In the windy uplands of Thornton Heights there are many eclectic place names - Jerusalem, Moscow and World's End to name three. However, the area's defining landmark was the Walls of Jericho.
The 36ft-high drystone walls plunged Egypt Road into a deep dark canyon as it wound its way down the steep hillside. The walls were constructed between 1847 and 1891 to retain spoil from Egypt and Bell Dean quarries.
The first literary mention of the Walls of Jericho comes in Elizabeth Southwart's evocative book Bronte Moors and Villages published in 1923.
Egypt Road was closed in September, 1969, after a partial collapse of the Walls of Jericho. Residents faced a lengthy diversion as Black Dyke Road had been closed in February, 1950, due to subsidence caused by Egypt Quarry.
A notice to repair the walls was served on Kenville Trading Co Ltd, of Midland Wool Warehouse, Briggate, Shipley, who were believed to own the western wall.
However, although the company owned the two fields adjoining the wall, there was some doubt about the ownership of the wall itself. Bradford Council was left with three options: rebuild the walls; demolish the walls; or raise the roadway and bury the bottom part of the walls.
In the event repairs costing some £3,000 were undertaken. Cement was pumped into the rear of the west wall. The Council paid for the work and a deal was struck where Kenville gave the land adjoining the west wall to the Council.
In the early 1980s Bradford was marketed as an unlikely, but successful, tourist destination with a campaign declaring "Bradford, a Surprising Place". The Walls of Jericho were featured on colour posters alongside the likes of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, Ilkley's Cow and Calf Rocks and City Hall.
After a partial collapse Egypt Road was closed on April 2, 1982, and subsequently declared unsafe. Newspaper reports claimed repairs would cost an astonishing £500,000. At that price demolition was inevitable. However, two weeks before the collapse the walls had been listed as a grade two structure of architectural or historical interest by the Department of the Environment. This meant that the department would have to approve demolition of the walls.
Local opinion was split. Arthur Fell, landlord of the Rock and Heifer, claimed that the road closure had cost him hundreds of pounds in lost trade. He told the Telegraph & Argus: "It suits me fine if the walls are pulled down. They are just a couple of ugly walls built to contain shale from a quarry."
Thornton conservationist Doris Garrard, who had previously fought to save South Square from demolition, wanted the walls to be saved. She said: "We cannot afford to lose these wallsthey are a landmark".
An unpublished County Council report, now in the archives of Bradford Central Library, reveals that the walls could have been saved for £47,000. The report, submitted on July 8, 1982, noted that the road closure had caused no great inconvenience to through traffic as it was fairly light (286 vehicles in six hours) and there was an alternative route available. Three options were under consideration: 1.Repair the walls at a cost of £47,000.
2.Make the closure of Egypt Road permanent and partially demolish the walls opposite 2-6 Egypt Road at a cost of £72,000, including improvements to a diversionary route.
3.Demolish the walls and realign Egypt Road at a cost of £147,300.
The full report wasn't made public. The apparent choice was between complete rebuilding of the walls costing £500,000 or demolition and the building of a new road costing £147,300.
James Wilson, a dry stone waller from Haworth, questioned the Council's figures and offered to completely rebuild the walls for £120,000. But the Council defended its £500,000 estimate and said it couldn't afford it.
On December 16, 1982, Councillor Ian Greenwood told the T&A: "We do not believe the walls can be saved and so we are taking the decision which alleviates the danger and provides a route between the two areas." He claimed that every option had been examined, but as they were a danger to motorists the walls had to be demolished. The County Council then applied to the Department of the Environment for permission to demolish the grade two listed walls.
Bradford Council announced plans to construct a new bypass road at a total cost of £147,300. During the summer of 1985 the Council voted to go ahead with the bypass scheme and works began almost immediately.
Thackley drystone waller Stephen Gardiner built a new boundary wall using the stone from the old walls. He also rebuilt the only remaining part of the Walls of Jericho, a retaining wall adjacent to the cottages. It was reinforced and backed with concrete. It was still an impressive structure standing 26ft high. The saga of the walls finally came to an end on January 17, 1986, when Egypt Road reopened to road traffic.
The Walls of Jericho had come tumbling down. Unlike their namesake of antiquity it was not the strident trumpet blast of the Israelites that undermined them, but a combination of subsidence and the victory of through traffic over a much-loved local landmark.
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