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The Great Britain Guide

Towns & cities · Yorkshire & the Humber

Bradford

Free admission

Bradford — city and largest settlement in the City of Bradford district, Yorkshire, England.

Bradford, towns & cities in Yorkshire & the Humber

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Plan your visit

Typical visit
3 h–6 h
Nearest railway station
Bradford Interchange · 0.4 km
  • Free entry
  • Family-friendly
  • Dog-friendly

About

Bradford is a town, city, village or settlement in the United Kingdom. It covers approximately 64,361,204 km². Recent population estimates put it at around 293,277 people. Address: BD1-BD99. Wikidata describes it as: "city and largest settlement in the City of Bradford district, Yorkshire, England". Coordinates: 53.7940°, -1.7510°.

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From the Wikipedia article

Bradford is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the 1974 reform, the city status has belonged to the larger City of Bradford metropolitan borough. According to the 2021 census, the city itself had a population of 352,317, making it the second-largest subdivision of the West Yorkshire Built-up Area after Leeds, which is approximately 9 km (5.6 mi) to the east. The wider metropolitan borough had a population of 546,976 at the same census, making it one of the most populous districts in England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city grew in the 19th century as an international centre of textile manufacture, particularly wool. It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the earliest industrialised settlements, rapidly becoming the "wool capital of the world"; this in turn gave rise to the nicknames "Woolopolis" and "Wool City". Lying in the eastern foothills of the Pennines, the area's access to supplies of coal, iron ore and soft water facilitated the growth of a manufacturing base, which, as textile manufacture grew, led to an explosion in population and was a stimulus to civic investment. There is a large amount of listed Victorian architecture in the city including the grand Italianate city hall. From the mid-20th century, deindustrialisation caused the city's textile sector and industrial base to decline and, since then, it has faced similar economic and social challenges to the rest of post-industrial Northern England, including poverty, unemployment and social unrest. It is the third-largest economy within the Yorkshire and the Humber region at around £10 billion, which is mostly provided by financial and manufacturing industries. It is also a tourist destination, and the first UNESCO City of Film. Attractions include the National Science and Media Museum, a city park, the Alhambra theatre and Cartwright Hall. The city is the UK City of Culture…

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

History

After an uprising in 1070, during William the Conqueror's Harrying of the North, the manor of Bradford was laid waste, The manor then passed to the Earl of Lincoln, John of Gaunt, The Crown and, ultimately, private ownership in 1620. By the Middle Ages, Bradford had become a small town centred on Kirkgate, Westgate and Ivegate. In 1316 there is mention of a fulling mill, a soke mill where all the manor corn was milled and a market. During the Wars of the Roses the inhabitants sided with House of Lancaster. Edward IV granted the right to hold two annual fairs and from this time the town began to prosper. In the reign of Henry VIII Bradford exceeded Leeds as a manufacturing centre. Bradford…

Visiting

]] The city has a rich heritage in film production, and many films and TV productions have been filmed in the city. Films using Bradford as a location include Room at the Top (1959); Billy Liar (1963); The Railway Children (1970), a children's film shot around Haworth including the Bronte Parsonage; Yanks (1979), starring Richard Gere; Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983), with footage filmed in Lister Park; FairyTale: A True Story (1997) starring Harvey Keitel, based on the story of the Cottingley Fairies; and East is East (1997), in which Oak Lane is shown when the family visit the city. The Buttershaw area of the city is featured in the film Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1987), in which…

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates
53.7940, -1.7510
District
Bradford
Parish
Bradford, unparished area
Postcode
BD1-BD99
Parliamentary constituency
Bradford West
Population
293,277
Nearest railway station
Bradford Interchange0.4 km
Official site
www.bradford.gov.uk

Sources

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Frequently asked questions

Where is Bradford?
Bradford is in Yorkshire, United Kingdom (postcode BD1-BD99), in the parish of Bradford, unparished area.
Is Bradford free to visit?
Yes, Bradford is free to enter.
How do I get to Bradford?
The nearest railway station is Bradford Interchange, about 0.4 km away. Drivers can navigate to postcode BD1-BD99.