign. The corner-stone of the tower was laid on 25 June 1898 by Mr John Frechville Ramsden and was officially opened by the Earl of Scarborough on 24 June 1899. The walls of the tower are four feet thick at the bottom, tapering to two feet at the top. The tower was renovated in 1960 when the top seven feet were removed. It reaches the height of almost 997 feet above sea level. Victoria Tower is open to the public on certain days of the year.

Colne Valley Museum

 

At the Colne Valley Museum visitors are transported back to everyday life in the 19th century. Housed in three former weavers' cottages, the Colne Valley Museum features a number of restored period rooms, as well as a frequent programme of temporary exhibitions. Located in the village of Golcar, just out of Huddersfield town centre, this is an ideal place to discover more about the industrial origins of the area.

 These are just a few of the attractions in and around Huddersfield, there is so much more to this Yorkshire town.