disturbances ... Among these scenes of revelry were mountebanks, showmen, fortune telling Gypsies, vagabonds and thieves from every quarter." Skelmanthorpe Feast now happens every year on the field next to The Chartist and across the road from what was the Three Horse Shoes public house and is now shops. Native/Navvy War In November 1874 a number of skirmishes were fought between the native villagers and Irish navvies. The navvies had been brought in to help construct the railway, and fighting broke out between them and the locals on a number of occasions. This led to the locals being refused work on the line. Causing a small group of locals to throw stones at the navvies, who responded with mattock shafts and spades. The fighting lasted for most of the day eventually ending in the afternoon. Police were called in from Huddersfield but arrived after the disturbances had finished. Ownership The first recorded owners of the village were Alric and Aldena in the 11th century, mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. Following the Norman invasion of England in 1066 the village was given to Ilbert de Laci by the new king. The de Laci family owned the village for the next 300 years, until through the marriage of Alice de Laci in the 14th century, the village came into the possession of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. The village remained in this family and after the marriage of Blanche of Lancaster to John of Gaunt, the village became the property of their son Henry (King of England). Cinema/Bingo/Squash/Youth Centre In 1934 a building was built to house a local cinema, this was the sole use of the building for almost 30 years. In 1961 wrestling was introduced to increase revenue. A reduction in audiences in 1968 resulted in the cinema closing and the building became a bingo hall until 1970 when the entire building was closed. It lay dormant for five years before being reopened as the Savoy Squash Club. In June 2010, redevelopment of part of the Savoy Club will have been completed into a new Youth and Community Centre. This includes a new car park, outdoor 5-a-side court, sports hall with a stage, meeting room and cafe. Industry Similar to many village in the area, agriculture was the primary industry of Skelmanthorpe until the 19th century when weaving took over as the dominant occupation. Many of the older buildings