Pontefract Castle in the early 17th Century

Pontefract is a town in the county of West Yorkshire, England, near the A1 (or Great North Road), the M62 motorway, and Castleford. It is one of the five towns in the borough of Wakefield and has a population of approximately 40,000. Pontefract's motto is Post mortem patris pro filio, Latin for "After the death of the father, we support the son", a reference to Civil War Royalist sympathies. Pontefract Castle File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Pontefract Castle File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... A county is generally a sub-unit of regional self-government within a sovereign jurisdiction. ... West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Also known as the Great North Road. ... The M62 motorway connects the cities of Liverpool and Hull, in England. ... Arms of the former Castleford Borough Council Castleford is one of the five towns in the Wakefield borough, in the county of West Yorkshire, England, near to Pontefract, with a population of 37,525 according to the 2001. ... This article discusses the metropolitan district and named the City of Wakefield. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... The English Civil War consisted of a series of armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between Parliamentarians (known as Roundheads) and Royalists (known as Cavaliers) between 1642 and 1651. ...

History

Pontefract's name originates in the Latin Pontus Fractus, "Broken Bridge". The town is situated on an old roman road (now the A639), described as the "Roman Ridge", which passes south towards Doncaster. Although Pontefract itself does not appear in the Domesday Book, an area of the town, known as Tanshelf, does. A Roman road in Pompeii Road Construction on Trajans Column The Roman roads were essential for the growth of their empire, by enabling them to move armies. ... Doncaster is a town in the English county of South Yorkshire, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire. ... A line drawing entitled Domesday Book from Andrew Williamss Historic Byways and Highways of Old England. ...

Pontefract Castle dates from Norman times, when it was known as Pomfret. It was built, about 1070, by Ilbert de Lacy. King Richard II was murdered within the castle walls in 1400. William Shakespeare's play Richard III mentions this incident: Pontefract Castle in its heyday Pontefract Castle in West Yorkshire near to the town of Pontefract, was constructed in approximately 1070 by a knight, Ilbert de Lacy (who is also responsible for the construction of Kirkstall Abbey), on land which had been granted to him by William the Conqueror as... The Norman dynasty is a series of four monarchs, who ruled England from the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066, until 1154. ... Events Hereward the Wake begins a Saxon revolt in the Fens of eastern England. ... crest of de Lacy Lacy´s purple lion De Lacy (Lascy, Lacie) is an old Norman noble family originating from Lassy (Calvados). ... Richard II (January 6, 1367 – February 14, 1400) was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan The Fair Maid of Kent. He was born in Bordeaux and became his fathers successor when his elder brother died in infancy. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Frontispage of the First Quarto Richard The Third. ...

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 War. The castle was noted by Oliver Cromwell as "[...] one of the strongest inland garrisons in the kingdom." However, three sieges by the Parliamentarians left the town impoverished and depopulated. After the end of 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. Oliver Cromwell (April 25, 1599–September 3, 1658) was an English military and political leader best known for making England a republic and leading the Commonwealth of England. ... March 24 is the 83rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (84th in leap years). ... // Events January 30 - King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland is beheaded. ... April 5 is the 95th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (96th in leap years). ... // Events January 30 - King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland is beheaded. ...

Pontefract today

Pontefract has been a market town since, at least, the Middle Ages; the main market days are Wednesday and Saturday, with a smaller market on Fridays. There is also a covered market, which is open all week, except Thursday afternoons and Sundays. Thursday afternoon is half-day closing in Pontefract. The town is called Ponte/Ponty by its citizens and sometimes jokingly referred to as Ponte Carlo, in reference to Monte Carlo. The local Member of Parliament is Labour MP Yvette Cooper, for Pontefract and Castleford. In her maiden speech, the MP said of the town: '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 market town is a medieval phenomenon. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Monte Carlo is a very wealthy section of the city-state of Monaco known for its casino, gambling, beaches, glamour, and sightings of famous people. ... The Houses of Parliament, seen over Westminster Bridge The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. ... The Labour Party has been, since its founding in the early 20th century, the principal political party of the left in the United Kingdom. ... Yvette Cooper (born March 20, 1969) British politician. ... Pontefract and Castleford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...

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 still 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 (formerly known as Wilkinson's), respectively. A Liquorice Festival is held each year. Poet laureate Sir John Betjeman wrote a poem entitled "The Liquorice Fields at Pontefract". Binomial name Glycyrrhiza glabra L. Liquorice or licorice (see spelling differences) (pronounced IPA: licorish) is the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra, from which a sweet flavour can be extracted. ... The Pontefract cake is a type of sweet, made of liquorice, originally made in the Yorkshire town of Pontefract. ... HARIBO is a sweets producer, founded in 1920 in Bonn, Germany. ... Sir John Betjeman (28 August 1906 – 19 May 1984) was a British poet and writer on architecture. ...

Close by is the large, coal-fired power station at Ferrybridge. There are Tesco and Morrisons supermarkets, and most recently Asda, which changed hands from Kwik Save. The schools in the town are the Carleton Community High School, in Carleton, and The King's School, on Mill Hill Lane; both are comprehensive schools, for ages 11–16. Neither school possesses a good reputation and the Carleton School was described as having 'serious weaknesses' in a recent OFSTED report. Ferrybridge Power Station There have been three Power Stations constructed at Ferrybridge, a small village situated on the River Aire, just off the junction of the A1 and M62 motorway in West Yorkshire. ... Ferrybridge is a village situated on the A1 in West Yorkshire, England beside the River Aire. ... For other uses, see Tesco (disambiguation). ... Morrisons store in Morecambe, Lancashire Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc (LSE: MRW) is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. ... This article is about a supermarket chain. ... A Comprehensive school is a type of school providing secondary level education in England or Wales. ...

Pontefract is locally renowned for its large number of pubs. One of the oldest buildings, dating from the 16th century and previously used as a shop, was turned into a pub in the 1980s, called the Counting House. (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... The 1980s refers to the years of 1980 to 1989. ...

Pontefract General Infirmary is a large general hospital, beneath which is an old hermitage, open to the public on certain days. It is the first place at which infamous serial killer Harold Shipman began to murder his elderly patients. Pontefract Museum, from which the hermitage schedule can be obtained, is in the town centre, housed in the former library. There is now a modern library building. Unlike many towns of its size, Pontefract has three railway stations: Pontefract Baghill, on the Dearne Valley Line, which connects York and Sheffield; and Pontefract Monkhill and Pontefract Tanshelf, which connect with Leeds and Wakefield. Onuphrius lived as a hermit in the desert of Upper Egypt in the late 4th century A hermit (from the Greek erēmos, signifying desert, uninhabited, hence desert-dweller) is a person who lives to some greater or lesser degree in seclusion and/or isolation from society. ... Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004) was a British general practitioner who was the most prolific known serial killer in British history. ... Pontefract Museum is a local museum in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. ... Pontefract Baghill railway station is the least busy of the three railway stations in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. ... The Dearne Valley Line is one of the named British railway lines in the north of England. ... York is a city in North Yorkshire, England, at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss. ... Pontefract Monkhill railway station is the busiest station in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. ... Pontefract Tanshelf railway station is the most central station in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. ... Statistics Population: 79,885 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SE335205 Administration Metropolitan Borough: City of Wakefield Metropolitan county: West Yorkshire Region: Yorkshire and the Humber Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: West Yorkshire Historic county: Yorkshire (West Riding) Services Police force: West Yorkshire Police Fire and...

Pontefract has a park with a racecourse on the outskirts of town. 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. Cherry tree redirects here. ...

Life in Pontefract was satirised by J. S. Fletcher in his book The Town of Crooked Ways, whose title may have been 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. Joseph Smith Fletcher (1863-1935) was a British journalist and crime fiction writer. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ...

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'. Encouraging the fulfilment of individual potential by providing high quality education in a supportive environment NEW College, Pontefract, was established in 1987 as a 6th form college serving the North East Wakefield area. ...

Until the mine closures in the 1980s much of Pontefract's industry was based on coal-mining at the Prince of Wales Colliery. In recent years much of the town has grown considerably poorer.

Entertainment

Pontefract's local newspaper is the Pontefract and Castleford Express

Pontefract is known for its 'down-to-earth' nightlife, sporting one of the most concentrated numbers of public houses in the UK, with such venues as Kikos, on Front Street, and Big Fellas, on Beastfair. Kikos particularly is referred to by many Pomfrets as 'paedogeddon' due to the fact that much of its clientele is underage. This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ...

See also

• Ackworth, West Yorkshire

Ackworth, West Yorkshire, is one of the largest villages in England, situated between Pontefract, Barnsley and Doncaster on the small River Went. ...

Location grid

Arms of the former Castleford Borough Council Castleford is one of the five towns in the Wakefield borough, in the county of West Yorkshire, England, near to Pontefract, with a population of 37,525 according to the 2001. ... Statistics Population: 79,885 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SE335205 Administration Metropolitan Borough: City of Wakefield Metropolitan county: West Yorkshire Region: Yorkshire and the Humber Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: West Yorkshire Historic county: Yorkshire (West Riding) Services Police force: West Yorkshire Police Fire and... Knottingley is a town in the metropolitan district of the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England on the River Aire and the A1 road. ... Hemsworth is a small town on the edge of West Yorkshire in the Wakefield district. ...

External links

• New College
• Local history
• Pontefract Young Farmers

Coordinates: 53°41′N 1°18′W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...