Normanton is a town and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the

City of Wakefield The City of Wakefield is a local government district with the status of a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Wakefield, the largest settlement, is the administrative centre of the district. The population of the City ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England. It is north-east of

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

and south-west of

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins th ...

. The civil parish extends west and north to the River Calder, and includes the large village of

Altofts Altofts is a village in West Yorkshire, England. It lies north-east from the centre of Wakefield and less than north-west of Normanton. The M62 runs close to the village to the north-east, and the Aire and Calder Navigation to the north-w ...

. At the time of the 2011 Census, the population of the civil parish was 20,872. The Normanton ward of the Wakefield City Council does not include Altofts, but includes the civil parish of Warmfield cum Heath to the south-west of Normanton. The ward had a population of 16,220 in 2011.

History

The ''

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

'' gives information on 'Norman-tune' as:

In Normantune there are 10 carucates for geld, which 5 plows can plough. 2 thegns had 2 manors there T.R.E. Now, in the King's hand there are 6 villeins there, and 3 bordars, a priest and a church, with 3 ploughs, of meadow. Pasturable wood (land) 6 furlongs in length and 1 in breadth. The whole of this land lies in the soc of Wachefelt, except the Church. T.R.E. it was worth 12s: now (it is worth) 10s.

Normanton was originally surrounded by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

, and in Norman times was the site of an enclosed settlement (chosen for its strategic view points across the surrounding area), and became known as 'Norman – tune', or 'Norman – ton'. At the time the ''Domesday Book'' was compiled in 1086, the occupation of Yorkshire by the Normans was underway. Archaeological evidence at today's Normanton points to Haw Hill (or How Hill), an eminence that was probably a Norman defensive strategic mound once reinforced by a wooden palisade. The evidence of a Norman motte-and-bailey fortification at the town, and the name, is likely evidence that Normanton's name derived from the

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 *Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature *Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 1066 ...

presence in the area. Nearby, after all, were Tickhill, the fortress of Norman magnate

Roger de Busli Roger de Busli (c. 1038 – c. 1099) was a Norman baron who participated in the conquest of England in 1066. Life Roger de Busli was born in or around 1038. His surname comes from the town now known as Bully (near Neufchâtel-en-Bray, mentioned ...

, as well as other new Norman power centres. Although the area had once been part of the Scandinavian Danelaw,

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

's scorched earth northern campaign had left the area ripe for exploitation by his Lords. By all measures, Normanton likely owes its name to these new invaders. Hanson House circa 1890 Normanton West Yorkshire

Hanson House circa 1890 Normanton West Yorkshire

One of the earliest buildings to survive within the village is Hanson House. This is set back from the church and has a timber-frame construction. The building was constructed in the mid-15th century, with a later wing added in the 18th century. A fire has damaged the building, which is being restored and modernised.

Growth

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

was founded in Normanton by

John Freeston John Freeston (1512
– 1594) was a barrister from

Pastell, ''Ibid''. but the town remained very small until it became the focus of several railway lines in the mid-19th century. Work began in 1837 under the supervision of George Stephenson on the construction of the North Midland Railway from

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

. This was soon followed by an addition to the York and North Midland Railway from

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

and then the Manchester and Leeds Railway from

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

which all extended to Normanton thereby giving the town access to much of the country. The Leeds and Manchester lines crossed a stretch across the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Common ...

and at the time had the world's longest railway station platform at Normanton, a quarter of a mile long. The station was, for the next ten years or so, the most important in England, employing over 700 people who looked after the station's 700,000 passengers a year. In Victorian times Normanton station was one of the most important stations in

Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angles, Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Scandinavian York, K ...

, and

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

stopped over in the Station Hotel. The town also served as an important part of the transport infrastructure for national and local industries including coal and bricks, although most of this was lost during the 1950s and 1960s with the last remaining operational brickworks eventually closing in the mid-1990s. There were three brickworks in town which were all built within the small area of Newland, taking advantage of the abundance of clay from the area. A fourth works was founded in the 1890s by a Thomas Kirk from

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, who had heard rumours that Normanton was rapidly turning into an important junction on the railways. Both Kirk and his sons used their life savings and formed the Normanton Brick Company at nearby

which finally closed in 2011 The coming of the railways enabled the locally mined coal to be sent across the country. Demand soon outstripped supply and many more shafts were sunk to reach the coal seams under the town. In 1871

Dom Pedro Dom Pedro (''Lord Peter'') is the traditional Portuguese appellation of several kings of Portugal: * Peter I of Portugal * Peter II of Portugal * Peter III of Portugal * Pedro IV of Portugal * Pedro V of Portugal and of the two 19th-century Emperors ...

, the Emperor of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, visited Normanton with his Empress and gave his name (in a slightly altered form) to the Don Pedro

Colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

at Hopetown. Today roads in the area of the former colliery retain the name. At their peak the collieries employed over 10,000 men, most of whom wanted to move themselves and their families to Normanton. The town enjoyed a boom period with more mines opening and more shafts being sunk in order to meet the increasing demand for coal until, by the mid-1970s, most coal seams in the Normanton area were worked-out.

Decline

The disputes surrounding the miners' strike of 1984–85 meant that many mines across the country were to close although by this stage there were no collieries still in production in Normanton. However, the strike still affected many families in the area, as Normanton colliers still worked in pits in neighbouring towns. The area once occupied by the St John's or Newland Colliery is now part of the controversial Welbeck landfill site which has been the subject of both local and national media attention since its development as a toxic tip. The site attracted so much negative attention that the group Residents Against Toxic Scheme (RATS) was established to halt planning permission for the disposal of toxic chemicals at the site, claiming the scheme was an extreme health hazard. Normanton suffered decline in the years following the miners' strike. The railway station was in such a state of neglect and disrepair that the decision was made to demolish it in 1986; the section of railway line between Goosehill Junction and Crofton Interchange were lifted the year after. Very little now remains of Normanton's railway and mining heritage.

Modern

Normanton has become a growing commuter suburb of the

Leeds City Region The Leeds City Region is a local enterprise partnership city region located in West Yorkshire, England. Prior to the West Yorkshire devolution deal, the partnership covered parts of South and North Yorkshire. According to the Office for Nat ...

, with relatively cheap housing and efficient transport links. The town is still accessible via

Normanton railway station Normanton is the name of: England * Normanton, Derby * South Normanton, Derbyshire * Temple Normanton, Derbyshire * Normanton, Leicestershire * Normanton, Lincolnshire *Normanton, Rutland *Normanton, West Yorkshire ** Normanton (UK Parliament con ...

, and is currently served by an unmanned island platform station with regular trains to

and

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

Meadowhall Interchange Meadowhall Interchange is a transport interchange located in north-east Sheffield, consisting of a combined heavy rail station, tram stop and bus and coach station. The second-busiest heavy rail station in the city in terms of passenger numb ...

. The addition and expansion of the Eurolink Industrial Estate at Junction 31 of the M62 attracted national and multi-national corporations to locate their distribution depots to Normanton. Being centrally located within the UK, the town is served by three major motorway networks: the M62 linking Liverpool to

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

(west to east); the M1 linking Leeds to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

(North to South); and the North of England via a new link between the M62 and the A1(M) at nearby Ferrybridge.

Landmarks

Church

All Saints' is the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of Normanton, West Yorkshire. It is believed to have existed since at least 1256 and is built in the Perpendicular style.

Newland

The Newland estate was a small township on the outskirts of Normanton and lies on the north bank of the River Calder. Existing since 1213 when it was established by King John as a preceptory of the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

, it was later transferred to the similar organisation, the "

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

" in 1256. The property belonging to the Hospitallers was dissolved by King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

who bestowed the property upon himself. The earliest known preceptor of the Knights Hospitaller was Simon Paccable in 1313. Newland was once held by the Levett family, and William Levett, who was lord of the manor, was admitted tenant of the Knights Hospitaller on 2 October 1447. The estate changed hands of ownership a number of times since King Henry VIII sold the land in 1544, with final ownership landing on the Warmfield Company Limited in 1926, who ran brickworks until the mid-20th century. Newland today is kept as a nature reserve, with the remains of the estate overgrown with shrubs and plant life, the remains of Newland Hall still stand in the woodlands as a derelict building that last saw occupancy in 1972. A small fishing area just outside the Newland Estate is used by local fishermen.

Transport

Normanton is just off of Junction 31 of the M62. It has a railway station,

Normanton Railway Station Normanton is the name of: England * Normanton, Derby * South Normanton, Derbyshire * Temple Normanton, Derbyshire * Normanton, Leicestershire * Normanton, Lincolnshire *Normanton, Rutland *Normanton, West Yorkshire ** Normanton (UK Parliament con ...

. The town is on bus routes and is served by taxi and minibus companies.

Education

The following is a list of schools in the Normanton area: * Normanton All Saints Primary School * Normanton Junior Academy * Normanton Outwood Academy, Freeston * Newlands Primary School * Altofts Junior School * Normanton Common Primary Academy * St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School * Martin Frobisher Primary School * Lee Brigg Infant and Nursery School

Sports

The town is home to a cricket club – Normanton St John's CC, and 2 football teams – A.S. Normanton F.C. and Normanton Athletic Juniors. Arguably the biggest sport in the area is Rugby League.

Normanton Knights Normanton is an amateur rugby league club based in Normanton, a small town within the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. The club joined the Northern Union in 1898–99 and played for a total of five seasons until 1905–06. T ...

are the town's main amateur club and play in the

National Conference League The National Conference League (known as the Kingstone Press National Conference League for sponsorship reasons) is the top English amateur rugby league competition in the Rugby Football League pyramid, and as such is the leading amateur rugby l ...

Notable people

* Paul Anderson – rugby league player-coach for

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence i ...

* Alice Bacon – Baroness Bacon, CBE, PC, Labour Member of Parliament and party chair * Lawrence Byford – senior police officer and author of the "Byford Report" into the Yorkshire Ripper investigation * Ben Cockayne – rugby league player for Hull Kingston Rovers * Billy Conway- rugby league player for

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the ...

Richard Crawshay Richard Crawshay (1739 – 27 June 1810) was a London iron merchant and then South Wales ironmaster; he was one of ten known British millionaires in 1799. Early life and marriage Richard Crawshay was born in Normanton in the West Riding ...

– London iron merchant and South Wales ironmaster *

Les Cusworth Les Cusworth (born 31 July 1954) is a former English rugby union footballer and current Argentine Director of Rugby. Education He was educated at Normanton Grammar School and the West Midlands College of Education, a teacher training college ( ...

– rugby union player for

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

* Reece Dinsdale – actor *

John Freeston John Freeston (1512
– 1594) was a barrister from

Levett Hanson – flamboyant author, courtier, expert on medieval knighthood, childhood friend of

Horatio Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought a ...

Jamie Langley Jamie John Langley (born 21 December 1983) is an assistant coach at Sale Sharks in Premiership Rugby and an English former professional rugby league footballer. A Great Britain representative , he has also played for England and with Bradford ...

- rugby league player for Hull Kingston Rovers * Joyce Lishman – leader in social work education and research * Alister MacKenzie – renowned golf course architect * Francis Mallet (or Mallett), English churchman and academic, and chaplain to Mary Tudor * Keith Ripley – footballer *

Paul Routledge Paul Routledge ( ; born 11 December 1943)Dennis Griffiths (ed.) ''The Encyclopedia of the British Press, 1422–1992'', London and Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992, p.498–99 is an English journalist. Routledge currently writes for the ''Daily Mir ...

– writer and journalist * David Topliss – rugby league player for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and wer ...

* Ben Westwood – rugby league player for Warrington Wolves * Martin Wood – rugby league player for

Sheffield Eagles The Sheffield Eagles are a professional rugby league club that play in the Betfred Championship. The club play their home games at the Olympic Legacy Park (OLP) on the former site of Don Valley Stadium, their former ground. The original club w ...

* Shaun Winter Taylor-Steels born Shaun Steels – Drummer for My Dying Bride *

Duane Holmes Duane Octavious Holmes (born November 6, 1994) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Huddersfield Town and the United States national team. Born in Columbus, Georgia, United States, Holmes has an American fat ...

– Football player for Huddersfield Town and

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team h ...

Filmography

The old Normanton brickyard, situated just off of the A655 Wakefield Road, was used in the late-1990s as the fictional setting of a murder in the ITV series '' A Touch Of Frost''. The structure was intact but abandoned at the time of filming and was the ideal location favoured by the ITV production team. In the series a body was found by the

Police The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...

in one of the factory's old kilns. Within 18 months of filming, the structure had been declared unsafe, and was partially demolished, leaving only the chimney stack standing.

References

External links

Houses of Knights Hospitallers, British History Online
* {{authority control Towns in West Yorkshire Geography of the City of Wakefield Civil parishes in West Yorkshire