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Halifax and the Shibden Valley

Recommended by

Our view

"An old packhorse track, a superb half-timbered hall and a hidden valley – all just a short walk from Halifax."

Walk directions

Begin opposite the tall spire that once belonged to Square Church, walking down Alfred Street East and left along Church Street, passing the smoke blackened parish church. Bear left again into Lower Kirkgate, then right along Bank Bottom. Cross Hebble Brook and walk uphill; where the road bears sharp left, keep straight ahead up a steep cobbled lane, the Magna Via. Meeting a road at the top, go right for about 200yds (183m). Just after the entrance to a warehouse, take a cobbled path on the left that makes a steep ascent up Beacon Hill.

Keep with the main trail, which, higher up, curves left over the shoulder of the hill and runs beneath a high buttress wall to a kissing gate and barrier. Walk forward along a broad cinder track, taking the left fork a little further on where views open across the surprisingly rural Shibden Valley. After a further 100yds (91m), take a walled path on the left. Drop steeply to a small housing estate and turn right out to the main road. Almost opposite, beside a farm entrance, a path continues downhill, passing beneath the railway line into Shibden Park.

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Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Old packhorse tracks and field paths

Landscape - Surprisingly rural, considering the proximity to Halifax

Dog friendliness - Keep on lead crossing busy roads

Parking - Choice of pay-and-display car parks in Halifax

Toilets en route - At Shibden Park

Walks in West Yorkshire Dog-friendly walks in West Yorkshire

About the walk

Set among the Pennine hills, Halifax was a town in the vanguard of the Industrial Revolution. Its splendid civic buildings and huge mills are an indication of the town’s prosperity, earned through the woollen trade. Ironically, the most splendid building of all came close to being demolished. The... Piece Hall, built in 1779, predates the industrial era. Here, in a total of 315 rooms on three colonnaded floors, the hand-weavers of the district would offer their wares (known as ‘pieces’) for sale to cloth merchants. The colonnades surround a massive square. The mechanisation of the weaving process left the Piece Hall largely redundant. In the intervening years, it has served a variety of purposes, including as a venue for political oration and as a wholesale market. During the 1970s, having narrowly escaped the wrecking ball, it was spruced up and given a new lease of life. It now houses a visitor centre, art gallery and speciality shops and hosts a programme of events throughout the year. The cobbled thoroughfare up Beacon Hill is known as the Magna Via. Until 1741, when a turnpike road was built, this was the only possible approach to Halifax from the east, for both foot and packhorse traffic. Also known as Wakefield Gate, the Magna Via linked up with the Long Causeway, the old high level road to Burnley. That intrepid 18th-century traveller, Daniel Defoe, was one of those who struggled up this hill. ‘We quitted Halifax not without some astonishment at its situation, being so surrounded with hills, and those so high as makes the coming in and going out of it exceedingly troublesome’. The route was superseded in the 1820s by the turnpike constructed through Godley Cutting. Today the Magna Via, too steep for modern motor vehicles, remains a fascinating relic of the past. Situated on a hill above Halifax, Shibden Hall is magnificent half-timbered house is set in 90 acres (36ha) of beautiful, rolling parkland. Dating from 1420, the hall has been owned by prominent local families – the Oates, Saviles, Waterhouses and, latterly, the Listers. All these families left their mark, but the core of the original house remains intact. The rooms are furnished in period style, to show how they might have looked over almost six centuries. The oak furniture and panelling have that patina of age that antique forgers try in vain to emulate. Barns and other outbuildings have been converted into a folk museum, with displays of old vehicles, tools and farm machinery. Shiden Hall was home to landowner and diarist Anne Lister, whose life is explored in the BBC drama Gentleman Jack.

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About the area

Everybody knows that Yorkshire has some special landscapes. The Dales and the Moors first spring to mind, but what about West Yorkshire? That’s Leeds and Bradford isn’t it? Back-to-back houses and blackened mills… Certainly if you had stood on any of the hills surrounding Hebden Bridge a hundred years ago, and gazed down into the valley, all you would have seen was the pall of smoke issuing from the chimneys of 33 textile mills.

Route details

Difficulty:

Easy

Gradient:

Moderate

Distance:

5 miles (8kms)

Ascent:

1541ft (470m)

If you like this walk, you can try more routes in the area.

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Halifax and the Shibden Valley

Recommended by

Our view

"An old packhorse track, a superb half-timbered hall and a hidden valley – all just a short walk from Halifax."

Walk details

Difficulty:

Easy

Gradient:

Moderate

Distance:

5 miles (8kms)

Ascent:

1541ft (470m)

Walk directions

1 of 5

2 of 5

Walk forward to the lake and bear left past the boathouse up to a junction with the main drive. Go left and then left again in front of a pool onto a track that climbs beside the railway embankment. Reaching another pool, the house and gardens are to the left, otherwise, branch right towards the car park. At the next junction, drop right past a display of traditional walling, descending through trees to a drive. Climb left to the park entrance and turn right down Old Godley Lane. It finally swings left up to the main road at Stump Cross.

3 of 5

Cross over the road and take Staups Lane, to the left of Stump Cross Inn. Walk along the lane, which soon becomes cobbled, to meet another road at the top. Go left and immediately left again down a drive, which, through a gate, continues across the fields into Shibden Dale. Emerging at the far end onto a lane, turn left down to the Shibden Mill Inn.

4 of 5

Swing left past the pub, leaving the far end of the car park on a track across Shibden Brook. At a fork, bear right, later passing an isolated house. Beyond, a narrower path winds up to Claremount. Keep ahead along a street that ultimately bends right above Godley Cutting. At the end, go left over a bridge spanning the main road and then immediately descend steps on the right to a street below. Go left to its end and then right to retrace your outward route into Halifax.

5 of 5

Location

Starting point

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Old packhorse tracks and field paths

Landscape - Surprisingly rural, considering the proximity to Halifax

Dog friendliness - Keep on lead crossing busy roads

Parking - Choice of pay-and-display car parks in Halifax

Toilets en route - At Shibden Park

Walks in West Yorkshire Dog-friendly walks in West Yorkshire

About the walk

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

Find out more

Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

Learn more

Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

West Yorkshire

Halifax and the Shibden Valley

Been on this walk?

Walking in Safety

Get an AA guide

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Halifax and the Shibden Valley

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