Ilkley

Ilkley
	Ilkley town hall in July 2004
Coordinates	53 ° 55 ′ N , 1 ° 49 ′ W Coordinates: 53 ° 55 ′ N , 1 ° 49 ′ W
	Ilkley
	Ilkley
Residents	13,828 (as of 2001)
surface	64.4 km² (24.86 mi² )
Population density:	215 inhabitants per km²
administration
Post town	ILKLEY
ZIP code section	LS29
prefix	01943
Part of the country	England
region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Shire county	West Yorkshire
District	City of Bradford
British Parliament	Keighley
Website: http://www.ilkley.org/

Ilkley is a riverside Wharfe situated spa town in northern England West Yorkshire . In 2001 it had 13,828 inhabitants.

geography

Ilkley is on the northern edge of the Rombalds Moor marshland , about 15 kilometers north of Bradford , 20 kilometers northwest of Leeds and 20 kilometers southwest of Harrogate . The 97-kilometer-long river Wharfe flows through the town from west to east, in the urban area of Ilkley it is crossed by four bridges.

The A65 from Leeds to Kendal ( Cumbria ) crosses Ilkley in a westerly direction.

history

Around 80 AD the Romans built a fort in Ilkley that they called Olicana . Olicana was a strategically important point because there the roads from the present-day cities of York and Manchester to Ribchester and Aldborough ( Isurium Brigantum ) crossed the Wharfe; Despite its strategic importance, the fort was abandoned at the beginning of the 5th century.

The White Wells, Ilkley's first healing spring

Ilkley is mentioned by name in the Domesday Book , a land register created in 1086 on the orders of William the Conqueror . William de Percy , whose descendants retained control of Ilkley for the next 200 years, was appointed administrator of the lands around the town . After the death of Peter de Percy in 1315, the land changed hands several times until the Middleton family took over the property in 1484. It was not until 1906, more than 400 years later, with the death of Charles Marmaduke Middleton that the family's close ties to the place ended.

Ilkley as a health resort

The first hydrotherapeutic spa in Ilkley, the White Wells (German: "White Springs"), was built around 1690 on the edge of the moor outside the city; In 1780 the buildings were repaired and expanded by William Middleton . The complex now consisted of an immersion bath, which held over 4000 liters of 4 ° C cold water, and a second, lower-lying room with an equally cold shower.

The water of the healing spring has no significant mineral content ; the effect of the water is rather attributed to its temperature, which stimulates the blood circulation . Charles Darwin , the founder of the theory of evolution , is said to have used the immersion bath in 1859, which is still open to visitors today.

During the professional tennis grass season, two major tournaments are held in Ilkley at the same time. For men it is the ATP Challenger Ilkley and for women the Ilkley Trophy (an ITF tournament, endowed with 100,000 dollars).