Southowram (/ˈsaʊθɑːrəm/ SOW-thar-əm) is a village and former civil parish in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England.

The village is included within the Halifax built-up area as defined by the Office for National Statistics.

[8] Parts of Southowram's village centre were demolished and rebuilt in the 1970s and 1980s, but many older buildings remain, as do the ancient stocks on Towngate.

In 1837, at the age of 19, Emily Brontë came to teach at the three-storey house on Law Lane which was then an exclusive boarding school.

She was homesick and in a collection of letters, her sister Charlotte wrote about how Emily had to work from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day and was more of a governess than a teacher.

Emily wrote poetry while at Law Hill and became fascinated by the story of intrigue and feuding which surrounded the house's builder, Jack Sharp, and his near neighbours, the Walker family of Walterclough Hall.

It is said she reflected the story in the plot of her novel Wuthering Heights and that the central character Heathcliff was based on Sharp himself.

[10] William de Astey (also described as de Astay or Asty) witnessed numerous deeds recorded in the Court Rolls prior to 1284,[11] especially of the Ecclesley family, located in Southowram township in the area later known as Far Exley or Exley Hall.

Marshalls continues to extract stone in the area and the company has moved its headquarters to Huddersfield in recent years.

A number of walls which incorporate quarry waste can still be seen in the locality, especially those on the valley opposite Hove Edge.

It features a beautiful rood cross and icon[13] as well as a gallery, a carved stone pulpit and some notable stained-glass windows.

The church was originally part of a house belonging to the lord of the manor; in 1449 Pope Eugenius IV issued a licence for the Mass to be offered.