For a long time life must have remained precarious and little above subsistence level in the townships and villages of the Calder Valley, The soil was poor and yielded only a meagre living, The Hundred Years War (1337 - 1353) may not have affected Elland greatly, but the Black Death swept the Colder Valley in the middle of the l4th century, and the Wars of the Roses between Yorkshire and Lancashire would have reduced an already low standard of living and caused deaths through destruction, starvation and pestilence. News travelled slowly due to poor communications. Only occasionally would the visit of an itinerant friar bring intelligence from other parts of the kingdom.
Severe as was the struggle for living, conditions slowly began to improve with the development of the wool industry. On the barren moors around the Calder Valley conditions were harsh, but sheep could survive and they produced a good thick fleece. Early in the middle ages the wool had been went from the West Riding to Hull to be shipped to Flanders for spinning and weaving. Now householders began adding to their income by spinning and weaving at home. At first the cloth produced was coarse and of poor quality, but as skill and experience were gained Yorkshire cloth became famous.
One of the most interesting documents in the history of Elland is the list of inhabitants who contributed to the Poll Tax in 1379. There were 31 married couples, 16 bachelors, and 14 spinsters. The total amount contributed was 45s 4d, as against 12s 8d contributed by Halifax and Heptonstall conjointly. Whereas in Halifax no one contributed more than one groat (the smallest contribution payable) , in Elland there were Sir John Savile, knight, and his wife, Isabell de Eland, who paid 20s.; Henry of Langfield, Franklin and his wife, 3s 4d.; William of Heton, merchant, 12d.; Robert of Slay, and his wife, 12d.; Adam of Hagh, taylor, and his wife 6d.; John of Hellistones,, ferror (smith), 6d.; Richard of Hellistones; carpenter, and his wife, 6d.; Hugh Stephenson, webster (weaver), and his wife 6d.; Alice of Crosse, Webster 6d.; and lsabell of Crosse, Webster, 6d. The fact that weavers are mentioned in this list indicates that the cottage woollen industry in Elland was beginning to flourish. Another source of information, dealing with the history of textile industry in the West Riding states that in Elland at this time (1379) there were 3 weavers, 1 coverlet weaver, 3 dyers, and 1 fuller (the word fuller means 'to form'). The growth of the industry is also reflected in some of the typical local surnames. For instance, 'Lister' was the trade name for a dyer, 'Walker' was the trade name of a fuller, and 'Webster' the trade name for a weaver.
Beginning in such a modest manner, the woollen industry during the centuries before the Industrial Revolution grew and underwent many changes. The dissolution of the monasteries (1536 - 1539) had a profound effect upon the industry. The Yorkshire monasteries had kept large flocks of sheep. The confiscated lands were quickly sold and resold by syndicates to smaller concerns. It was an Elland-born man, William Ramsden, founder of the famous Huddersfield family, who was the outstanding figure in the district as regards dealings in land. He trafficked in the properties of the dissolved monasteries to such an extent that it was forbidden to sell him any more.
From being entirely a cottage industry, the woollen industry slowly developed into a mill industry. The old Elland Corn Mill had been built next to the Calder to exploit the water power, and it had been the duty and privilege, of the feudal noblemen to provide the mill and for his tenants to have their corn ground there.
Now the lowland mills became leased to clothiers and merchants who used them for grinding corn and weaving cloth. New mills were built higher up the valleys where swift moorland streams could provide the power.
Increased prosperity through the growth of the woollen industry brought about a larger population. The forests were diminishing due to constant tree felling and little or no replanting. About this time, therefore, stone houses became more common, while timber continued to be used for implements, furniture and other smaller articles.
Coal was dug at Hipperholme as early as 1274, but for centuries its use remained limited, and wood was the common fuel. Now the use of wood as fuel became largely supplanted by peat, cut from surrounding moorlands. In Halifax, as in other centres, bull-baiting, mastiff-fighting and cock-fighting rivalled in interest and excitement only witch-burning and the execution of criminals. Halifax was within the boundaries of the ancient, though largely non-existent, Forest of Hardwick, and the laws decreed that anyone found guilty of stealing goods to the value of more than 13.5 pence could be executed. Between 1541 and 1650, 49 men and women were beheaded at the gibbet in Halifax, after having being imprisoned for a week to give them the opportunity to repent, as well as to enable them to be put on exhibition for three days in the stocks before being brought for execution. Elland was not within 'the liberty' of the Forest of Hardwick, but this did not prevent at least one Elland man, Joh'es Escoppe, from losing his head on Halifax gibbet on 31st March 1545.