SOWERBY, a village, a township, three chapelries, and a sub-district, in Halifax parish and district, W. R. Yorkshire. The village stands on an eminence near the river Calder, 1 mile W by S of Sowerby-Bridge r. station, and 4 WSW of Halifax. The township contains also the villages of Triangle and Cragg-Vale, which have post-offices under Halifax, and part of the town of Sowerby-Bridge, which has a post-office‡ under Normanton. Acres, 3,670. Real property, £21,925. Pop. in 1851, 7,908; in 1861, 8,753. Houses, 1,778. Much of the land is moor. Many of the inhabitants are employed in cotton-mills, woollen-mills, and foundries. Roman coins were found in 1678. There are, within the township, five churches, eight dissenting chapels, six national schools, alms houses for 6 persons, and other charities £141.The chapelries of S. are St. Peter, St. Mary, and St. George. The livings are p. curacies in the diocese of Ripon. Value, of St. P. £300;* of St. M. and St. G., each £150.* Patron of St. P. and St. G., the Vicar of Halifax; of St. M., alternately the Crown and the Bishop. St. P.'s church is in the Grecian style, with a tower; and contains a statue of Archbishop Tillotson, who was a native. St. M. 's church is in the early decorated style, with a tower and spire; and St. G.'s church is in the Norman style, with a tower.—The sub-district contains also Norland township and part of Warley. Pop., 13,945. Houses, 2,894.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))