Sitting on the southern edge of Bradford, Buttershaw is a residential area of West Yorkshire bounded by Horton Bank Top to the north, Wibsey to the east, Woodside to the south, and Shelf to the west. Much of what visitors see today took shape from 1947 onwards, when the construction of a large council estate gradually spread northward across what had previously been farmland. That farmland itself had a longer industrial past – Ordnance Survey maps from 1852 show the area dotted with mine workings, while the 1910 edition records their conversion to agricultural use.
Origins and Development
The original Buttershaw settlement sat roughly one mile to the east of its present centre, which is why St Paul’s Church – historically the parish church of Buttershaw – stands in neighbouring Wibsey rather than within the modern estate boundary. During the 19th century, the focus of the community shifted westward following the construction of Bottomley’s Mill on Halifax Road and the rows of workers’ cottages, including Bottomley Street, built alongside the existing settlement at Beck Hill. The 20th-century council building programme then pushed the district’s centre northward onto the former farmland, with house building continuing through to the 1960s. From the 1980s, many of the older properties – including some blocks of flats – were demolished and replaced with newer housing.
Film and Popular Culture
Buttershaw became widely known beyond Bradford in 1986 when the film Rita, Sue and Bob Too, based on plays by local writer Andrea Dunbar, used the estate as its primary setting. The film gave the area a certain cult following, though many residents at the time felt it reinforced an already unwanted reputation. Director Clio Barnard later returned to Buttershaw for two projects: The Arbor, partly filmed on the estate, and the 2013 film The Selfish Giant, which was set in Buttershaw and received broadly positive reviews on its limited release.
Schools and Local Facilities
Buttershaw is served by several primary schools, including Farfield Primary and Nursery School, Reevy Hill Primary School, and St Paul’s Church of England Primary School. The main secondary school, Buttershaw Business and Enterprise College on Reevy Road, opened in 1956 as Buttershaw Secondary School and has been known under several names over the decades. A new school building opened in 2008, at which point the college took its current name. Rugby union player Frank Whitcombe Jr was among those educated locally, having attended Buttershaw St Paul’s Church School.