Birdsedge is a small rural village, coupled with the adjacent hamlet of High Flatts. The villages are set high on the edge of the Yorkshire Pennines, almost a thousand feet above sea level, in England’s rugged north.
There are 150 or so houses, about 350 people, a school, a village hall (a registered charity), a Wesleyan Reform Church, a Friends Meeting House, a mill (Hinchliffe’s) which is a small part of a bigger complex in nearby Denby Dale, and some local businesses.
Birdsedge and High Flatts are on the southern edge of Kirklees local authority, just a blink away from the Barnsley boundary. It is in the Dewsbury Parliamentary constituency.
What’s in a name?
People who have lived here a long time tend to spell the village name Birdsedge, Kirklees calls it Birds Edge. At one time the village sign at the north end of the village said Birds Edge, and coming in from the south side the sign said Birdsedge 1 mile. The 17th Century Adam Eyre’s Diary called it Bursage. So you decide.
The village has a website: http://www.birdsedge.co.uk/
