Ferrybridge is a village in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England. Ferrybridge lies at a historically important crossing of the

River Aire The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, in length. Part of the river below Leeds is canalised, and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation. The ''Handbook for Leeds and Airedale'' (1890) notes that the distance from Malha ...

which borders the North Yorkshire village of Brotherton. It is linked to other communities by the A1, which follows the route of the Great North Road. The village falls within the Knottingley ward of Wakefield City Council. The origin of the place-name is from

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

and means ''bridge by the ferry''. It appears as ''Ferie'' in 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 and as ''Ferybrig'' in 1198.

Geography and geology

Geologically, Ferrybridge and

Knottingley Knottingley is a town in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England on the River Aire and the old A1 road before it was bypassed as the A1(M). Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 13,503, increasing ...

are located on rich soil, over a bed of Magnesian Limestone. The area is close to junctions of the M62 and

A1(M) motorway A1(M) is the designation given to a series of four separate controlled-access highway, motorway sections in the UK. Each section is an upgrade to a section of the A1 road (Great Britain), A1, a major north–south road which connects Greater ...

s; as well as junctions on the rail network, including northward to York, south to Pontefract (and Rotherham), west to both Wakefield and Leeds, east to Goole and south-east to the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...

; the

meets the

Aire and Calder navigation The Aire and Calder Navigation is the River engineering#Canalization of rivers, canalised section of the River Aire, Rivers Aire and River Calder, West Yorkshire, Calder in West Yorkshire, England. The first improvements to the rivers above Kn ...

close to the east of the town. The area is famous for the Ferrybridge power stations and the M62 services which offers eateries and lodging. The Ferrybridge power stations to the north dominated the skyline around the village prior to their demolition.

The village

The village has two public houses; "The Golden Lion" which sits by Ferrybridge lock and is steeped in colourful history during its time as a coaching Inn and "The Magnet Inn". The village has two primary schools, one of which is in the top 250 schools in the country: The Vale Academy was described as "outstanding" in a 2013 Ofsted report. The other is Willow Green Academy, previously known as Roundhill Junior School and Ferrybridge Infant School.

History

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

feature at Ferrybridge is

Ferrybridge Henge Ferrybridge Henge is a Neolithic henge near Ferrybridge, West Yorkshire (). It is close to the A1 and M62 and Ferrybridge power station. Ferrybridge Henge is the furthest south of Yorkshire's henges, and is the only one in West Yorkshire. Th ...

, a

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

ceremonial monument dating back to the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

period, constructed during the period 4,500-1,500 BC, additionally a 2,400-year-old

chariot A chariot is a type of vehicle similar to a cart, driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid Propulsion, motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk O ...

burial has been discovered in the area. The history of Ferrybridge - and its neighbour,

- dates back to the establishment of Anglo-Saxon settlements along this stretch of the river. The respective histories of the two settlements of Ferrybridge and

are closely linked, bringing glassmaking, shipbuilding, brewing and potteries to the area. Ferrybridge stands where the Great North Road crosses the River Aire. Ferry Bridge is a Grade I listed building, and was designed by John Carr of York in 1797 and built by Bernard Hartley of Pontefract in 1804. Until 1810, a toll was payable to cross the bridge. In March 1461, on the eve of the battle of nearby Towton, an engagement between the Lancastrians and

Yorkist The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, th ...

s ended in a Lancastrian victory, and Lord Fitzwalter, the Yorkist leader was killed. This is known as the Battle of Ferrybridge. Up to the end of the 17th century, Knottingley was an important inland port in the

West Riding The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The lieutenancy at that time included the city of York a ...

as the

was not navigable beyond it. The construction of the

Aire and Calder Navigation The Aire and Calder Navigation is the River engineering#Canalization of rivers, canalised section of the River Aire, Rivers Aire and River Calder, West Yorkshire, Calder in West Yorkshire, England. The first improvements to the rivers above Kn ...

Canal (by the Aire and Calder Navigation Act 1698 ( 10 Will. 3. c. 25) in 1699; the first navigation scheme authorised by an act of Parliament) diminished

's importance as a port by allowing barges on the river to navigate further upstream to

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. Parliament authorized a new canal in 1820. Cutting through the centre of Knottingley, the new

Canal was opened in 1826 and connected the new port of Goole with the River Aire at Ferrybridge. The lock at Ferrybridge opened at 10 a.m. on 20 July 1826. By the end of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

, Ferrybridge had become a centre for glass production. The Ferrybridge railway station opened in 1882 on the

Swinton and Knottingley Joint Railway The Swinton and Knottingley Joint Railway was a British railway company formed to connect the Midland Railway, Midland and Great Central Railway, Great Central lines at Swinton (South Yorkshire) railway station, Swinton, north of Rotherham, wit ...

(1879) and closed in 1965. In the 20th century, three

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

s were built, all on the same site - the first in the 1920s, the second in the 1950s, and the third, Ferrybridge 'C' Power Station, in the 1960s; three of the latter's cooling towers collapsed during construction in high winds in 1965. A fourth natural gas power station was expected to be built but because of soaring gas prices this did not go ahead. (see Ferrybridge power stations).

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in West Yorkshire

Geography and geology

The village

History

See also

References

External links