WAKEFIELD AND DISTRICT COAT OF ARMS

The Council was granted a new official Coat of Arms in 1990, designed by the York Herald of Arms and approved by Warrant of the Earl Marshall, the Sovereign’s Lieutenant in matters armorial.

WAKEFIELD PRISON

Wakefield House of Correction was made possible by an endowment of £20 in 1595 from the will of barrister, George Savile. His father, also George, lived in Haselden Hall in Northgate and the Savile family had been founding benefactors of Queen Elizabeth Grammar School.  

SPRINGFIELD / MADAM  HALL

Springfield House was built by Capt. Ralph Hanson, of the 19th Regiment of foot, in the late 18th century.  Captain Hanson fought at the battle of plassey, and his sword used at the battle was later found in a well, and sent back to Outwood.

ELM VILLA FARM

The story of Arundels and Elm Villa Farm starts with Thomas Arundel who was born in 1840 and passed away 1923. His resulting marriage to Catherine (Kate) Maran from Newry Co. Down Ireland in 1860 would no doubt have been the reason for their family of 10 children being brought up in the Catholic faith.

WAKEFIELD TOWN HALL 

For many years previously there had been plans for such a purpose-built building during the period when the Corporation was occupying the old Town Hall. The old Town Hall is still so called and can be seen in nearby Crown Court off Lee Street.

THE STRANGE TALE OF ZIGMUND ADMINSKI

On a miserable, wet afternoon in the summer of 1980 the body of a 56-year-old man was discovered under very strange circumstances, lying on the top of a coaltip in the small town of Todmorden, in West Yorkshire.

ST MARY MAGDALENE’S NATIONAL SCHOOL

A fascinating insight into the educational practice and social conditions of a Yorkshire village school from 1863 to 1872 (in Outwood a mining and agricultural community two miles north of Wakefield).

THE STORY OF COAL MINING IN OUTWOOD

Mining is first heard of in this area in 1309,  Pits at this date were usually small shafts up to twenty feet deep, drifts worked into the hillsides, or opencast areas.

THE STORY OF LOFTHOUSE PARK

Before the year 1908, Lofthouse Park was a private estate, enclosed on the Leeds Road side by a massive wall of stone, six or seven feet in height and about two feet in thickness.

JESSIES STORIES (1.)  THE GRAVESTONE

During my meanderings through the realms of genealogy, I have inevitably met many elderly people, some related, some not, all of them willing and helpful in my searches. One of my favourites was Jessie, whom I visited over a number of years

SHORT HISTORY OF SANDAL CASTLE

Sandal Castle was probably first built in the early 12th century after William de Warenne received the Manor of Wakefield from Henry I in about 1106.

The earthwork motte and bailey castle was probably completed by about 1130.

THE OUTWOOD WESLYAN’S

The Weslyan Methodist movement in Outwood was almost certainiy started in Crosslands Farm at the bottom of Newton Lane.  The first Weslyan Methodist Chapel in Outwood  was built near the top of Newton Lane in 1841.

THE HISTORY OF LIQUORICE

Pomfret Cakes, also known as Pontefract Cakes, these round liquorice sweets with the imprint of the local castle have been popular for hundreds of years.

JESSIES STORIES (2.)   STANLEY VILLAGE   PART 1. THE GENTRY.

On one of my visits I asked my old friend, Jessie, to tell me about the village,

its people, the gentry and their lives, and her own.

THE GREAT OUT-WOOD.

The area known as the Out-wood was a stretch of land north of Wakefield owned and controlled in medieval times by the lord of the Manor of Wakefield and used solely by its townspeople.

THE REV JAMES STEWART GAMMELL.

James Stewart was ordained into the Church of England in 1852, in 1860 he was appointed first Vicar of the new parish church of St. Mary Magdelene at Outwood,

early LOCAL road passenger transport.

In 1932 with the demise of the old trams at a cost of £180,000, the West Riding Automobile company bought 48 of their first Leyland Titan centre loading buses.

A VIEW OF OUTWOOD.

Outwood is of course a Northern suburb of Wakefield, with an estimated population in the region of 16000. The name dates back to the year 1305, meaning the Outlying wood, prior to that date it was known as Miclewood

JESSIES STORIES (3.)   ST SWITHINS CHURCH SCHOOL STANLEY.

I remember my first day I was three years old so it would be 1904, and one of the older girls, Mabel Hemingway, took me. The first lesson I had was with the aid of a 'sand tray' in which I had to learn to write the letter 'A'

JESSIES STORIES (2.)   STANLEY PART 2. PEOPLE OF FERRY LANE

There was a ferry at the end of the lane that was used to cross the River Calder, where a boatman would take passengers across and animals, this being the only transport available then.

THE DONKEY STONE

Donkey stones, named after the trade-mark of one of the earliest firms, Reads of Manchester. They were originally used in the textile mills of Yorkshire and Manchester, to provide a non-slip surface on greasy stone staircases.