Bradford (), also known as the City of Bradford, is a metropolitan borough with city status in West Yorkshire, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Bradford, but covers a larger area which includes the towns and villages of Keighley, Shipley, Bingley, Ilkley, Haworth, Silsden, Queensbury, Thornton and Denholme. Bradford has a population of 528,155, making it the fourth-most populous metropolitan district and the ninth-most populous local authority district in England. It forms part of the West Yorkshire Urban Area conurbation which in 2011 had a population of 1,777,934, and the city is part of the Leeds-Bradford Larger Urban Zone (LUZ), which, with a population of 2,393,300, is the fourth largest in the United Kingdom after London, Birmingham and Manchester.
The city is situated on the edge of the Pennines, and is bounded to the east by the City of Leeds, the south by the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees and the south west by the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale. The Pendle borough of Lancashire lies to the west whilst the unitary authority of North Yorkshire lie to the north west and north east of the city. Bradford is the fourth largest metropolitan district in the country, and the contiguous urban area to the north which includes the towns of Shipley and Bingley is heavily populated. The spa town of Ilkley lies further north, whilst the town of Keighley lies to the west. Roughly two thirds of the district is rural, with an environment varying from moorlands in the north and west, to valleys and floodplains formed by the river systems that flow throughout the district. More than half of Bradford's land is green open space, stretching over part of the Airedale and Wharfedale Valleys, across the hills and the Pennine moorland between. The Yorkshire Dales and the Peak District are both in close proximity.
The City of Bradford has architecture designated as being of special or historic importance, most of which were constructed with local stone, with 5,800 listed buildings and 59 conservation areas. The model village of Saltaire has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Central Bradford rose to prominence during the 19th century as an international centre of textile manufacture, particularly wool. The area's access to a supply of coal, iron ore and soft water facilitated the growth of Bradford's manufacturing base, which, as textile manufacture grew, led to an explosion in population and was a stimulus to civic investment. However, Bradford has faced similar challenges to the rest of the post-industrial area of northern England, including deindustrialisation, housing problems, and economic deprivation. Wool and textiles still play an important part in the city's economy, but today's fastest-growing sectors include information technology, financial services, digital industries, environmental technologies, cultural industries, tourism and retail headquarters and distribution.
Bradford has experienced significant levels of immigration throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. In the 1840s Bradford's population was significantly increased by migrants from Ireland, particularly rural County Mayo and County Sligo, and by 1851 around 18,000 people of Irish origin resided in the town, representing around 10% of the population, the largest proportion in Yorkshire. Around the same time there was also an influx of German Jewish migrants to the town, and by 1910 around 1,500 people of German origin resided in the city. In the 1950s there was large scale immigration from South Asia and to a lesser extent from Poland. Bradford has the second highest proportion in England and Wales outside London, in terms of population (behind Birmingham) and in percentage (behind Slough, Leicester, Luton and Blackburn with Darwen). An estimated 175,664 people of South Asian origin reside in the city, representing around 45.3% of the city's population. An estimated 352,317 of all White ethnic groups reside in the city which includes people of Polish and Irish origin, representing around 45.8% of the city's population.
Bradford was designated UK City of Culture for 2025.
History Bradford was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1847, covering the parishes of Bradford, Horton and Manningham. It became a county borough with the passing of the Local Government Act 1888. The County Borough of Bradford was granted city status by Letters Patent in 1897.
Bradford was expanded in 1882 to include Allerton, Bolton, Bowling, Heaton, Thornbury and Tyersall. In 1899 it was further expanded by adding North Bierley, Eccleshill, Idle, Thornton, Tong, and Wyke. Clayton was added in 1930.
The Brontë sisters, Emily, Anne, and Charlotte were born along with their brother Branwell at 74 Market Street in Thornton, now in Bradford, before moving to the parsonage at Haworth in the heart of West Yorkshire's Brontë Country where they wrote a range of classics of English literature including "Wuthering Heights" and "Jane Eyre".
The city played an important part in the early history of the Labour Party. A mural on the back end of Bradford Playhouse in Little Germany commemorates the centenary of the founding of the Independent Labour Party in Bradford in 1893.
The Bradford Pals were three First World War Pals battalions of Kitchener's Army raised in the city. When the three battalions were taken over by the British Army they were officially named the 16th, 18th and 20th Battalions, The Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment.
On the morning of 1 July 1916, an estimated 1,394 young men from Bradford and District The Bradford Pals, the 16th and 18th Battalions of the Prince of Wales Own West Yorkshire Regiment left their trenches in Northern France to advance across No Man's Land. It was the first hour of the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Of the estimated 1,394 men who left the trenches 1,094 were either killed or injured during the ill-fated attack on the village of Serre.
Other Bradford Battalions involved in the Battle of the Somme were 1st/6th Territorial Battalion of The Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment, based at Belle Vue barracks in Manningham and the 10th Battalion of The Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment. The 1st/6th Territorial Battalion of The Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment first saw action in 1915 at Neuve Chapelle before moving north to Yser Canal near Ypres. The 10th Battalion The Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment was involved in the attack on Fricourt, the 10th West Yorks suffered the highest casualty rate of any battalion on the Somme on 1 July and perhaps the highest battalion casualty list for a single day during the entire war. Nearly 60% of the battalion's casualties were deaths.
In 1919 the Diocese of Bradford was founded, the Church of Saint Peter was then elevated to cathedral status.
The current city boundaries date from 1 April 1974, when the County Borough of Bradford was merged with the borough of Keighley, the urban districts of Baildon, Bingley, Denholme, Ilkley, Shipley and Silsden, along with the Queensbury parts of Queensbury and Shelf Urban District and the parishes of Addingham, and Steeton with Eastburn from Skipton Rural District. Kildwick was part of Bradford at this time, but has since been moved into the Craven District (part of North Yorkshire).
The National Science and Media Museum (formerly the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television) was established in the city in 1983. One of the first cinema shows outside London took place on the site where the museum now stands, in a music hall known as the People's Palace. Today, the National Science and Media Museum hosts the annual Widescreen Weekend film festival.
With a large influx of South Asian immigrants and the Bradford Council's pursuit of a policy of multiculturalism in the 1980s, separatism between ethnic communities became an issue, an issue highlighted by Bradford headteacher Ray Honeyford. In 1989, a section of the Muslim community led a campaign against Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, and caught the attention of the international media by publicly burning a copy of the book.Goodhart, David. The British Dream. Atlantic Books, London (2013): p. 157 In July 2001, ethnic tensions led to rioting. The Ouseley Report, written shortly before the riots broke out, noted that Bradford had become deeply divided by segregated schooling, with communities deeply ignorant of each other, and there was widespread fear of crime and violence which West Yorkshire Police had insufficiently tackled for fear of being branded racist.
In one case, a Bradford man whose car was set on fire following his conversion complained to police, but the officer advised him to "stop being a crusader and move to another place.", page 60, see the footnote
In response to the Ouseley Report, approximately £3 million was provided by the Home Office and the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund to regenerate the city.Community Cohesion in Crisis: New Dimensions of Diversity and Difference ed. John Flint, David Robinson. The Policy Press (2008): p. 42 A further £2 billion was invested in regenerating the city centre, building a banqueting hall, new housing, and leisure facilities.Flint & Robinson (2008): p. 43
In December 2001, Saltaire was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. This means that the government has a duty to protect the site. The buildings belonging to the model village are individually listed, with the highest level of protection given to the Congregational church (since 1972 known as the United Reformed Church) which is listed as Grade I. The village which includes Salts Mill (pictured right) has survived remarkably complete with Roberts Park on the north side of the river recently restored by Bradford Council.
In October 2007, Bradford was voted the greenest city in the United Kingdom. In the Sustainable Cities Index, compiled by Forum for the Future, the city was revealed to have the lowest environmental impact of any British city. In spite of its undeniably large role in the Industrial Revolution, Bradford's rivers were not polluted beyond redemption, and the streams surrounding the city are now a haven of wildlife. The City of Bradford has areas of green space, and recycling schemes.
Bradford became the world's first UNESCO City of Film in 2009. The designation recognises Bradford's aim to use this history and the local popularity and accessibility of film as a major tool for regeneration, cultural development and social inclusion.
The cinema connections in the city (which is also the home of the National Science and Media Museum) are both historical and contemporary, with ongoing efforts to preserve, promote, and enrich the city's heritage of film. Bradford has been a film location since the beginning of cinema, with its indigenous film industry being traced back to the years around the First World War. By then the residents of Bradford had already witnessed important contributions to cinema development, such as the invention of the Cieroscope in Manningham in 1896.
In April 2021, Little Germany was one of the areas where scenes for the second series of All Creatures Great and Small were being filmed. Some child and adult actors from the theatre school Articulate were to appear in some episodes.
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