Huddersfield

Huddersfield lies among the foothills of the Pennines, near the meeting of the Colne and Holme rivers. Woollen cloth bound the town to the surrounding valleys, where handloom weavers worked in their homes and brought their goods to market. The soft water of the local streams served the cloth trade, while packhorse tracks carried its wares over the hills towards Lancashire. From these scattered weaving communities, Huddersfield drew the trade that would enlarge its modest market settlement.

The Ramsden family acquired the manor in 1599 and became the chief patrons of the town's growth. A royal market charter followed in 1671, and the Cloth Hall opened in 1766 to accommodate the expanding trade. In 1776, the Huddersfield Broad Canal linked the town to the Calder and Hebble Navigation. Barges now offered its merchants an alternative to the hill roads, giving the cloth market access to the waterways of the West Riding.