Place:West Ardsley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England

NOTE: This article is about West Ardsley, a community now within Leeds in West Yorkshire, England, and adjacent to East Ardsley. There is another community named Ardsley in Barnsley in South Yorkshire. The two places are about 20 miles apart.

the following text is a condensation of an article in Wikipedia

West Ardsley is commonly used to refer to an area on the southwest edge of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it roughly approximates to an amalgamation of Tingley, Woodkirk, Hill Top, Upper Green and Common Side. The parish church is at Woodkirk. Being in the middle of several towns, West Ardsley has become a dormitory settlement.

West Ardsley was part of the Ardsley East and West Urban district 1894-1937, which also included Tingley and East Ardsley and was then part of Morley Municipal borough 1937-1974. The village once formed part of the former Municipal Borough of Morley, and is still classed as part of Morley in the census. However, it is technically separate, and is not governed by Morley Town Council.

Although there are many roadsigns pointing to "West Ardsley" and some clubs and local organisations refer to it in their name, there is no one single, self-contained area with the name. The hamlets of Tingley, Hill Top, Upper Green and Common Side have merged through urban sprawl whilst Woodkirk remains isolated.

West Ardsley is also the home of the annual Lee Gap fair--a horse fair originally chartered by King Stephen in 1139 (citation) - which makes it reputedly England's oldest horse fair. The fair used to stretch over two weeks, but as the horse trade has diminished now takes place only on the first and last days of that fortnight - known as "first o'lee" and "latter lee". Today, the main attendees are Gypsies and Travellers.

There is a historic parish of West Ardsley, whose parish boundaries all fall within the "Ardsley and Robin Hood" ward.

Historically, West Ardsley was an ecclesiastical parish better known as Woodkirk in the Agbrigg division of the Agbrigg and Morley Wapentake.

Research Tips

• GENUKI on West Ardsley. The GENUKI page gives numerous references to local bodies providing genealogical assistance.
• A Vision of Britain through Time on West Ardsley.
• The FamilySearch wiki on the ecclesiastical parish of Woodkirk, or West Ardsley, provides a list of useful resources for the local area.