St Peter's Church, Hartshead

WEDNESDAY

I had a podiatrist appointment over in Heckmondwike and afterwards I stopped off at Liversedge Cemetery and also St Peter's Church, Hartshead which are both close to where I used to live 40 years ago.

St Peter's is old and steeped in local history. It boasts connections to Robin Hood and the Bronte family. 

Patrick Bronte was the vicar from 1810 to 1815 and the church also has connections to the Luddite uprising. The Luddites marched across Hartshead Moor towards William Cartwright’s Mill near Cleckheaton. Their express intention was to smash the looms and break all newly developed labour-replacing machinery.

In the churchyard stands an old dead yew tree (see extra). Robin Hood is said to have cut his last arrow from this tree and local legend has it that this was the very arrow that he fired that came to mark the place where he is now supposedly buried some 1500 metres away.