Shelf, West Yorkshire

In the Domesday Book the village was called "Scelf."[4][5] The place name probably derives from the Anglo Saxon word 'Scelf', suggesting a broad and level shelf of land.[6][7] In the period before 1700 Shelf developed from a mixed moorland and forested landscape to a few scattered farmsteads; to a landscape full of activity.[8]

Shelf gained a number of mills and workers cottages during the Industrial Revolution, and there are a number of historical relics including a stone horse trough and a stone chair milestone originally erected in 1737 which gave rise to the local area being named Stone Chair, Shelf. Prior to 1851, Shelf was a part of the large Parish of Halifax. The Parish Church of Shelf St. Michael and All Angels Church was built in 1850 and there were a number of Chapels of other denominations.[9] On a secular level the village was administered by a 'Local Board' established in 1863, and then by the 'Shelf Urban District Council' from 1894 to 1937.[10] From 1937 to 1974, Shelf formed part of Queensbury and Shelf, an urban district in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Queensbury and Shelf consisted of Queensbury and Shelf.[11][12] Queensbury and Shelf was split in 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, with the Shelf part going to the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, and the rest going to the Metropolitan Borough of Bradford.[13]

Shelf village centre has many shops and facilities such as a bakery and pharmacy. There is a Village Hall, and a new library was opened in 2009. There is a local supermarket managed by the Lidl group. The village has a church, St. Michael and All Angels Church and an Independent Methodist chapel, Bethel Chapel. The village is on the route of the Calderdale Way. This is a 50 miles (80 km) circular walk around the hills and valleys of Calderdale.[14]

Joseph Jagger, a man reputed to have broken the bank at Monte Carlo was born at Shelf, although contrary to popular belief he did not inspire the song The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo.[15] Lucius Smith the first Bishop of Knaresborough was born at the Vicarage at Shelf in 1860.[16] Kathleen Hale, author of the series of children's books about Orlando the Marmalade Cat also lived at the vicarage from 1903 to 1905, and developed her interest in plants, flowers and drawing there.[17] Edward Hartley, an early socialist politician retired to Shelf, and is buried at Bethel Chapel in the village.

Much-travelled footballer Frank Worthington was born in the village,[18] as was interior designer and TV presenter Linda Barker.[19] Former Blue Peter presenter John Noakes was born at Shelf[20] and Coronation Street actor Joe Duttine is also from the village.[21]

Media related to Shelf, West Yorkshire at Wikimedia Commons

• Metcalfe, Cyril (1990) Shelf: Chapters on the History of a West Yorkshire Township (1086-1988). Local History Press. ISBN 0951614509
• Stables, Ben (2018) The Early History of Shelf: A West Yorkshire Village before 1700.