Pontefract

Coordinates: 53°41′17″N 1°18′36″W / 53.688°N 1.310°W / 53.688; -1.310

Pontefract
The Old Town Hall
Pontefract  Pontefract shown within West Yorkshire
Population	30,000
OS grid reference	SE455215
Metropolitan borough	City of Wakefield
Metropolitan county	West Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	PONTEFRACT
Postcode district	WF7, WF8, WF9
Dialling code	01977
Police	West Yorkshire
Fire	West Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
EU Parliament	Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament	Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford
List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire

Pontefract is a historic market town in West Yorkshire, England, traditionally in the West Riding, near the A1 (or Great North Road), the M62 motorway and Castleford. It is one of the five towns in the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield and has a population of 28,250.^[1] Pontefract's motto is Post mortem patris pro filio, Latin for "After the death of the father, support the son", a reference to English Civil War Royalist sympathies.

History

Painting of Pontefract Castle in the early 17th century by Alexander Keirincx

"Pontefract" originates from the Latin for "broken bridge", formed of the elements pons ('bridge') and fractus ('broken'). Pontefract was not recorded in the Domesday Book, but was noted as Pontefracto in 1090, four years after the Domesday survey.^[2] There is a theory that the bridge alluded to was one which crossed Wash Dike, 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 York.^[3]

The town is situated on an old Roman road (now the A639), described as the "Roman Ridge", which passes south towards Doncaster. The Roman Ridge 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. The area which is now the town market place was the original meeting place of the Osgoldcross wapentake.^[4] There are the remains of an Anglo-Saxon 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 Book but Pontefract is not mentioned.

Pontefract Castle began as a wooden motte and bailey castle, built before 1086 by Ilbert de Lacy, later rebuilt in stone. In Elizabethan times the castle, and Pontefract itself, was referred to as "Pomfret".^[5] King Richard II was murdered at the castle in 1400.^[5] 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.^[5]

The new church within the old. After the church 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 under siege by Oliver Cromwell, who said it was "[...] one of the strongest inland garrisons in the kingdom."^[5] Three sieges by the Parliamentarians left the town impoverished and depopulated.^{[citation needed]} In March 1649, after the third siege, Pontefract inhabitants, fearing a fourth, petitioned Parliament for the castle to be demolished.^{[citation needed]} In their view, the castle was a magnet for trouble,^{[citation needed]} and in April 1649 demolition began.^{[citation needed]} The ruins of the castle remain today and are publicly accessible.

The Pontefract Courthouse.

Pontefract was the site of Pontefract Priory, a Cluniac priory founded in 1090 by Robert de Lacy dedicated to St John the Evangelist. 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 Levett, High Sheriff of Rutland and a native of Yorkshire, among family papers. Levett gave the chartulary to Roger Dodsworth^[6] and it was later published by the Yorkshire Archaeological Society.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007 a suspected 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, the construction continued.^[7]

Governance

Pontefract is represented by Member of Parliament (MP), Yvette Cooper, a member of the Labour Party for the Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford constituency. Cooper is currently Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities. She was elected MP for the Pontefract and Castleford constituency 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 constituency 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 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.'

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.

For local government purposes the town lies in the City of Wakefield, thereby coming under the governance of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council. For this purpose it is divided into two electoral wards: Pontefract North and Pontefract South. Pontefract South is currently represented by 2 Conservatives and 1 Labour councillor, North ward by 3 Labour councillors. South ward is a marginal ward, containing relatively affluent suburbs of Pontefract and outlying villages such as Darrington, combined with less wealthy areas such as Chequerfield.

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

Market Place

Council flats in Pontefract

Pontefract General Infirmary

Pontefract market hall

Pontefract has been a market town since the Middle Ages; 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 Carlo. This theme is continued in the name of bars in the xscape complex, Glasshoughton between Pontefract and Castleford, 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 Cakes are produced, though the liquorice plant itself is no longer grown there. The town's two liquorice factories are owned by Haribo (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 laureate Sir John Betjeman wrote a poem entitled "The Licorice Fields at Pontefract".

Close by is the coal-fired power station at Ferrybridge, although the local coal mines had largely closed by the 1990s, contributing to high unemployment in the local area.^[8]

There are Tesco and Morrisons supermarkets, and most recently Asda, which changed hands from Kwik Save. The schools in the town are Carleton Community High School, in Carleton, and The King's School, on Mill Hill Lane; both are comprehensive schools, 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 General Infirmary is a large general hospital, beneath which is an old hermitage, open to the public on certain days. It is the place at which serial killer Harold Shipman began to murder his elderly patients. The hospital has been rebuilt and reopened in 2010. Pontefract Museum, from which the hermitage schedule can be obtained, is in the town centre, housed in the former Carnegie library. There is now a modern library building. Pontefract has three railway stations: Pontefract Baghill, on the Dearne Valley Line, which connects York and Sheffield; and Pontefract Monkhill and Pontefract Tanshelf, which connects with Leeds and Wakefield. There are also rail services to London from Pontefract Monkhill

Pontefract Hospital recently made national headlines with the local NHS Trust's controversial plans to close the Accident and Emergency department at night. This move broke key promises made to the local population. In response to this, unofficial but widely reported talks with the British Army to provide medical personnel to keep the department open, this caused national critisim and the plans were dropped before they were made official.

The local Police force is West Yorkshire Police, with a local police station behind the Tesco supermarket and next to the Magistrates Court.

Fire cover is provided by West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue with one pump (sometimes two) based at Pontefract Firestation. The location will move soon to a new station been built on the A645 half way between Pontefract and Knottingley.

The Terrortial Army, Army Cadets and Air Training Corps all have a presence within the town who are all based at the historical barracks building. This used to house the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI). It now house a Rifles Regiment Recruitment team.

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 houses in the UK.^[9] Venues include Big Fellas, the Counting House, the Elephant, the Green Dragon, the Tap and Barrel, Wetherspoons, the Malt Shovel, and the Blackmoor Head.

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.

Sports

The town is home to many major sports including cricket and football. Its two most famous institutions are horse racing at Pontefract Racecourse and Featherstone Rovers, 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).^[10] 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.

Pontefract has its own non league football club Pontefract Collieries F.C. 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

Location grid

		Castleford
	Featherstone		Knottingley
		Pontefract
		Hemsworth

See also

• Ackworth, West Yorkshire
• Pomfret School

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pontefract

• NEW College
• Local history
• Pontefract Young Farmers
• Pontefract Liquorice Trust
• Pontefract Races
• Pontefract Collieries F.C.
• Priory of St. John of Pontefract, British History Online
• St. Giles Pantomime Society
• Pontefract and Castleford Express