Harrison Road - Well Head

St John's Lane

Well Head, Halifax — The Lost Mansion and the Springs That Supplied the Town

Well Head lies just off Skircoat Road, a short distance from Halifax town centre. Today it is an urban area, but its history reaches back to the springs that provided Halifax with fresh water long before modern mains supplies. The name reflects that practical importance: water from Well Head was channelled towards the town, including through pipes running along Harrison Road and Barum Top to a cistern at Old Cock Yard. The springs remained important for centuries, and an Act of Parliament in 1762 enabled a watercourse to be opened from Well Head and other public springs. Calderdale Libraries’ local history record and Calderdale Companion record this water-supply history.

Well Head also became associated with substantial houses and landscaped grounds. Well Head House, built in the 18th century and linked to the Waterhouse family, stood in grounds that included extensive gardens and glasshouses. The house was attributed to architect John Carr in local and heritage records, although details of its construction history vary between sources. The mansion was eventually demolished in the 1970s after serious damage and deterioration; the former estate was subsequently built over as Halifax expanded.

The area’s changing appearance is captured in historic photographs held by Calderdale Libraries. Images of Well Head and its fields show a more open landscape than the built-up neighbourhood seen today. Another reminder of a different plan for the area is a tunnel near Skircoat Road, begun during an abandoned railway scheme in the early 20th century; local history records also describe its later use as an air-raid shelter during the Second World War.

Well Head’s story is therefore not just about a lost mansion. It is also about the springs that helped sustain Halifax, the wealthy households that once occupied the surrounding land, and the redevelopment that transformed the fields into part of the modern town.

enhanced

St John's

St. Johns at the top of Prescott Street                                                                                       enhanced

enhanced

enhanced

enhanced

St.Johns Lane

St.John's Lane 2024

Bluecoats School

Blue Coat School, Harrison Road is part of the assets of the Waterhouse Charity, which was founded in the seventeenth century by Nathaniel Waterhouse, who, by his will of July 1st, 1642, left to 16 trustees and their heirs, all his houses, buildings, lands etc.  in Halifax, Skircoat, Exley and Southowram, to be used for various charitable purposes. One of the main provisions was that of a house in Halifax, wherin twenty orphans, ten boys and ten girls, were to live and work under the superintendence of a Master, who was to be paid by any profit he might make out of the children's labour. That was the beginning of the Blue Coat School. 

In 1848, a private Act dealing with the charity was passed, and this, among other things, gave permission to the trustees, with the sanction of the Court of Chancery, to rebuild the school and the adjoining almshouses. This sanction was obtained on July 1st, 1853 and the building followed. A new schoolroom was added in 1835 at a cost of £1,940.

There was 40 boys and girls in residence at the school. They attended Holy Trinity school for their education and every year they had a week or ten days seaside holiday. The children were taken from different townships of the Parish of Halifax and, although there were no hard and fast regulations, each case was decided on it's merits preference was given to children without both parents.

The school was demolished in 1963.

enhanced

By his will of July, 1642, Nathaniel Waterhouse provided for twelve dwellings to be used as almshouses by twelve aged or poor people who were to receive 30s each per annum, with 10s to array them in black. In 1848, permission was obtained by the trustees to increase the number of almspeople from 12 to 24 and to enlarge the almshouses.

The houses are two storey and each wing contains 12 residences, six on the ground floor and six on the first floor. Each house consists of a living room and bedroom combined, with a scullery or coal place, and over the window of each is the name of the township to which it was attached.

The present almshouses were rebuilt in 1966.

enhanced

enhanced

enhanced

Assembly Rooms

enhanced

enhanced

Halifax Police Station

Read more

enhanced

Carlton Street

Carlton Street — Echoes of Regency Halifax

Carlton Street, Halifax, has lost much of its nineteenth‑century charm to the rows of parked cars that now line its narrow roadway. Yet, beneath the modern clutter, the street still holds echoes of its Regency past. Its stone façades and quiet corners recall a time when craftsmanship and carriage building defined the area.

Local records reveal that Thos. Piercy & Sons once operated here, in the triangle formed by Carlton Street, Bull Close Lane, and Ferguson Street. Their thriving carriage‑building and saddlery business gave No. 10 Carlton Street a distinctive Victorian presence — a pedimented façade that stood out against the simpler neighbouring houses. Around 1870, the firm’s prosperity was reflected in that elegant frontage, a proud statement of Halifax’s industrial confidence.

By 1887, the address listed Thomas Nicholson, carriage builder — a name that lived on through Woodall Nicholson Ltd, the coachbuilders who carried Halifax’s reputation for quality craftsmanship well into the twentieth century.

Though the street’s purpose has changed, its stonework still whispers of those industrious days when wheels, leather, and paint defined the rhythm of life. Carlton Street remains a quiet reminder of how Halifax’s trades shaped its character — one façade, one workshop, one craftsman at a time.