| Huddersfield sits at the confluence of the | | | | in the remains of its 2,500 year old, Iron |
| rivers Colne and Holme, whose waters and | | | | Age hill fort, itself probably built on even |
| valleys have drawn people to the area for | | | | earlier settlements, and it is this rather |
| thousands of years. In common with much of | | | | than the more conspicuous 19th century |
| Northern England it has been inhabited or | | | | addition that lends the site its status as |
| settled at one time or another by Mesolithic, | | | | Scheduled Ancient Monument as well as its |
| Neolithic and Bronze Age man, Ancient | | | | true historic value. |
| Britons, Romans, Angles, Jutes and Saxons as | | | | |
| well as by conquering Norsemen and Normans. | | | | Although Huddersfield and its surrounding |
| | | | area is thought to have been continuously |
| Set out in any direction from the town centre | | | | settled for at least the last 4,000 years, |
| and you can be sure that you will be treading | | | | the expansion and prosperity of the town is |
| on ground traversed by our earliest forbears, | | | | owed principally to its proto-industrial and |
| Roman Legions, Pictish raiders, Viking | | | | industrial past. Huddersfield was above all a |
| invaders, and Saxon kings - there was once a | | | | Georgian and Victorian construct and this |
| Saxon court at Almondbury. | | | | legacy is visible wherever you go, evidenced |
| | | | by canals, converted textile mills, Victorian |
| Castle Hill near Huddersfield together with | | | | shopping arcades and the fine architecture of |
| its Victoria Tower is unquestionably the | | | | St George's Square and beyond. |
| town's most recognizable landmark. The castle | | | | |
| in question was the one built on the hill | | | | Before the arrival of the industrialists |
| near Almondbury in the reign of King Stephen | | | | however, the district of Huddersfield was |
| (1135-1154) but demolished two centuries | | | | variously a patchwork of linked settlements, |
| later. Construction work on Victoria Tower, | | | | a baronial manor ruled over by the King's |
| built to commemorate the 60th year of the | | | | Tenant-in-Chief, a centre for the wool trade |
| reign of Queen Victoria, was completed in | | | | and a market town by Royal Charter. When the |
| 1899 (in the 62nd year of her reign). | | | | machine age was born, the area became a focus |
| However, these facts are not what makes | | | | for the Luddite rebellion spreading up from |
| Castle Hill so valuable. | | | | Nottinghamshire and became infamous through |
| | | | the murder of a local manufacturer. |
| The true importance of Castle Hill is found | | | | |