Dewsbury is a minster town within the Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It is to the west of Wakefield, to the East of Huddersfield and south of Leeds. It lies by the River Calder, West Yorkshire and the Calder and Hebble Navigation.
After undergoing a period of major growth in the 19th century as a mill town, Dewsbury went through a period of decline. More recently there has been rapid and ongoing redevelopment of derelict mills into flats, and other projects concerned with regenerating run-down or deprived areas.
According to the United Kingdom Census 2001 the Dewsbury urban sub-area had a population of 54,341. Dewsbury is the largest town in the Heavy Woollen District, which forms a conurbation of small mill towns.
