Bingley

Coordinates: 53°50′46″N 1°50′10″W / 53.846°N 1.836°W / 53.846; -1.836

Bingley is a market town in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The town has a population of 19,884 according to the 2001 Census.

Local travel links include Bingley railway station in the town centre and Leeds Bradford International Airport, which is located 10 miles (16 km) from the city centre. The B6265 (Main Street), connecting Bingley to Keighley, runs through the town centre.

Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Bingley appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Bingheleia".

History

Founding

Bingley was probably founded about the time of the Saxons; certainly its name is Saxon in origin. Bingley was founded by a ford on the River Aire. This crossing gave access to Harden, Cullingworth and Wilsden on the south side of the river.

Norman times

In the Domesday Book of 1086, Bingley is listed as "Bingheleia", with the following entry:

Bingley Hall

Bingley Hall in Birmingham was the first purpose-built exhibition hall in Great Britain. It was built in 1850 and burned down in 1984. The International Convention Centre now stands on the site.

The precursor of Bingley Hall was an "Exhibition of the Manufactures of Birmingham and the Midland Counties" in a temporary wooden hall built in the grounds of, and attached to, Bingley House on Broad Street in central Birmingham (which once belonged to banker Charles Lloyd and was visited by Samuel Taylor Coleridge) and opened on 3 September 1849 for visitors to the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival. This exhibition was visited by Charles Darwin, and also on 12 November by Prince Albert and may have contributed to his ideas for the Great Exhibition of 1851 at the Crystal Palace.

Bingley House was built about 1760 as Byngas Hall and was the home of James Farmer, whose daughter married Charles Lloyd. The house and its land were bought by a railway company in order to build the railway tunnel (New Street North Tunnel) for the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway. The house was demolished.