19th Century Menston

By the early 19th Century the products of spinning and weaving, carried out in the home, were also being traded locally. Even so by 1822 there were only 41 families in the village, unchanged from 100 years earlier, though the population had doubled to 257.

The establishment of a flax mill producing linen and two woollen mills to the west of the village were responsible for the village population increasing to 455 by 1871. One of these mills later became a linen bleaching mill which, although in Burley Woodhead, was readily accessible by Bleach Mill Lane. At this time worsted fibres were also being produced in the village.

In 1826 the Wesleyans built a Chapel at Lane Ends and in 1871 the Parish Church was opened at the top of Burley Lane. Fifteen years later in 1886 the present Methodist Church was built next door to the Chapel.

Willow Grove Farm provided schooling from the 17th Century until 1831 when the Wesleyans built Menston's first purpose built school on Main Street, opposite Croft Park. It remained open until 1887. A small National School, which had been established at Derry Hill in the 1860's, moved in 1873 to the building at the top of Burley Lane, now occupied by Parmley Graham Ltd.

By the 1850's three Public Houses, the Fox, which until 1849 had been at Lane Ends, the Hare and Hounds and the Malt Shovel were established. The Menston Arms was opened in the 1870's,The origins of the Chevin Inn are less certain, but it may well have been a licensed premises since the 17th Century.

                 
The Railway and High Royds Hospital

In the latter part of the 19th Century these two developments resulted in the significant growth of the village and a marked shift away from its agricultural roots. These events have profoundly influenced the character and growth of the village ever since.

In 1865 work began on the railway. During 1876, with Menston Station already open, a local landowner, Ascough Fawkes, auctioned off land which resulted in the building of some substantial properties to the south of the station in Station Road, Park Road, Cleasby Road and Farnley Road. These houses were mainly built by people dependent on the thriving woollen industry in Bradford. The terraced houses in Derry Hill and Dick's Garth Road were evidence of the increased activity in the local linen and woollen mills and the quarrying and masonry work associated with the railway construction. 

In ten years the village population grew almost 50% to 665 residents by 1881. In 1887, on further land sold by the Fawkes family, work began on High Royds Hospital, now designated a grade II listed building. This provided employment for up to 500 building workers. When the building was finished the hospital continued to provide further local employment. A new school was built on Main Street in 1894 to serve the growing village population, which by 1901 was about 1600.