Farnley is a district in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, south-west of Leeds city centre, between Wortley, Bramley and the countryside around Pudsey and Gildersome, in the LS12 Leeds postcode area. It is part of the Leeds City Ward Farnley and Wortley with a population of 24,213 according to the 2011 Census. New Farnley is a nearby commuter village. Etymology The name of Farnley was first attested in the 1086 Domesday Book as Fernelei. The name comes from the Old English words fearn ('fern') and lēah ('open land in woodland'), and thus meant 'clearing characterised by ferns'. Farnley Farnley village (also known as Old Farnley) started as a small agricultural village dating back to early medieval times. When first recorded in the Domesday Book, it was in the Hundred of Morley and was part of the King’s land, with Ilbert de Lacy being the tenant-in-chief. The original Farnley village started around Cross Lane which serviced Farnley Hall (on Hall Lane) and the Farnley Manor House (at the junction of Hall Lane to Chapel Lane). The Manor and Estates of Farnley were held in 1086 by Swain Fitz Alric and then a number of his descendants until it passed by marriage to Sir James Danby in 1497. The Danbys held it for about 300 years before it was bought by James Armitage. Farnley was surrounded by the villages of Bawn, Upper Moor Side and Low Moor Side. Farnley was heavily wooded until the 19th century, and Farnley Wood was the meeting point for a would-be rebellion against Charles II in 1663 which was known as the Farnley Wood Plot (believed to have taken place in Sykes wood, at the bottom of Green Lane). Although the rebellion failed from lack of support, the betrayal led to 26 participants being condemned to death, with 16 hanged, drawn and quartered in York. The people of Farnley worked in the mills surrounding the area including the Butterbowl Mill and the three mills situated in the area around Post Hill (including Union Bridge Mill and the Woolen Mills of Farnley and Upper Mill). New Farnley did not exist as a village until the early part of the 19th century when Edward Armitage started the Farnley Iron Works and Farnley Fireclay. He needed many workers so built houses for them, so what had been known as part of Farnley now became New Farnley. With the increasing urban expansion