Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England.

Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the City of Bradford.

Ilkley's spa town heritage and surrounding countryside make tourism an important local industry.

The song's words are written in Yorkshire dialect, its title translated as "On Ilkley Moor without a hat."

The earliest evidence of habitation in the Ilkley area is from flint arrowheads or microliths, dating to the Mesolithic period, from about 11,000 BC onwards.

[2] The area around Ilkley has been continuously settled since at least the Neolithic, around 3000 BC; more than 250 cup and ring marks, and a curved swastika carving possibly dating to the period have been found on rock outcrops,[3] and archaeological remains of dwellings are found on Ilkley Moor.

A small stone circle (possibly a burial monument), known as the ‘Twelve Apostles’, was constructed 4,500 years ago, during the Early Bronze Age.

A number of Roman altars have been discovered from the reigns of Antoninus Pius (138 to 161), and Septimius Severus and his son Caracalla (211 to 217).

[5] Ilkley Manor House stands on part of the site in Castle Yard and is home to various Roman artefacts, including an original altar dedicated to Verbeia, the goddess of the River Wharfe.

[6] Three Anglo-Saxon crosses from the 8th century that stood in the churchyard of All Saints' Church have been moved inside to prevent erosion.

[8] The land was acquired by the Middelton family of Myddelton Lodge, from about a century after the time of William the Conqueror.

The family lost possession through a series of land sales and mortgage repossessions over a period of about a hundred years from the early 19th century.

[9] The agents of William Middelton (1815–1885) were responsible for the design of the new town of Ilkley to replace the village which had stood there before.

[19] Ilkley is in the Keighley UK Parliament constituency, held since 2019 by Robbie Moore, the Conservative MP.

[21] The Local Government Act 1972 dissolved urban districts and in 1974 Ilkley adopted its current status as a ward of the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford.

The railway, before the Beeching axe, also connected to Addingham, Bolton Abbey and Skipton to the west, and to Otley, Pool-in-Wharfedale, meeting the main Leeds to Harrogate line at Arthington.

The town's original Victorian arcade has been restored as an indoor shopping walkway complete with a fountain and hanging baskets.

According to the 2001 UK census, the industry of employment of residents aged 16–74 was 18.8% property and business services, 14.8% retail and wholesale, 13.4% education, 13.1% health and social work, 9.6% manufacturing, 5.7% finance, 4.8% construction, 4.8% public administration, 4.4% hotels and restaurants, 4.2% transport and communications, 0.6% energy and water supply, 0.5% agriculture, 0.1% mining, and 5.2% other.

The City of Bradford has a relatively low proportion of people who were self-employed compared to the whole of England, but Ilkley's rate of 11.9% was well above both the district and national figures.

The main operators are First Leeds, Keighley Bus Company and North Yorkshire County Council.

[39] These are linked by the Wharfedale Line, along which Northern Trains operates services between Ilkley, Bradford Forster Square and Leeds stations.

Constructed in 1935, it is one of only four public open-air swimming pools in Yorkshire[52] and is a tourist attraction during the summer holiday season.

[54] In both 2005 and 2007, the town hosted stages of the Tour of Britain race, with Ilkley Moor being a categorised climb on each occasion.

Ilkley features in Stage 3 of the inaugural Tour, with the race set to enter from the west along the A65, before turning to climb up past the Cow and Calf.

[59] Ilkley town centre is a tourist attraction with a high number of small independent shops.

[60] Ilkley is one of five towns to feature a Bettys tearoom and is home to the Michelin-starred Box Tree restaurant[61] where Marco Pierre White trained.

The museum contains prehistoric artefacts and documents the Roman fort of Olicana – remains of which are exposed at the back of the building – as well as the rise of Ilkley as a Victorian spa town.

The Green features a maze, whose design was influenced by the Swastika Stone carving, and includes monuments with an evolutionary theme.

[88] In 1975, David Gayle founded the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars which brought distinguished names in dance, like Alicia Markova, to Ilkley College of Education.

[32] Ilkley's medieval parish church All Saints', largely reconstructed in the Victorian era, houses artefacts of the site's ancient Christian heritage including three Saxon crosses[7] and today operates within the Anglican Communion.