Old Town: what to know before moving day
The village has a green, two chapels, a post office with a café, and the Hare and Hounds, which locals call Lane Ends. Up Wainsgate Lane stands Wainsgate Chapel, a Grade II* Baptist chapel of 1859 to 1860 now in the care of the Historic Chapels Trust; John Fawcett, its minister from 1764, wrote the hymn Blessed Be the Tie that Binds and has a listed tomb in the graveyard.
Old Town Mill, a gritstone worsted mill of 1851 extended in 1881 and 1889, stands on Old Town Mill Lane and has since been used for other purposes. Most other homes are stone cottages and farmhouses: Boston Hill Cottages and the row at 1 to 5 Wainsgate Lane are listed, as are Old Town Hall with its cottages and Old Town Farmhouse, dated 1637. Old Town Cricket Club plays beside the village, and Old Town Reservoir is close by.
How the van gets to Old Town
Akroyd Lane is the spine of the village. At one end it meets the A6033 Keighley Road out of Hebden Bridge, and inside the village Parrock Lane, Wainsgate Lane and Old Town Mill Lane branch off it. A listed guide post engraved OLD TOWN marks the junction of Akroyd Lane and Parrock Lane. Parrock Lane also links across to Billy Lane in Chiserley for the route down through Sandy Gate.
The drive from Bradford is roughly 35 to 50 minutes. That is an estimate from route data, not a timed run, and traffic changes it.
Services for Old Town
Each service below links to its Hebden Bridge page, which covers how the job works in and around Hebden Bridge.
Old Town: questions before you book
Which parish council does Old Town share with its neighbours?
It has a parish council shared with its neighbours: Wadsworth Parish Council serves Old Town and Pecket Well, and Chiserley is in the same parish. Calderdale Council handles bins and council tax.
Nearby areas
Where the local details on this page come from
Checked on 28 September 2026 against:
- Postcode lookup (postcodes.io, ONS data): HX7 8SX is in Hebden Bridge & Todmorden East ward, Calderdale, parish: Wadsworth
- Old Town (Wikipedia): hilltop above Hebden Bridge across the Hebden valley from Heptonstall, Wadsworth Parish Council with Pecket Well, village green, two chapels, Hare and Hounds known as Lane Ends, post office with a café, population about 1,070
- Wainsgate Baptist Church (Wikipedia): Grade II*, built 1859-60, Historic Chapels Trust since 2004, John Fawcett minister from 1764 and his hymn, listed tomb
- Listed buildings in Wadsworth (Wikipedia, from the National Heritage List): Old Town Mill 1851, Boston Hill Cottages, 1-5 Wainsgate Lane, Old Town Hall and cottages, Old Town Farmhouse 1637, guide post at Akroyd Lane and Parrock Lane
- OpenStreetMap map data (API extract around the research coordinates): Akroyd Lane, Old Town Mill Lane, Parrock Lane, Wainsgate Lane, Boston Hill, Old Town Cricket Club, Wainsgate Chapel, Old Town Reservoir, Keighley Road (A6033)
- OpenStreetMap map data (wider API extract, road junctions traced): Akroyd Lane meets the A6033; Parrock Lane links to Billy Lane