Garforth () is a
town in the
metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan ...
of the
City of Leeds,
West Yorkshire, England.
It sits in the
Garforth and Swillington ward of
Leeds City Council and the
Elmet and Rothwell
Elmet and Rothwell is a constituency in West Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its creation in 2010 by Alec Shelbrooke, a Conservative. In the 2017 general election, Elmet and Rothwell recorded the lar ...
parliamentary constituency. As of 2011, the population of Garforth was 14,957, having decreased since the last census.
It is east of Central
Leeds, south-west of
York and north of
Wakefield.
Etymology
The place-name ''Garforth'' appears first in the
Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Gereford'' and ''Gereforde'', with ''gar-'' spellings first appearing in 1336 in the form ''Garford''. The name seems to derive from the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
words ''gāra'' ('triangular plot of land', derived from the word ''gār'', 'spear') and ''ford'' ('ford)', and thus meant 'ford at a triangular plot of land'. The plot is thought to have lain at a sharp turn in the road now called The Beck. Spellings beginning with ''ger-'' reflect the
Old Norse counterpart of Old English ''gāra'', ''geiri'', and therefore the existence of Norse-influenced pronunciations of the name existing alongside Old English ones.
[Harry Parkin, ''Your City's Place-Names: Leeds'', English Place-Name Society City-Names Series, 3 (Nottingham: English Place-Name Society, 2017).] Correspondingly, the district also once included the place Church Garforth, whose name is first attested in the fifteenth century as ''Kirkgarford''; here again the form ''kirk'' reflects the Old Norse form of the word ''church'', ''kirkja''.
History
Garforth owes its size to expansion in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries during which the local land-owning
Gascoigne family
The Gascoigne Baronetcy, of Barnbow and Parlington in the County of York, was a title in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. It was created on 8 June 1635 for John Gascoigne. He had converted to Roman Catholicism in 1604. His daughter, Catherine G ...
ran several coalmines in the area. The surrounding settlements of
Micklefield,
Kippax,
Swillington
Swillington is a village and civil parish near Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough. It is situated east from Leeds city centre, north of the River Aire, and is surrounded by streams including Fleakingle ...
,
Methley and
Allerton Bywater Great and
Little Preston are all villages that prospered and grew as a result of the coal industry. Nowadays manufacturing and motor-vehicle repair account for more than a third of the workforce in the area.
More recent expansion can also be traced to a combination of overall economic success in Leeds, and that Garforth is served by transport links. The
A1 and
M1 are minutes away, and both have recently been linked by an extension of the M1 which passes to the west and north of the village, with two nearby access points at Junctions 46 and 47. The M1 extension led to rapid development of commercial, light industrial and residential sites clustered around Junctions 46 and 47. The village rail link to
Kippax and
Castleford was closed under the
Beeching Axe
The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...
of the 1960s.
Garforth has been home to first Garforth Scout Group since 1908. Garforth & District Lions Club was formed in 1972.
Economy
Originally a coal mining area, the collieries of much of east Leeds and surrounding areas closed in the 1960s, although further south mining was still strong in the 1990s and is still prevalent to some degree today. Garforth has increasingly become a
commuter town for Leeds, York &
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 of ...
area. There is a light industrial estate to the north of the village which provides some employment, such as
Ginetta Cars, while the neighbouring Thorpe Business Park in
Colton also provides employment. Garforth's rail connections and access to the
M1,
A1(M) and
M62 have made it a desirable area for commuters to live.
Amenities
Garforth's amenities are similar to some towns in the City of Leeds, such as
Otley and
Wetherby. Garforth has a
Tesco, and a
Lidl supermarket,
the Original Factory Shop department store, several
public houses in the town centre, a
Co-operative
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
, Greggs, Dominoes, Budgens, Costa, Subway, and other shops such as newsagents, charity shops, travel agents and banks. Garforth civic amenities include a library and a one stop centre run by
Leeds City Council. A coffee shop on Main Street functions partly as a
social enterprise, giving its profits to projects in the village. There are also a number of take away food outlets.
The lively Garforth Community Choir was formed in October 2015 and meets at Garforth Academy on Wednesdays at 7.00 pm, in school term time.
Garforth has ten traditional public houses, a mix of restaurants/cafes/wine bars, and a number of social/affiliated clubs. The pubs/bars are the
Miller and Carter
Mitchells & Butlers plc (also referred to as "M&B") runs circa 1,784 managed pubs, bars and restaurants throughout the United Kingdom. The company's headquarters are in Birmingham, England. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange an ...
Steakhouse (formerly the Old George), the Gaping Goose, the Crusader, the Podger, Quirky Ales (
Microbrewery
Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...
), the Newmarket Inn, the Miners Arms, the Lord Gascoigne (
Hungry Horse), the Fly Line (
Marstons), The Yard, Jigger & Jar, Blake's Bar, The Assembly and the Briggate (
Wetherspoons), the latter which takes its name from the original term for Garforth Main Street, where it is situated on the premises of the former Liberal Club. Most of the public houses sell food. A large
garden centre is situated on the
A63 heading out of Garforth towards
Micklefield.
The East Side Retail Park has a Lidl, Home Bargains, Clip and Climb, Sue Ryder Charity Shop, Greggs a Vets Surgery and the Fly Line Pub and Restaurant.
There are two indoor play areas for children and a large
skatepark.
Garforth also plays home to two brass bands, both of which rehearse and perform in and around the local area. There is Garforth Jubilee Band, currently conducted by Martin Bird, who are a non-contesting brass band, and there is Garforth Brass, who are a contesting brass band.
Transport
Garforth is situated on the
A63, which links it with the
M1 and the
A1(M), the
M62 also lies close by to the south of the village.
Garforth has two railway stations.
Garforth railway station lies to the north of the village centre, whist
East Garforth railway station, which opened in the 1980s, lies to the east of the village, both stations on the mainline route between
Leeds,
York and North Eastern England to Scotland, and between Leeds,
Selby and
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 ...
and the
Yorkshire coastal resorts. There are also rail links to
Manchester,
Newcastle upon Tyne,
Liverpool and
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
.
Garforth's bus services are provided by
First Leeds and
Arriva Yorkshire.
High Speed Two
Under proposals released on 28 January 2013, Garforth would see the
High Speed 2 railway line built close to the village, running adjacent to the M1 motorway. The High Speed Line would cross the existing railway line close to Thorpe Park to the west of the village. This line would carry the spur away from Leeds, towards the
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...
at
Church Fenton.
Education

Education establishments in Garforth include a secondary school, primary schools and a vocational performing arts college.
Garforth Academy
Garforth Academy (formerly known as Garforth Comprehensive School until September 1992 and Garforth Community College until November 2010) is a secondary school and sixth form for pupils aged 11–18 and is located on Lidgett Lane (B6137) ...
, a
secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
and
sixth form for pupils aged 11–18 is located on Lidgett Lane in Garforth. The school has over 2,000 pupils and staff. Garforth Community Arts School (situated in Garforth Academy) runs the
Garforth Arts Festival, which is a display of artistic works.
Opposite Garforth Academy is the recently refurbished Strawberry Fields Primary School, formerly known as West Garforth Primary School. Other Garforth schools are Ninelands Primary School, Green Lane Primary Academy, East Garforth Primary Academy and St Benedict's Primary School, which is a
Catholic school
Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...
.
SLP College
SLP College is an independent, co-educational performing arts college based in Garforth near Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
Overview
In 1974 Sandra A. Reid founded 'Sandra A Reid, School of Ballet and Theatre Dance' It initially offered class ...
is a further education college in Garforth, providing specialist vocational training in dance and performing arts. Founded as a dance school, it later developed a full-time performing arts course and is now a course provider for the
Trinity College, London professional performing arts qualifications. The college is accredited to the
Council for Dance Education and Training and one of the colleges selected to award the government
Dance and Drama Awards.
Sport

Local football teams are
Garforth Town A.F.C., Garforth Villa Football Club, Garforth W.M.C. A.F.C and Garforth Rangers A.F.C. Garforth Town play at the Genix Healthcare Stadium (formally known as Wheatley Park) which is located in the corner of the Cedar Ridge estate of Garforth.
There are two rugby clubs in Garforth, one League and one Union. Garforth Tigers ARLFC play rugby league and are based at Glebelands. They have junior and senior teams competing in the Yorkshire League. There is also a men's rugby union team: Garforth RUFC, who play their matches on Garforth Academy's playing fields.
There are also two cricket clubs,
Garforth C.C. & Garforth Church Parish C.C., the Squash and Leisure Centre. and a Premier World Fitness Centre.
Garforth Golf Club has a course designed by
Alister MacKenzie.
Climate
The nearest weather station is in
Wakefield, to the north. Garforth is notable for recording one of the latest instances of in the United Kingdom, on 24 April 1908, the temperature fell to .
Notable people
Notable residents and ex-residents of Garforth include: England and Yorkshire cricketer
Chris Silverwood; DJ
Dave Seaman;
Andrew White of the
Kaiser Chiefs;
John Birch of
Leeds, England & Great Britain rugby league teams; and BAFTA nominated comedian
Liam Williams, who created and stars in ''
Ladhood '', a comedy TV series based on his experience of growing up in Garforth. The village was also the birthplace of Second World War airman,
Sir Augustus Walker
Air Chief Marshal Sir George Augustus Walker, (24 August 1912 – 11 December 1986) was a Second World War bomber pilot, a jet aircraft pioneer, and a senior Royal Air Force officer in the post-war era, as well as a rugby player.
Early life
Walk ...
of the Royal Air Force.
Jack Charlton owned a menswear shop in the town, and was a resident for a number of years along with a number of sportspeople at various times.
References in literature
The book ''The Modfather'' was set in Garforth in the late 1970s and early 1980s detailing David Lines adolescence in the village and his obsession with
Paul Weller.
Gallery
File:Garforth Main Street.jpg, Main Street, Garforth
File:The Original Factory Shop, Garforth.jpg, The Original Factory Shop
File:The Miners, Garforth.jpg, The Miners, a pub in Garforth
File:St Mary's Church, Garforth - geograph.org.uk - 96466.jpg, St Mary's Church
See also
*
Listed buildings in Garforth and Swillington
Garforth and Swillington (ward), Garforth and Swillington is a Ward (electoral subdivision), ward and Swillington is a civil parish in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The ward and parish contain 22 Liste ...
*
Garforth Town A.F.C.
References
External links
*
Garforth Community College"Garforth Today & Garforth Yesteryear" Garforth.net (First Bookshop, Bridlington)
GENUKI.org.UK
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Places in Leeds
Towns in West Yorkshire
Unparished areas in West Yorkshire