Little is known of Bately during the Saxon times. After the Nornam conquest, the Manor was granted to Ilbert de Lacy. From there into the de Batleys, by 1100 ownership had gone to the Copley family. Their residence at Batley Hall was held directly from the Crown, within the Duchy of Lancaster. The population in 1086 was between 30 to 40 people.
In 1379 a poll tax was levied by Parliment to raise money for the Kings war against the Scottish and French. Any male 16 and over had to pay anywhere from four pense to twenty shilling. This caused a peasent revolution in 1381. In 1390 and 91 the plague hit Batley killing nearly a third of the residents. In 1400 the population was 2400. The present Batley Church was built in the early 1400's during the reign of HenryVI. Batley Grammer School was first built in 1612. It was a free school for the boys and is still in existance today. Old testament names became very popular in 1649-1660 as people began to read the bible at home. In the 1740's Methodism came to Batley and continued strong into the 1900's. John Nelson was a leading preacher for the Methodist movement. The Industrial revolution arrived in 1796 with water powered mills for card spinning, this expanded the population quickly. Many farmers gave farming up to come to the city. 1800 the popilation was 2500, by 1850 it was 9,300. In 1832 a toll road was built for the volume of shod, cloth and wool being shipped in and out of town. Before the toll road there were only foot and cart paths to travel by. In the early 1850's the millworkers went on strike, many Irish settlers moved here permanently to fill the open positions.the first Roman Catholic church St. Mary of the Angels was built in 1870 and is still in existance today. In 1848 Batley got a railroad station and in1853 they finally got a town hall. In 1861 population was over 14,000. In 1868 Batley became inorporated. During the 1860's Batley became known as a "shobby trade" empire by recycling cloth and rags into blankets and uniforms.

Batley is a town in Kirklees Metropolitan Borough, in West Yorkshire, England, just north of Dewsbury. The city population is nearly 43,000 residents. During the 1800's Batley underwent major growth, due to shoddy trade, but recently has been on a decline making it a    European Union transformation zone. The name Batley is from the Danish meaning valley or homestead of bats. Probably from  the local prominent Batte family. It is recorded in 1086 as "Bateleia"
Present day Batley is home to:
Yorkshire Motor Museum, a small but varied collection of local and marque auto makers dating back to 1885.
Batley Art Gallery inside the Batley Library displaying contemporary art, crafts and photography.
Bately Variety Club open in the early 1960's and still going strong. The Club has has many great live acts over the years including Johnny Mathis, Eartha Kitt,          The Bee Gees, Roy Orbison, The Hollies and more.
Batley is  a major cricket town which hosts the 64 team Heavy Wollen Cup tournament.
Wilton park also known as Batley Park has on its grounds a butterfly hous, the Milner K. Ford Observatory and the Bagshaw Museum with displays dating back to Ancient Egypt.
Pop singer Robert Palmer was born here.