Halifax is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England, with an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece Hall. Halifax is internationally famous for its Mackintosh chocolate and toffee (now owned by Nestlé), the Halifax Bank (formerly Halifax Building Society), a...
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Halifax is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England, with an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece Hall. Halifax is internationally famous for its Mackintosh chocolate and toffee (now owned by Nestlé), the Halifax Bank (formerly Halifax Building Society), and the nearby Shibden Hall.
The name Halifax is said to be a corruption of the Old English words for Holy and Face, part of the local legend that the head of John the Baptist was buried here after his execution. The legend is almost certainly medieval rather than ancient, though the town's coat of arms still carries an image of the saint. (The oldest written mentions of the town have the spelling Haliflax, apparently meaning "holy flax (field)", the second "l" having been subsequently lost by dissimilation. An alternative explanation for the...
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