Pontefract is an historic market town in
West YorkshireWest Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England. Traditionally in the West Riding, near the A1 (or Great North Road), the
M62 motorwayThe M62 motorway is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting the cities of Liverpool and Hull via Manchester and Leeds. The road also forms part of the unsigned Euroroutes E20 and E22...
and
CastlefordCastleford is the largest of the "five towns" district in the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It is near Pontefract, and has a population of 37,525 according to the 2001 Census, but has seen a rise in recent years and is now around 45-50,000. To the north...
. It is one of the five towns in the
metropolitan boroughA metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts, however all of them have been granted or regranted...
of the
City of WakefieldThe City of Wakefield is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough. Wakefield is the district's administrative centre. The district includes the "Five Towns" of Normanton, Pontefract, Featherstone, Castleford and Knottingley. Other...
and has a population of 28,250. Pontefract's motto is
Post mortem patris pro filio,
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for "After the death of the father, support the son", a reference to
English Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
Royalist sympathies.
History
"Pontefract" originates from the
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for "broken bridge", formed of the elements
pons ('bridge') and
fractus ('broken'). Pontefract was not recorded in the
Domesday BookDomesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
, but was noted as
Pontefracto in 1090, four years after the Domesday Survey. There is a theory that the bridge was one which crossed Wash Burn, a small stream on the north-eastern edge of Pontefract, running alongside what is now Bondgate (the modern-day A645). It would have been important in the town's early days, providing access between Pontefract and other settlements to the north and east, such as
YorkYork is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
.
The town is situated on an old
Roman roadThe Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
(now the
A639), described as the "Roman Ridge", which passes south towards
DoncasterDoncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
. The area which is now the town market place was the original meeting place of the
OsgoldcrossOsgoldcross was a wapentake of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It included the parishes of Adlingfleet, Badsworth, Burghwallis, Campsall, Castleford, Darrington, Kellington, South Kirkby, Owston, Pontefract, Whitgift, Womersley, Ferry Fryston and parts of Featherstone, Snaith and...
wapentake. There are the remains of an
Anglo-SaxonAnglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
church and cemetery at The Booths, near the castle. The oldest grave dates from around 690. The church is likely to be at Tanshelf, recorded as
Tateshale in the
Domesday BookDomesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
but Pontefract is not mentioned.
Pontefract is known for its medieval castle which was built around 1076 by Ilbert de Lacy. The castle was a motte and bailey castle and was later rebuilt in stone.
Pontefract CastlePontefract Castle is a castle in the town of Pontefract, in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It was the site of the demise of Richard II of England, and later the place of a series of famous sieges during the English Civil War-History:...
dates from
Norman timesNorman dynasty is the usual designation for the family that were the Dukes of Normandy and the English monarchs which immediately followed the Norman conquest and lasted until the Plantagenet dynasty came to power in 1154. It included Rollo and his descendants, and from William the Conqueror and...
, when it was known as
Pomfret. It was built, about 1076 by
Ilbert de Lacyde Lacy is the surname of an old Norman noble family originating from Lassy . The first records are about Hugh de Lacy . Descendent of Hugh de Lacy left Normandy and travelled to England along with William the Conqueror. Walter and Ilbert de Lacy fought in the battle of Hastings...
.
King Richard IIRichard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...
was supposedly murdered within the castle walls in 1400.
William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's play
Richard IIIRichard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
mentions this incident:
- Pomfret, Pomfret! O thou bloody prison,
- Fatal and ominous to noble peers!
- Within the guilty closure of thy walls
- Richard the second here was hack'd to death;
- And, for more slander to thy dismal seat,
- We give thee up our guiltless blood to drink.
Pontefract suffered throughout the
English Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. The castle was noted by
Oliver CromwellOliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
as "[...] one of the strongest inland garrisons in the kingdom." However, three sieges by the Parliamentarians left the town impoverished and depopulated. After the Third Siege (24 March 1649), Pontefract inhabitants, fearing a fourth, petitioned Parliament for the castle to be demolished. In their view, the castle was a magnet for trouble. On 5 April 1649, demolition began; although efforts were extensive, the crumbling sandstone ruins of the castle remain today and may be visited.
Pontefract was the site of
Pontefract PrioryPontefract Priory was a Cluniac monastery dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, founded about 1090 by Robert de Lacy, and located in Yorkshire, England. It existed until the dissolution of the monasteries...
, a Cluniac priory founded in 1090 by Robert de Lacy dedicated to
St John the EvangelistSaint John the Evangelist is the conventional name for the author of the Gospel of John...
. The priory was dissolved by royal authority in 1539. The abbey maintained the Chartularies of St John, a collection of historic documents later discovered by
Thomas LevettThomas Levett , was an Oxford-educated Lincoln's Inn barrister, judge of the Admiralty for the Northern Counties and High Sheriff of Rutland...
,
High Sheriff of RutlandThis is a list of High Sheriffs of Rutland. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown: there has been a Sheriff of Rutland since 1129...
and a native of Yorkshire, among family papers. Levett gave the chartulary to
Roger DodsworthRoger Dodsworth was an English antiquary.-Life:He was born at Newton Grange, Oswaldkirk, near Helmsley, Yorkshire, in the house of his maternal grandfather, Ralph Sandwith...
and it was later published by the Yorkshire Archaeological Society, giving scholars a glimpse of life in medieval Yorkshire.
In 2007, a suspected extension of
Ferrybridge HengeFerrybridge Henge is a Neolithic henge near Ferrybridge, West Yorkshire . It is close to the A1 and M62 and Ferrybridge power station. Ferrybridge Henge is the furthest south of Yorkshire's henges, and is the only one in West Yorkshire...
—a
NeolithicThe Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
hengeThere are three related types of Neolithic earthwork which are all sometimes loosely called henges. The essential characteristic of all three types is that they feature a ring bank and ditch but with the ditch inside the bank rather than outside...
—was discovered near Pontefract during a survey in preparation for the construction of a row of houses. Once the survey was complete, the construction continued.
Governance
Pontefract is represented by Member of Parliament (MP),
Yvette CooperYvette Cooper is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford since 2010, having previously been MP for Pontefract and Castleford since 1997. She served in the Cabinet between 2008 and 2010. She is the Shadow Home Secretary...
, a member of the
Labour PartyThe Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
for the
Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford constituencyNormanton, Pontefract and Castleford is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
. Cooper is currently Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities. She was elected MP for the
Pontefract and Castleford constituencyPontefract and Castleford was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until the 2010 general election. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
at the 1997 General Election succeeding the Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, Geoff Lofthouse, who had retired. (Pontefract and Castleford was merged with the
Normanton constituencyNormanton was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
in a boundary change before the 2010 General Election.)
In her maiden speech, Cooper said: 'The House must not misunderstand me. It is true that my constituency is plagued by unemployment, but I represent hard-working people who are proud of their strong communities and who have fought hard across generations to defend them. They are proud of their socialist traditions, and have fought for a better future for their children and their grandchildren. In the Middle Ages, that early egalitarian, the real
Robin HoodRobin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
, lived, so we maintain, in the
Vale of WentbridgeWentbridge is a small village in the Benefice of the Went Valley and Parish of Darrington, West Yorkshire, England.-Geography:The village used to be on the A1, which section of road is now the B6474, which also leads eventually to South Elmsall...
to the south of Pontefract. It was a great base from which to hassle the travelling
fat catFat cat may refer to:*Fat cat , a wealthy person, originally one who contributes to a political campaign*Fat Cat Records, a record label*Fat Cat , a fictional character in the animated series Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers...
s on the
Great North RoadThe Great North Road was a coaching route used by mail coaches between London, York and Edinburgh. The modern A1 mainly follows the Great North Road. The inns on the road, many of which survive, were staging posts on the coach routes, providing accommodation, stabling for the horses and...
.'
The seat which has a history of mining and industry, has consistently returned Labour MPs at General Elections. Yvette Cooper polled 48.1% of the vote in the 2010 General Election.
The town is divided into two for Local Government purposes, Pontefract North and Pontefract South, and is currently represented by 3 Labour and 3 Conservatives Councilors.
The local ex-miner and former local NUM branch leader Geoff Lofthouse was MP for the former constituency of Pontefract and Castleford from 1978 to 1997. Lofthouse was made a peer on 11 June 1997: he is now known as Geoffrey Lofthouse, Baron Lofthouse of Pontefract.
Pontefract today
Pontefract has been a
market townMarket town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
since the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
; the market days are Wednesday and Saturday, with a smaller market on Fridays. The covered market is open all week, except Thursday afternoons and Sundays. Thursday afternoon is half-day closing in the town. The town is called Ponte/Ponty by its citizens and sometimes jokingly referred to as Ponte Carlo, in reference to
Monte CarloMonte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
. This theme is continued in the name of bars in the
xscapeXscape buildings are large, strikingly designed and unusually shaped buildings. Typically they contain a real snow indoor ski slope, leisure facilities and related shops...
complex,
GlasshoughtonGlasshoughton is an area of Castleford in West Yorkshire, England, that borders on Pontefract. It is home to the Xscape indoor ski slope and leisure centre, the Junction 32 Outlet Shopping Village, a DIY superstore, a hotel, a pub and a number of fast food restaurants, which were built on the site...
between Pontefract and
CastlefordCastleford is the largest of the "five towns" district in the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It is near Pontefract, and has a population of 37,525 according to the 2001 Census, but has seen a rise in recent years and is now around 45-50,000. To the north...
, referred to locally as 'Cas Vegas'.
Pontefract's deep, sandy soil makes it one of the few British places in which
liquorice can be successfully grown. The town has a liquorice-sweet industry; and the famous
Pontefract CakesPontefract cakes are a type of small, roughly circular black sweets measuring approximately 2 cm in diameter and 4 mm thick, made of liquorice, originally manufactured in the Yorkshire town of Pontefract, England.The original name for these small tablets of liquorice is a "Pomfret" cake,...
are produced, though the liquorice plant itself is no longer grown there. The town's two liquorice factories are owned by
HariboHaribo is a German confectionery producer, founded in 1920 by Hans Riegel Sr. The company headquarters are in Bonn, and the name is an acronym for Hans Riegel, Bonn....
(formerly known as Dunhills) and Monkhill Confectionery (part of the Cadbury's Group - formerly known as Wilkinson's), respectively. A Liquorice Festival is held annually.
Poet laureateA poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
Sir John Betjeman wrote a poem entitled "The Licorice Fields at Pontefract".
Close by is the coal-fired
power stationThe Ferrybridge power stations refers to a series of three coal-fired power stations situated on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England. The first station on the site, Ferrybridge A power station, was constructed in the mid-1920s, and was closed as the second station, Ferrybridge B power...
at
FerrybridgeFerrybridge is a village in West Yorkshire, England at a historically important crossing of the River Aire. It is linked to other communities by the A1, which follows the route of the Great North Road....
. There are
TescoTesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
and
MorrisonsWm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, headquartered in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The company is usually referred to and is branded as Morrisons formerly Morrison's, and it is part of the FTSE 100 Index of companies...
supermarkets, and most recently
AsdaAsda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...
, which changed hands from
Kwik SaveKwik Save was a discount supermarket chain in the United Kingdom until 2007. Its stores were small to medium sized high street supermarkets, mainly located in areas with below average incomes...
. The schools in the town are
Carleton Community High School, in Carleton, and
The King's School, on Mill Hill Lane; both are
comprehensive schoolA comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
s, for ages 11–16.
Pontefract is locally renowned for its numerous pubs. One of the oldest buildings, dating from the 16th century and previously used as a shop, was turned into a pub in the 1990s, called the Counting House.
Pontefract has the largest circular flat racecource in Europe.
Pontefract General Infirmary is a large general hospital, beneath which is an old
hermitageAlthough today's meaning is usually a place where a hermit lives in seclusion from the world, hermitage was more commonly used to mean a settlement where a person or a group of people lived religiously, in seclusion.-Western Christian Tradition:...
, open to the public on certain days. It is the place at which serial killer
Harold ShipmanHarold Fredrick Shipman was an English doctor and one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded history with 218 murders being positively ascribed to him....
began to murder his elderly patients. The hospital has been rebuilt and reopened in 2010.
Pontefract MuseumPontefract Museum is a local museum in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. The collections cover archaeology, archives, decorative and applied art, fine art, photographs and social history.- History :...
, from which the hermitage schedule can be obtained, is in the
town centreThe town centre is the term used to refer to the commercial or geographical centre or core area of a town.Town centres are traditionally associated with shopping or retail. They are also the centre of communications with major public transport hubs such as train or bus stations...
, housed in the former
Carnegie libraryA Carnegie library is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929, including some belonging to public and university library systems...
. There is now a modern library building.
Pontefract has three railway stations:
Pontefract BaghillPontefract Baghill railway station is the least busy of the three railway stations in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. The other stations, Monkhill and Tanshelf, both lie on the Pontefract Line, while Baghill lies on the Dearne Valley Line south of York towards Sheffield...
, on the
Dearne Valley LineThe Dearne Valley Line is the name given to a railway line in the north of England running from York to Sheffield via Pontefract Baghill and Moorthorpe.-History:...
, which connects
YorkYork is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
and
SheffieldSheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
; and
Pontefract MonkhillPontefract Monkhill railway station is the busiest station in the town of Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. The station is on the Pontefract Line operated by Northern Rail and is south east of Leeds....
and
Pontefract TanshelfPontefract Tanshelf railway station is the most central station in the town of Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England, and serves Pontefract Races, the racecourse located just down the street from the station. It lies on the Pontefract Line operated by Northern Rail and is east of Wakefield Kirkgate...
, which connects with
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
and
WakefieldWakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
.
Pontefract has a park with a
racecourse on the outskirts of town.
Entertainment
Pontefract's local newspaper is the
Pontefract and Castleford Express.
According to local hoteliers, Pontefract is known for its 'down-to-earth' nightlife, and has one of the highest concentrations of
public housesA public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
in the UK. Venues include Big Fellas, the Counting House, the Elephant, the Green Dragon, the Tap and Barrel, Wetherspoons, the Malt Shovel, and the Blackmoor Head.
Sports
The town is home to many major sports including cricket and football. Its two most famous institutions are horse racing at
Pontefract RacecoursePontefract Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England.Pontefract is one of the best appointed courses of its kind in the country. There are modern bars and refreshment areas in all enclosures....
and
Featherstone RoversFeatherstone Rovers are a semi-professional rugby league club, based in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. They currently play in the Championship. The Rovers are one of the last vestiges of "small town teams" that were once common in rugby league during the early twentieth century...
, the area's professional rugby league club.
Pontefract Racecourse is the longest continuous circuit in Europe at two miles and 125 yards (3,300 m). It stages flat racing between the end of March and the end of October. Nearer to the town centre are the Valley Gardens, with a love garden, an aviary, and an avenue of cherry trees, which bloom in the spring. Although the trees continue to attract admiration, the gardens have become quite depleted and the aviary has been vandalised. Pontefract swimming pool is on Stuart Road.
Life in Pontefract was satirised by
J. S. FletcherJoseph Smith Fletcher was a British journalist and writer. He wrote about 200 books on a wide variety of subjects, both fiction and non-fiction. He was one of the leading writers of detective fiction in the "Golden Age"....
in his book The Town of Crooked Ways, whose title is held to have been purposefully ambiguous, being a reference either to the medieval layout of the town, or to the behaviour of its inhabitants. More recently, Pontefract has seen its share of scandal, in the form of the Poulson affair, in the 1960s.
Pontefract is home to North-East-Wakefield College (more commonly known as NEW College), which has ranked in the top 25 colleges in the United Kingdom for the past few years. Pontefract is also home to All Saints Church, built over ruins of an original church, which was destroyed during the three Civil War sieges of Pontefract Castle; the church's bell tower staircase is the famous 'double helix'.
Pontefract has its own non league football club
Pontefract Collieries F.C.Pontefract Collieries F.C. are a football club based in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. They play at the White Rose Stadium off Skinner Lane, near the old Prince of Wales Colliery.-History:...
who were founded in 1958 and play adjacent to the former Prince of Wales Colliery off Beechnut Lane. "Ponte Colls" play in the Northern Counties East Football League
Oscar Barrington is one of the famous figures in Pontefract for being a professional liquorice taster.
Location grid
External links