KEIGHLEY, locally Keithley, anciently Keigheley, a market and manufacturing town in the northern division of the West Riding of Yorkshire, is beautifully situated in a deep valley near the junction of the Worth with the Aire. By the Midland Railway it is 95 miles south-east of Carlisle and 222 north of London. A canal between Liverpool and Hull affords it water communication with both west and east coasts. The town is rather irregularly built, and a considerable portion of it consists of workmen’s cottages. Its growth has of late years been very rapid. Large reservoirs have been constructed for supplying water to the town. The principal buildings are the parish church of St Andrew in the late Perpendicular (dating from the time of Henry I., modernized in 1710, rebuilt with the exception of the tower in 1805, and again rebuilt in 1878), the Craven bank, the court-house, the mechanics’ institute and school of art, the theatre (in the Gothic style, completed in 1870, at a cost of £5000), the baths, the union workhouse, and the Liberal and Conservative clubs. The educational institutions are the Drake and Tonson’s school for girls, the trade school for boys, the national schools, and several board schools. The manufactures consist chiefly of worsted and woollen goods, machinery, machine tools, and sewing and wringing machines. Iron-founding is also extensively carried on. The population of the local board district in 1871 was 19,775, and in 1881 had increased to 25,245.

Henry Kigheley, who in the reign of Edward I. possessed the manor of Keighley, obtained for it from that monarch the privilege of a market, a fair, and a free warren. The town in 1645 was the scene of a skirmish between the royal and parliamentary troops.