The picturesque village of Bardsey or to give it its full title Bardsey-Cum-Rigton is part of the Metropolitan District Council of Leeds and falls under the ward of Wetherby.

It is situated in beautiful countryside alongside the A58 road approximately 8 miles to the NE of Leeds and 4 miles SW of the market town of Wetherby both of which provide excellent links to the Country’s motorways .

Bardsey is mainly residential with 8 working farms at the periphery.

Its population is of some 2300 housed in some 1000 dwellings.

Much of the Parish is designated as green belt.

Bardsey is steeped in history. The centre of the village is designated a Conservation Area and here may be found such historic buildings as the saxon All Hallows church and the Bingley Arms public house which dates back to 970A.D.

Originally Bardsey was an agricultural village but with the advent of the railway in 1877 linking the surrounding villages and subsequent road links the Village took on a mixed role of farming and residential base for commuters, formerly to Leeds, but more recently to Harrogate, York and beyond.

Leisure pursuits abound in the Village such as a Sports club, catering for football and cricket, tennis and bowls and for the less vigorous, nature reserve and trails, bridle paths and footpaths. A quite unique natural feature less than a mile form the centre of the village are rock faces which present challenging rock climbs. For the more sedentary, there are a numerous Clubs and Societies. To support these the Village enjoys the benefit of two Community Halls.

Over many years a link of friendship and exchange has been enjoyed with Kisdorf in Germany and this has lead to a very close relationship with our friends there.

The Village is proud to contain a fine Primary School which provides the springboard for further educational facilities into surrounding towns.

The Village contains the Anglican ‘All Hallows Church’ and the Roman Catholic Church ‘The Church of the Blessed Sacrament’ and the Anglican ‘All Hallows Church’ and it is from here that the monthly Bardsey News drops through the letter boxes of everyone in Bardsey and the surrounding villages of East Keswick and Wike. Being in the alternative traditional format this provides a very welcome ‘comfortable’ read!

In 2002-3 much hard work and many hours were devoted to the preparation and circulation of a questionnaire to Villagers. This has a resulted in the compilation, publication and circulation of the Parish Plan which encompasses the results of the questionnaire. The Parish Council and their able bodied helpers are now in the course of implementing, wherever possible, the Villagers aspirations to make Bardsey an even better place to live both in the near and distant future.

 

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