West Ardsley

West Ardsley is commonly used to refer to an area on the south-west edge of the City of Leeds, possessing a WF3 postcode. It roughly approximates to an amalgamation of Tingley, Woodkirk, Hill Top, Upper Green and Common Side.

West Ardsley does not appear on any ordnance survey maps, however the nearby settlement of East Ardsley does. In truth, although there are many roadsigns pointing to "West Ardsley" and some clubs and local organisations refer to it in their name, there is no longer one single, self-contained area with the name. Many local residents across all four villages use the name in their postal address, though the Post Office does not recognise it as a settlement, and will always use one of the five individual villages.

Historically, Ardsley is a derivative of 'Erdeslau' - under which name it appears in the Domesday Book. The details are available at the national archive website. In Arthur Mee's The King's England series, he wrote under Woodkirk, "Sometimes called 'West Ardsley'." This was incorrect, yet Woodkirk was the largest hamlet in the parish at the time.

Ardsley is also the home of the annual Lee Gap fair - a horse fair originally chartered by King Stephen in 1139 (citation) - which makes it reputedly England's oldest horse fair. The fair used to stretch over two weeks, but as the horse trade has diminished now takes place only on the first and last days of that fortnight - known as "first o'lee" and "latter lee". Today, the main attendees are gypsies and travellers.

There is a historic parish of West Ardsley, whose parish boundaries all fall within the "Morley South" ward.