Sharlston is a village 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, situated east of

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

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, and includes the settlements of Old Sharlston, Sharlston Common and New Sharlston. Its population at the 2001 census was 2,756, reducing to 2,663 at the 2011 Census. The village lies in the

City of Wakefield Wakefield, also known as the City of Wakefield, is a Local government in England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status and a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. Wakefield, the largest settl ...

unitary district.

History

The village of Old Sharlston has existed for over seven hundred years, with the oldest known record indicating that Sharlston Old Hall was built in 1574. In the early 18th century, the village was acquired by the Earl of Westmorland. Sharlston's

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

s and structures are grouped around Grade II* Sharlston Hall, a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

of 15th century origin with later additions, and include the hall's entrance gateway. Until April 1929 Sharlston formed part of the Warmfield parish, but is now managed by its own parish council.

Pit village

A pit or

model village A model village is a mostly self-contained community, built from the late 18th century onwards by landowners and business magnates to house their workers. "Model" implies an ideal to which other developments could aspire. Although the villages ...

of more than 150 back-to-back houses was built at New Sharlston from 1864 to house Sharlston Colliery Company workers. The houses cost just over £100 each and the streets were named Long Row, Crossley Street and High Street. A Methodist chapel and a day school were built on Crossley Street. The properties became the property of the

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "ve ...

in 1947. In 1961 twenty eight back-to-back houses were converted into 14 through houses. The school and the chapel have been demolished. New Sharlston has witnessed rapid decline since the 1984-85 miners' strike which hit Sharlston and its surrounding villages hard.

Development

In 2011 the village old people's home was demolished and replaced with new builds for rent and sale. A village

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, The Sharlston,"Sharlston Village, Sharlston Public House"
Geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2012 has closed, the building being converted to a pharmacy.

Sport

The village has an amateur

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

team, Sharlston Rovers, which recently won the Wakefield Division 2 Cup. There is also a juniors team, the teams in 2017 are under 11s,under 9s,under 8s,under 7s,under 6s,under 5s and tots. From 2011-2018, Sharlston Welfare Football Club competed in the Selby League, playing rivals such as Castleford Town Gold and Gilbedyke.

References

External links

Sharlston Rovers
Retrieved 10 January 2012 {{authority control Villages in West Yorkshire Geography of the City of Wakefield Civil parishes in West Yorkshire