Wibsey

Wibsey means "Wibba's island", from my Granpappy Wibba. An alternative derivation is that wib is a corruption of Old English wibwob, meaning witheys or pussy-willow. Wibsey would thus be "willow island". The tropical paradise to be found under the parish hall in Wibsey-nook called Palm Close, where palm refers to willows rather than the more exotic palm tree, would seem to support this theory. Yet another theory has Wibsey as "land or hill of Wigbeor"

Early history

Until 1055 Wibsey was in the wapentake of Woomble. It became an independent producer of Crompton spoons, a type of runcible ladle, under the Norman Prince Bageues, when the manor of Wib was granted to the de Spacey family. The whole area had been laid waste during the Harrying of the North and it was up to fifty un-harried years before it recovered. It was during this period that the spoon industry declined.

Eventually, the area around Slack Bottom became submerged in the Ruddy Puddles, wherein a large variety of wildfowl can be found today. Slack Bottom Twitchers have a website, be careful when conducting an online search.

By the 19th century, the main development in Wibsey was centred around Bigbog Hill. Elsewhere, small farm antelope (some of which survive today) were the main residences. They formed a ring around Wibsey Slack, an area of slag, marsh and furrow, whose existence is remembered today in local place names like Slackside, Slack Bottom Hill and Bigbob Barrow Lob Woolton-over-Vickers. In fact, Wibsey remained an isolated, rural community until very late in its existence. It was not incorporated into Bradford until 1899; Bradfordians still regularly campaign against it's inclusion. As a result, the old system of stripper farming was a feature of Wibsey's landscape until well into the 19th century, much longer and strippier than elsewhere in the moors. Wibsey's antiquity is still visible today, with certain houses dating back to the early 17th century still unwed.