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Pontefract#Tanshelf and Kirkby

{{Short description|Market town in West Yorkshire, England}}

{{other uses}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}

{{Use British English|date=February 2020}}

{{Infobox UK place

| country = England

| coordinates = {{coord|53.691|-1.312|display=inline,title}}

| label_position = bottom

| official_name = Pontefract

| population = 30,881

| population_ref = (North+South Wards 2011)

| metropolitan_borough = City of Wakefield

| metropolitan_county = West Yorkshire

| region = Yorkshire and the Humber

| constituency_westminster = Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley

| post_town = PONTEFRACT

| postcode_district = WF8

| postcode_area = WF

| dial_code = 01977

| os_grid_reference = SE455215

| static_image_name = Pontefract collage.png

| static_image_caption = Top left, clockwise: Old Town Hall, All Saints' Church, Pontefract Castle, Market Place, The Buttercross and St Giles' Church and Pontefract Racecourse.

| static_image_width = 260

| london_distance =

| london_distance_mi = 257

| pushpin_map =

| type = Town

}}

Pontefract is a historic market town in the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. It lies to the east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wakefield district and had a population of 30,881 at the 2011 Census.{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=13689956&c=Pontefract&d=14&e=62&g=6375159&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1456931390009&enc=1|title=Pontefract South Ward population 2011|access-date=2 March 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics|work=Neighbourhood Statistics}}{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=13689955&c=Pontefract+north&d=14&e=62&g=6375158&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1456931773212&enc=1|title=Pontefract North Ward population 2011|access-date=2 March 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics|work=Neighbourhood Statistics}}

Pontefract's motto is {{lang|la|Post mortem patris pro filio}}, Latin for "After the death of the father, support the son", a reference to the town's Royalist sympathies in the English Civil War.Padgett 170 Small villages and settlements in the immediate area include Stapleton.

Etymology

File:An almost deserted Market Place, Pontefract during the COVID-19 pandemic (23rd May 2020).jpg

At the end of the 11th century, the modern township of Pontefract consisted of two distinct localities, Tanshelf and Kirkby.Eric Houlder, Ancient Roots North: When Pontefract Stood on the Great North Road, (Pontefract: Pontefract Groups Together, 2012) p.7. The 11th-century historian Orderic Vitalis recorded that, in 1069, William the Conqueror travelled across Yorkshire to put down an uprising which had sacked York.

Upon his journey to the city, he discovered that a crossing of the River Aire near what is modern-day Pontefract had been blockaded by local Anglo-Scandinavian insurgents, who had broken the bridge and held the opposite bank in force.Orderic Vitalis, Ecclesiastical History of England, 2:27. Such a crossing point would have been important to the town, providing access between Pontefract and other settlements to the north and east, such as York.Ayto & Crofton Historians believe that it is this historical event which gives the township of Pontefract its modern name. The name "Pontefract" originates from Welsh and Latin for "broken bridge", formed of the elements pont (bridge in Welsh) and fractus (broken in Latin). Pontefract was not recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book, but it was noted as Pontefracto in 1090, four years after the Domesday survey.Frank Barlow, William I and the Norman Conquest (London: The English Universities Press, 1965) p.95. David Crouch, The Normans: The History of a Dynasty (London: Hambledon and London, 2002) p.105

History

=Neolithic=

In 2007, an extension of Ferrybridge Henge – a Neolithic henge – was discovered near Pontefract during a survey in preparation for the construction of a row of houses. Once the survey was complete, construction continued.{{cite web|title=Ferrybridge Henge extension discovered in West Yorkshire|url=http://www.culture24.org.uk/history+%2526+heritage/archaeology/art50167|publisher=Culture24 |date=30 August 2007|access-date=7 December 2009}}

=Roman=

The modern town is situated near an old Roman road (now the A639), described as the "Roman Ridge". This is believed to form part of an alternative route from Doncaster to York via Castleford and Tadcaster, as a diversion of the major Roman road Ermine Street, which may have been used to avoid having to cross the River Humber near North Ferriby during rough weather conditions over the Humber.

=Anglo-Scandinavian history{{anchor|Tanshelf and Kirkby}}=

The period of Yorkshire's history between the demise of the Viking king, Eric Bloodaxe, in 954 and the arrival of the Normans in 1068 is known as the Anglo-Scandinavian age. The modern township of Pontefract consisted of two Anglo-Scandinavian settlements, Tanshelf and Kirkby. In Yorkshire, place-name locations often contain the distinctive Danish '-by' i.e. Kirkby and today, the major streets in Pontefract are designated by the Danish word 'gate' e.g. Bailygate.

The Anglo-Scandinavian township, Tanshelf, recorded as Tateshale, Tateshalla, Tateshalle or Tatessella in the 'Domesday Book' is today occupied by the town of Pontefract. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle made a reference to Tanshelf in 947 when King Eadred of England met with the ruling council of Northumbria to accept its submission. King Eadred did not enjoy Northumbria's support for long, and a year later the kingdom voted Eric Bloodaxe King of York.[http://www.archaeology.wyjs.org.uk/vikingweb/Settlement.htm Towns in Anglo-Saxon West Yorkshire] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213053252/http://www.archaeology.wyjs.org.uk/VikingWeb/Settlement.htm |date=13 February 2015 }}. Settlements in Anglo-Saxon West Yorkshire. Retrieved 30 August 2014.

When the Domesday survey was commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086, Tanshelf was a sizeable settlement. It had a priest, 60 petty burgesses, 16 cottagers, 16 villagers and 8 smallholders, amounting to 101 people. The size of the population might have been four or five times larger as the only people listed were landholders. Tanshelf had a church, a fishery and three mills. Archaeologists discovered the remains of a church on The Booths, off North Baileygate, below the castle. The oldest grave dates from around 690. The church may have been similar to the church at Ledsham. The area of the town market place was the meeting place of the Osgoldcross wapentake.Hey In the Anglo-Saxon period part of the modern town was known by the Anglo-Scandinavian name as Kirkby.

=Medieval=

File:Pontefract Castle.jpg in the early 17th century by Alexander Keirincx]]

{{main|de Lacy|Pontefract de Lacys' family tree}}

After the Norman conquest in 1066 almost all of Yorkshire came under the ownership of followers of William the Conqueror,Fletcher 16–17 one of whom was Ilbert de Lacy who became the owner of Tateshale (Tanshelf) where he built a castle.

Pontefract Castle began as a wooden motte and bailey castle before 1086 and was later rebuilt in stone. The de Lacys lived there for more than two centuriesPadgett 54 and were holders of the castle and the Honour of Pontefract from 1067Padgett 55 until the death of Alice de Lacy in 1348.Padgett 85

King Richard II was murdered at the castle in 1400.Padgett 106 Little is known of the nature of his demise; Shakespeare may have "adjusted" the facts for his own purposes.Holmes 373 At least three theories attempt to explain his death:Holmes 373, 374 either he was starved to death by his keepers, he starved himself to death or he was murdered by Sir Piers (Peter) Exton on 14 February 1399 or 1400.Holmes 374

=Early modern history=

In Elizabethan times the castle and the town were both referred to as "Pomfret". William Shakespeare's play Richard III mentions the castle:

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.

File:The New Church within the Old, All Saints, Bondgate, Pontefract. - geograph.org.uk - 239265.jpg was damaged during the civil war a new one was built within.]]

Pontefract suffered throughout the English Civil War. In 1648–49 the castle was laid siege by Oliver Cromwell, who said it was "... one of the strongest inland garrisons in the kingdom."[http://h2g2.com/approved_entry/A2350108 "Yorkshire's Castles: Pontefract Castle"]; H2G2.com, Not Panicking Ltd. Three sieges by the Parliamentarians left the town "impoverished and depopulated".Padgett 166–169 In March 1649, after the third siege, Pontefract inhabitants, fearing a fourth, petitioned Parliament for the castle to be slighted. The castle was a magnet for trouble, and demolition began in April 1649. The castle ruins are publicly accessible.

Pontefract Priory, a Cluniac priory founded in 1090 by Robert de Lacy dedicated to St John the Evangelist was dissolved by royal authority in 1539.{{cite book|section=Houses of Cluniac monks: Priory of Pontefract |title=A History of the County of York: Volume 3 |editor-first=William |editor-last=Page |editor-link=William Page (historian) |location=London |year=1974 |pages=184–186 |via=British History Online |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/vol3/pp184-186 |access-date=3 October 2022}} The priory maintained the Chartularies of St John, a collection of historic documents later discovered among family papers by Thomas Levett, the High Sheriff of Rutland, a native of Yorkshire, who gave them to Roger Dodsworth, an antiquary.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/collectaneatopo17nichgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/collectaneatopo17nichgoog/page/n112 103]|quote=pontefract levet.|title=Collectanea Topographica Et Genealogica|first1=Frederic|last1=Madden|first2=Bulkeley|last2=Bandinel|date=1 May 1835|publisher=J. B. Nichols and son|access-date=1 May 2019|via=Internet Archive}} They were published by the Yorkshire Archaeological Society.Early Yorkshire Charters: being a collection of documents anterior to the thirteenth century made from the public records, monastic chartularies, Roger Dodsworth's manuscripts and other available sources; edited by William Farrer. 3 vols. Edinburgh: Printed for the editor by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co., 1914–16

Governance

File:Pontefract Registry Office (1).JPG, now used as a registry office]]

For local government purposes, the town lies in the City of Wakefield and is administered by Wakefield Council. It is divided into two electoral wards, Pontefract North and Pontefract South. Pontefract South was represented by two Labour councillors and one Conservative councillor and North ward represented by three Labour councillors in 2022.{{cite web|title=Your Councillors by Ward|url=http://mg.wakefield.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?FN=WARD&VW=LIST&PIC=0|publisher=Wakefield Council|access-date=18 June 2016}}

From 1978 to 1997, ex-miner and former NUM branch leader Geoff Lofthouse (18 December 1925 – 1 November 2012) was Member of Parliament (MP) for the Pontefract and Castleford constituency. During this time, he became Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons. When the general election of 1997 was called, he stood down. He was made a peer on 11 June 1997.

Yvette Cooper was elected as the MP for the Pontefract and Castleford constituency at the 1997 general election. In her maiden speech to the House of Commons, Cooper said:

"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 Hood, lived, so we maintain, in the Vale of Wentbridge to the south of Pontefract. It was a great base from which to hassle the travelling fat cats on the Great North Road."
She held a number of positions in the Labour governments up to 2010 and Shadow Cabinet roles (most notably Shadow Home Secretary) after the election of that year, but returned to the back benches after the Labour leadership election of 2015. Pontefract and Castleford was merged with the Normanton constituency in a boundary change before the 2010 general election.

The seat, which had a history of mining and industry, has returned Labour MPs at general elections. Yvette Cooper polled 59.5% of the vote in the 2017 general election and 48.1% of the vote in the 2019 general election.

Economy

{{multiple images|

| perrow = 1/2|

| total_width = 220px

| header = Pontefract Market Place

| image1 = Market Place, Pontefract (21st June 2020) 001.jpg

| image3 = Market Hall - geograph.org.uk - 429678.jpg

| caption3 = Pontefract market hall

| caption1 = Market Place

}}

Pontefract has been a market town since the Middle Ages; market days are Wednesday and Saturday, with a small market on Fridays. The covered market is open all week except Sundays. It is said by some that Pontefract once held a record for being the town with the highest number of pubs per square mile in the UK,{{cite web |url=https://pontefractherittagegroup.wordpress.com/pontefract/ |title=Pontefract |last=Wollerton |first=Alison |website=Pontefract Heritage Group |access-date=7 July 2020 |quote=It has been said that Pontefract once held a world record for having the highest number of pubs per square mile.}}{{cite web |url=http://partynicemag.blogspot.com/2010/04/partynice-guide-to-pontefract.html |title=The Partynice Guide to Pontefract |last=Krasaukas |first=Vincent |website=Partynice Magazine |access-date=7 July 2020 |quote=it is believed that the town now has the highest concentration of pubs in the whole of the UK.}} but this is likely an urban legend, and the title is held by another town.{{cite web |url=https://www.libertygames.co.uk/content/britains-pub-capital/ |title=Britain's Pub Capitals |website=Liberty Games |access-date=7 July 2020}}

File:Haribo Sweets Factory - Sessions House Yard - geograph.org.uk - 576986.jpg Factory]]

The town has a liquorice-sweet industry; further, the famous Pontefract cakes are produced, though the liquorice plant is no longer grown there. The town's two liquorice factories are owned by Haribo and Valeo Confectionery (formerly Tangerine). A Liquorice festival is held annually. Poet laureate Sir John Betjeman wrote a poem entitled "The Licorice Fields at Pontefract". In 2012, local farmer Robert Copley announced that he would be re-introducing a liquorice crop to Pontefract.{{cite news|last=Rebecca Smithers|date=30 July 2012|title=Liquorice to grow again in Pontefract|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/the-northerner/2012/jul/30/liquorice-pontefract|work=The Guardian|access-date=27 October 2016}}{{cite web|date=2015|title=The Home of Liquorice|url=http://www.farmercopleys.co.uk/the-home-of-liquorice/|work=Farmer Copleys|access-date=27 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161028020854/http://www.farmercopleys.co.uk/the-home-of-liquorice/|archive-date=28 October 2016|url-status=dead}}

Close by is the site of the former coal-fired Ferrybridge power station, although the local coal mines largely closed in the 1990s, which contributed to high unemployment in the local area. The final colliery, Prince of Wales Colliery, closed in August 2002.{{cite news |last1=Wainwright |first1=Martin |title=Britain's oldest mine closes |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2002/aug/31/6 |access-date=13 July 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=31 August 2002}} It has since been redeveloped into a large housing estate named after the colliery.{{cite web|title=Prince of Wales, Pontefract {{!}} A Project by Harworth Group plc|url=https://harworthgroup.com/projects/prince-of-wales/|access-date=27 December 2021|website=Harworth}}

Amenities and services

The secondary schools in the town are Carleton High School in Carleton and the King's School on Mill Hill Lane, both for pupils aged 11–16. A sixth-form college, New College, Pontefract, is located on Park Lane.

The old Pontefract General Infirmary on Southgate (pictured) was a general hospital; it is the place at which serial killer Harold Shipman began to murder his elderly patients. Beneath this building is an old hermitage, open to the public on certain days. Pontefract Museum, from which the hermitage schedule can be obtained, is in the town centre, housed in the former Carnegie library.{{cite web |url=http://www.wakefield.gov.uk/Documents/libraries/free-public-carnegie-library-pontefract.pdf |title=Free Public Carnegie Library - Pontefract |website=wakefield.gov.uk |access-date=3 October 2022}}

A new hospital was built on Friarwood Lane and opened in July 2010, with the new name of Pontefract Hospital; there is now a modern hospital building. Near to the hospital is Friarwood Valley Gardens, a rose garden, a sensory garden, a pinhole camera (formerly an aviary and earlier a Georgian gambling den) and an avenue of cherry trees.

File:Pontefract Fire station (geograph 5674705).jpg

File:Luke William House, Pontefract (23rd May 2020).jpg were designed by John Poulson and dominate the skyline in the east of the town]]

The local police force is West Yorkshire Police, with the town's neighbourhood policing team situated at the new fire station on Stumpcross Lane. The original police station in Sessions House Yard has been demolished since the divisional headquarters for the Wakefield District opened in Normanton and the neighbouring magistrates' court has moved to Leeds, following the closure of the Wakefield and Pontefract courts.

Fire cover is provided by West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, with one pump (sometimes two) based at Pontefract Fire Station. Formerly located on Stuart Road in the town centre, the station has moved to a new site at Stumpcross Lane, by the A645 at the town's eastern edge. The new fire station provides cover for Knottingley; that town's fire station having been closed as part of the merging of fire cover for Pontefract and Knottingley.

Ambulance cover is provided by Yorkshire Ambulance service, whose depot is situated in neighbouring town, Castleford.

File:Barracks Business Centre - Wakefield Road - geograph.org.uk - 997478.jpg]]

The Territorial Army, Army Cadets and Air Training Corps all have a presence within the town and are based at the historic Barracks building on Wakefield Road. It now houses a Rifles Regiment Recruitment team.

Media, arts and entertainment

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire. Television signals are received from the Emley Moor TV transmitter. {{cite web|url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Emley_Moor|title=Emley Moor (Kirklees, England) Full Freeview transmitter|date=1 May 2004|website=UK Free TV|accessdate=20 September 2023}}

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Leeds on 92.4 FM, Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire (formerly Ridings FM) on 106.8 FM, Heart Yorkshire on 106.2 FM, Hits Radio West Yorkshire (formerly Pulse 1) on 102.5 FM, Capital Yorkshire on 105.1 FM and 5 Towns FM, a community online radio station that broadcasts from Castleford.{{cite web|url=https://internetradiouk.com/5-towns-fm/|title=5 Towns FM Radio Online|website=Internetradiouk.com|accessdate=20 September 2023}}

The local newspaper is the Pontefract and Castleford Express.

Novelist Jack Vance, in the "Demon Princes" cycle has named the capital of Aloysius, the main planet in the Vega system, after Pontefract. The hero of the series, Kirth Gersen, has his residence there.

Pontefract made local and national newspapers in April 2020, with a range of art which lay tribute to the key workers and NHS during the coronavirus outbreak. The art was painted by a local mural artist, Rachel List.{{cite news|last1=Frame|first1=Nick|last2=Hale|first2=Olivia|title='I never expected this'-Pontefract Artist's surprise as NHS tributes are shared across the world|url=https://www.pontefractandcastlefordexpress.co.uk/news/people/i-never-expected-pontefract-artists-surprise-nhs-tributes-are-shared-across-world-2534501|newspaper=Pontefract and Castleford Express|date=9 April 2020|access-date=14 April 2020}}

Sport

The town is home to many sports including rugby, football and squash. Prominent squash players Lee Beachill and James Willstrop both train at Pontefract Squash Club. Notable institutions are horse racing at Pontefract Racecourse and Featherstone Rovers, the area's professional rugby league club.

Pontefract Racecourse is the longest continuous horse racing circuit in Europe at {{convert|2|mi|125|yd|m furlong}}.{{cite web|title=Course Details – Pontefract Racecourse|url=http://www.pontefract-races.co.uk/course-details/|access-date=4 July 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821184541/http://www.pontefract-races.co.uk/course-details/|archive-date=21 August 2008}} It stages flat racing between the end of March and the end of October. A new sports centre is located at Pontefract Park which opened on 12 April 2021, which replaces the old swimming pool located on Stuart Road.{{cite web|last=Spereall |first=David |date=16 March 2021|title=Pontefract leisure centre set for April 12 opening|url=https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/leisure-centre-pontefract-finished-last-20180799|access-date=15 December 2021|website=YorkshireLive}} Two-time European Masters Champion weightlifter Martyn Riley is from Pontefract.{{cite news |title=Pontefract's Martyn Riley celebrates second European Masters title |url=https://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/sport/other-sport/pontefracts-martyn-riley-celebrates-second-european-masters-title-3080612 |access-date=20 January 2021 |work=Wakefield Express |date=29 December 2020}}

Pontefract has its own non-league football club, Pontefract Collieries F.C., which was founded in 1958 and plays adjacent to the former Prince of Wales Colliery off Beechnut Lane. The team, known locally as "Ponte Colls" play in the Northern Premier League Division One North West (correct as of the 2021–22 season). Pontefract is also home to the Pontefract Knights rugby league football club.

Pontefract RUFC is based at Moor Lane, Carleton.{{cite web|url=https://www.pontefractrufc.com/news/ilkley-25-pontefract-3-match-report-millard-leads-but-frustrations-continue-2830474.html|title=Ilkley 25 Pontefract 3 Match Report. Millard Leads but Frustrations Continue|website=www.pontefractrufc.com|accessdate=31 January 2024}} It runs three senior sides as well as a number of junior and girls teams.{{cite web|url=https://www.pontefractrufc.com/teams|title=Pontefract RUFC teams|website=www.pontefractrufc.com|accessdate=31 January 2024}} Rugby Union has been played in the town since the 19th century when Pontefract won the Yorkshire Cup.

Pontefract used to boast two cricket clubs, Lakeside CC (based in Pontefract Park) and Pontefract CC (adjacent to Pontefract Collieries FC), but by 2002 neither of these clubs were still in existence, leaving the town without its own club despite giving its name to the Pontefract and District Cricket League. Nowadays cricketers must travel to clubs in neighbouring towns and villages, with the closest being Hundhill Hall Cricket Club based in the nearby village East Hardwick.

Transport

Pontefract lies in close proximity to the A1 and the M62. Access from the A1 is via a junction at the nearby village of Darrington, while access from the M62 is via Junction 32 (also for Castleford) and Junction 33 (also for Knottingley).

Bus transport is provided by Arriva Yorkshire, operating from Pontefract bus station as the town's main hub.

There are three railway stations in the town. {{stnlnk|Pontefract Baghill}} is on the Dearne Valley Line, which connects {{stnlnk|York}} and {{stnlnk|Sheffield}}. Pontefract Monkhill and Pontefract Tanshelf connect with {{stnlnk|Leeds}}, {{stnlnk|Wakefield Westgate}} and {{stnlnk|Wakefield Kirkgate}}. There are rail services from {{stnlnk|Bradford Interchange}} to London that stop at Pontefract Monkhill.

The closest airport is Leeds Bradford.

Notable people

File:Pontefract Library (1).JPG is one of the last buildings to have been designed by Pontefract architect John Poulson.]]

See also

Notes

{{Reflist}}

Sources

  • {{cite book|last1=Ayto |first1=John |last2=Crofton |first2=Ian |title=Brewer's Britain & Ireland |publisher= Weidenfeld & Nicolson}}
  • {{cite book|last=Fletcher |first=J. S. |origyear=1917 |title=Memorials of a Yorkshire Parish |type=facsimile |publisher=Old Hall Press |location=Leeds |year=1993}}
  • {{cite book|last=Hey |first=David |authorlink=David Hey |title=Medieval South Yorkshire}}
  • {{cite book|editor-last=Holmes |editor-first=Richard |origyear=1887 |title=The Sieges of Pontefract Castle |type=facsimile reprint |publisher=Old Hall Press |location=Leeds |year=1985 |isbn=0-946534-02-0}}
  • {{cite book|last=Mills |first=A. D. |title=Oxford Dictionary of British Place-Names |publisher=Oxford University Press}}
  • {{cite book|last=Padgett |first=Lorenzo |origyear=1905 |title=Chronicles of Old Pontefract |type=facsimile |publisher=Old Hall Press |location=Leeds |year=1993}}
  • {{cite web|url=https://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/sport/other-sport/pontefracts-martyn-riley-celebrates-second-european-masters-title-3080612 |title=Pontefract's Martyn Riley celebrates second European Masters title |work=Wakefield Express |date=29 December 2020 |accessdate=20 January 2021 |ref={{harvid|Wakefield Express|2020}}}}

External links

{{Commons category|Pontefract}}

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20060220062003/http://www.pontefractus.co.uk/ Local history]

{{NSEW|Castleford|Hemsworth|Knottingley|Featherstone|Normanton||||}}

{{Pontefract}}

{{West Yorkshire}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Towns in West Yorkshire

Category:Market towns in West Yorkshire

Category:Unparished areas in West Yorkshire

Category:Former civil parishes in West Yorkshire

Category:Geography of the City of Wakefield