CROFTON, WEST YORKSHIRE

'Crofton' is a village near Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It is located roughly 3 miles to the south of the city and is roughly 6 miles to the west of the town of Pontefract.

Contents

History

Crofton today

Schools

Transport

Notable people

External links

History

Crofton is listed in the Domesday Book as Scroftune and Scrotone. The village has two churches: the Anglican church was built around 1430 and the Roman Catholic church in the 1920s. Crofton New Hall was built in the 1750s for the Wilsons who lived in the village until 1935 when the Colonel sold the manor house and the estate and moved away from the village. During WW2 the hall was used by the army, later the Coal Board, then became Browns tutorial school which closed in 1980 to be demolished shortly afterwards and a new housing estate built there. Some of the Wilson family are buried in a large mausoleum in the cemetery. Crofton was predominantly a farming community but the mining of coal became important in the 19th century and continued until the 1980s. There were three coal mines within a two-mile radius of the village, these mines being Nostell, Walton and Sharlston. By the early 1900s Lord St Oswald had built houses at New Crofton, known locally as both Cribbens and Scribbens Lump, for the workers of Nostell Mine. This area was populated until the 1980s when they were demolished along with the mines. 'The Lump' also had a mission hall, a local shop and a fish and chip shop.

Crofton today

Today, Crofton is seen as a commuting village, with many of the inhabitants leaving to nearby cities such as Leeds and Wakefield to work. The village has two post offices, one in New Crofton and one on the main high street, a butcher and sandwich shop, 2 fish and chip shops - one in New Crofton, a carpet store and a bridal gown store. Most of these shops are located on the high street. The village also boasts 8 pubs: the Crofton Arms and the Cock and Crown both on the A638 road, the Weavers Green, The Royal Oak, The Manor, The Slipper, The Working Men's Club, and the Crofton Community Centre which was formerly known as the Nostell Miners Welfare.

Schools

Crofton Infants School was opened in 1877 and was then known as Crofton Board School. In 1955, Crofton Secondary School opened in Crofton Old Hall. Crofton Slack Lane Junior School and Crofton High School were both constructed in the 1960s. A new Junior and Infant school was opened in Shay lane in 1972. In the summer of 1995, a fire destroyed most of the High School and a new school opened in 1998 which is still open today.
In 1808 Miss Richmal Mangnall bought Crofton Hall School for Young Ladies, which at least one of the Bronte sisters is thought to have attended.

Transport

Crofton is located on the A638 road that runs between Wakefield and Doncaster and serves as the village's lifeline. There are several bus routes that run from Crofton:

★ - The 143/145/148/149/150, Arriva Yorkshire - Wakefield to Knottingley via Crofton, Featherstone and Pontefract

★ - The 195/196, Arriva Yorkshire - Wakefield to Hemsworth via Crofton and Walton

★ - The 485, Arriva Yorkshire - Wakefield to South Elmsall via Ackworth Crofton and Agbrigg

★ - The 496, Arriva Yorkshire - Wakefield to Doncaster via Belle Vue (Wakefield), Crofton, South Elmsall and Upton.

★ - The 224, B-Line TRAVEL - Hemsworth to Wakefield via Newstead, Crofton and Belle Vue (Wakefield)

★ - The 223, B.L TRAVEL - Minsthorpe to Wakefield via Hemsworth, South Elmsall, South Kirkby and Crofton
Up until the 1960s the village was served by Crofton Hare Park train station before it was demolished. The station was located on the Great North Eastern Railway and on the Wakefield Line. The sidings were also used as part of the Dearne Valley Line. There has been much speculation as to whether a new train station should be built on this site, which would serve trains to Leeds, Wakefield, Sheffield and Doncaster, but the council has stated that a train station cannot be built for fear of it not being used enough, although many citizens of the village would like to see a train station on Hare Park Lane.

Notable people

Here is a list of famous people with associations to Crofton:

★ - Sir Titus Salt, who built the mills of Saltaire, lived on the Manor Farm (now the Manor Pub) in Crofton

★ - Richmal Mangnall, Headmistress of Crofton School for Young Girls and a famous author

★ - John Harrison - The man who solved the longitudinal problem was born in Foulby. Harrison Road in Crofton is named for him.

★ - Richard Fleming - later Bishop of Lincoln, founder of Lincoln College, Oxford who also build Crofton Church

External links

Crofton Village Website
Crofton Carnival Online