[2] Batley Town Hall, designed in the neoclassical style, was paid for by public subscription and opened as the local mechanics' institute in 1854.

Their residence at Batley Hall was held directly from the Crown; at this time the district was part of the Duchy of Lancaster.

[7][8] Two leading figures in the early Methodist movement, John William Fletcher and Mary Bosanquet, were married at All Saints Church in Batley in 1781.

Samuel Jubb, a 19th-century mill owner and local historian, noted that this was "a manufacture for which the place is well adapted, on account of its possessing a good supply of water and coal, and its central situation in relation to the principal local markets, being about equidistant from Leeds, Huddersfield, Bradford, Halifax, and Wakefield.

"[10]: 9–10  The water he referred to was not the beck but the large aquifer beneath the town, which was tapped for cleaning and dying wool.

Initially this led to antagonism from residents, due to the lower wages paid to the Irish workers and general anti-Roman Catholic sentiment, but this faded in time.

During the late 19th century, Batley was the centre of the shoddy and mungo trade in which wool, rags and clothes were recycled by reweaving them into blankets, carpets and uniforms.

[13] In 1875 local woman Ann Ellis led a weavers strike against the shoddy mill owners who were planning to reduce wages.

The first records of coal mining in Batley date back to the 16th century at White Lee; the last pit in the town closed in 1973.

[citation needed] On the nights of 14 and 15 March 1941, the West Yorkshire area as a whole was subject to a Nazi air raid.

[...] Excess water due to rainfall or melting snow would enter the dwellings over their thresholds.In 1974, responsibility for local government passed to Kirklees Metropolitan Council, with its headquarters in Huddersfield.

Batley's Labour MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed to death outside her constituency surgery in Birstall in June 2016.

[17][18] The politically-motivated murder, carried out by a local man in the name of white supremacy, was the first assassination of a sitting British MP since 1990.

[19][20] Her seat was filled by Labour candidate Tracy Brabin in a by-election later the same year, uncontested by the other major parties.

Brabin was elected the first Mayor of West Yorkshire in 2021, triggering a high profile by-election in which Labour expected to struggle to retain the formerly safe red wall seat.

[23] Labour candidate Kim Leadbeater, the sister of Jo Cox, ultimately won the election by a narrow margin, following a campaign focused on local issues.

[24] The governing Conservative's surprise loss was blamed on poor campaigning and a scandal involving Health Secretary Matt Hancock in the weekend prior to the by-election.

[30] Landmarks around Batley include Oakwell Hall, Bagshaw Museum, Wilton Park, Mount Pleasant stadium, and All Saints Church, a Grade I listed building.

In its grounds are the Milner K. Ford Observatory (built in 1966 and home to the Batley & Spenborough Astronomical Society) and Bagshaw Museum.

Between 1966 and 1977 the Batley Variety Club was frequented by many notable acts including Louis Armstrong, Johnny Mathis, Eartha Kitt, the Bee Gees, Roy Orbison, the Hollies and Cliff Richard among others.

The Frontier was sold to businessmen in April 2005 and continued to operate as a nightclub whilst hosting variety shows and sporting events such as boxing, snooker and darts.

On 8 January 1914 at a meeting in the Temperance Hall, it was decided that it would be known as the “Batley Amateur Thespian Society” and it became affiliated with the National Operatic and Dramatic Association.