Dewsbury is a market town in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England, sitting on the banks of the River Calder in the Calder Valley. It lies between Leeds and Huddersfield and has good rail and road links, so many residents commute into the larger nearby cities while local shops and markets still serve the town centre.
Historically an industrial town, Dewsbury was a centre for the woollen trade and recycling of cloth - known as the shoddy industry - through the 19th and early 20th centuries; reminders of that era survive in mill buildings and industrial architecture. Today the town combines Victorian landmarks such as Dewsbury Minster and green spaces like Crow Nest Park with a diverse, multicultural community, ongoing regeneration projects and a local economy based on light industry, retail and services.