Mirfield

Mirfield is a small town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on the A644 road between Brighouse and Dewsbury. In the 2001 census it was recorded as having a total resident population of 18,621.

The town is served by Mirfield railway station.

Governance
From 1894 to 1974, Mirfield formed an urban district in the West Riding of Yorkshire until it was merged into the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees. In 1988 a Parish council was formed and became one of five in Kirklees, the others being:- Denby Dale, Meltham, Kirkburton and Holme Valley. As a Parish council an additional tax precept to the Kirklees MBC tax is levied on the towns residents for projects within the town. Mirfield has a town council, made up of 16 volunteer councillors who serve for a fixed four year term, and represent ward members within the parish. The members elect their own Town Council Mayor, who serves for a fixed one year term.

List of Town Council Mayors
Brian Nicholson, 1988 Mavis Boothroyd Colin Fretwell Malcolm Brown Mick Harrison Hugh Bowden Harry Fearnley Michael Hutchinson Martyn Bolt James Taylor Kath Taylor Keith Sibbald
 * Bob Bennett: 2007-2008
 * David Pinder: 2009-2010
 * Janet Hirst: 2010-2011
 * Patricia Sutcliffe: 2011–Present

Local Elections
In addition to the town council Mirfield is also represented by three councillors who sit on Kirklees Metropolitan Council, and the local Mirfield Area Committee

Culture
Mirfield Show is an annual agricultural event held on the third Sunday in August at Mirfield showground. It is organised and run by the Mirfield Agricultural Society (MAS) as a non-profit making event for the families of Mirfield and district.

Education
There are two secondary schools in Mirfield: Mirfield Free Grammar (formerly Mirfield Modern and Mirfield High) and Sixth Form and Castle Hall School. Amongst the primary schools there are Battyeford, Crossley Fields (formerly Wellhouse First School), Old Bank and Hopton Primary school and Crowlees Junior and Infant School that was assessed by Ofsted as 'Grade 1 - Outstanding' in the March 2007 inspection.

Landmarks
The 13th century St Mary's Church was rebuilt in 1826. However, this church itself proved too small for the growing population, and was also regarded as too mean for the growing district. A completely new church, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, was built a few yards to the northwest, on the site of the old Castle Hall, a mansion which was home to the families successively of Mirfields (sometimes spelled Mirfin), Hetons and Beaumonts. At Scott's suggestion, the tower of the earlier church, which retains some medieval work, was retained.

The College of the Resurrection was where Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, lectured from 1975 for two years. Archbishop Trevor Huddleston spent his last days in Mirfield here.

Navigation
During the eighteenth century, a canal was constructed through the town linking the River Calder with other rivers in the area. The canal is part of the Calder and Hebble Navigation. Its construction resulted in many industries in Mirfield, such as the textiles and boat yards. The canal is still in use for recreational users.

Notable people

 * Gemma Nelson, artist
 * Richard Reed, co-founder of Innocent Drinks
 * Brian Robinson, cyclist the first Briton ever to win a stage of the Tour de France
 * Sir Patrick Stewart, actor, most notable for playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation

!---Editors note; Please only add names of people born in the town. Do not add names who do not have a Wikipedia article, or a checkable supporting reference of notability. Unreferenced names will be removed without notice --->

Twin town

 * 🇨🇿 Náchod, Czech Republic