town in Kirklees metropolitan borough, metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, historic county of Yorkshire, northern England. It lies along the River Calder 9 miles (14 km) south-southwest of Leeds. Dewsbury (which was mentioned in Domesday Book in 1086) had a woolen industry as early as the 13th century, but there was no great expansion until the Industrial Revolution, when the town became the natural centre of a heavy woolen district. Textiles declined during the late 20th century, to be replaced by engineering and light manufacturing.

There is a tradition that Paulinus (Paulinus, Saint), the first archbishop of York, preached in 627 CE at Dewsbury, which had in Saxon times a parish more than 400 square miles (1,000 square km) in area. Another tradition holds that Robin Hood died and was buried in the extensive park at Kirklees, where there are the remains of a 12th-century Cistercian convent. The parish church of All Saints, mostly rebuilt in the 18th century, retains 9th-century Anglo-Saxon carvings. Pop. (2001) 54,341.