Kirkheaton is a village in the civil parish of Kirkburton, in the Kirklees district of West Yorkshire, England, Historically, it is part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It is 3 mi north-east of Huddersfield, in the Dalton ward of Kirklees Council. In 2021 it had a population of 3,496.

History

The name Heaton comes from Old English "heah" meaning high and "tun" meaning settlement and the Old Norse "kirk" meaning church. In 1894 Kirkheaton became an urban district, on 1 April 1938 the district was abolished and merged with Kirkburton Urban District. On 1 April 1938 the parish was abolished and merged with Kirkburton. In 1931 the parish had a population of 2610.

Religion

The parish church in Kirkheaton, dedicated to St John the Baptist, is one of the earliest churches in the area, there was a stone church on the site before the Norman Conquest. In the churchyard is a memorial to a disaster that shook the nation in 1818, a horrific fire in a local cotton mill, Colne Bridge Mill, in which 14 workers, all girls and many of them very young, were trapped and died. See the 'External Links' below for a survey of burials and transcripts of the parish registers.

Education

Kirkheaton Primary School is on New Road.

Notable people