FIELD SYSTEMS AND PLACE NAMES
OF OLD KNOTTINGLEY
TERRY SPENCER B.A. (Hons), Ph D.
INTRODUCTION :
BEGINNINGS :
DOMESDAY :
PORT OF KNOTTINGLEY :
MANORIAL RE-ORGANISATION
GAZETTEER OF PLACE NAMES
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YARDS |
SALT PIE HOUSES
Salt is an ancient necessity for the maintenance of life and it may be
conjectured that this site is named for its use in the extraction of salt or
as a storage place for the commodity. However, examples have been cited of
such locations being named from comparison of their shape with the wooden salt
boxes which were commonly attached to the walls of houses during the
seventeenth and eighteenth century. The houses stood at the junction of the
Weeland Road and Morley Lane where Morley House now stands and were owned by
Thomas Jackson in 1851 when the site was known as Marine Grove.
SANDHOLES The
A source of material for building and marling clay land, the Sandholes was a
township holding located on the edge of the East Field, off Racca Field Lane,
occupying a plot between what is now Knottingley Cemetery and the Poplars
housing estate.
SALVATION ARMY CITADEL
Established within the town circa 1880, the Red Ribbon or Salvation Army
worshipped in Norfolk House, Chapel Street, before building its first barracks
at Carr Lane, in October 1883, an event marked by a parade round the town led
by the band of the local Corps. By 1890 the Citadel was located in Saul’s Yard
off Cow Lane, before being located at Racca Green where plans for a barracks
were approved in 1926. The said barracks were replaced by new premises on the
same site toward the end of the last century.
SCULPTURE HOUSE
A sub division of the Ingram manor house at Hill Top, from the mid eighteenth
century. The name is derived from a remarkable sculpture stone fireplace, some
12 feet wide and 10 feet high, showing at its apex a figure of Pan holding a
reed pipe. Below is a knightly coat of arms bearing the image of a winged
dragon and to either side are nymphs as supporters with figures of a shepherd
and a shepherdess at each respective side. The surround of the fireplace
featured a bass relief of a pastoral scene.
The sculpture may have had symbolic significance for the Ingram family but
more probably it reflected the Elizabethan penchant for pastoral imagery.
There is a lingering element of oral tradition which asserts that Queen
Elizabeth slept in the room containing the fireplace but the mansion is one of
the few places where Good Queen Bess didn’t sleep, being built after her
reign.
During the process of demolition of the mansion in the early 1960s, the
fireplace disappeared without trace and its whereabouts are still unknown.
SEATONS CROFT
The Seaton family were merchants, bankers and vessel owners, living in the
locality in the early nineteenth century. William Seaton who lent money to the
Select Vestry in the 1930s to enable local paupers to receive parish pay,
owned this site. Located at the east end of the Croft, it was donated by his
widow as the site for Christ Church in 1848.
SEBASTOPOL
The name given to a terrace of houses lying alongside the (now defunct)
footpath leading from Jackson (Anvil) Bridge to the Greenhouse fields, at a
point near Sleepy Valley. Also close to Sleepy Valley was the canalside
shipyard of Edward Atkinson and lime staiths. It is claimed that limestone
used as ballast in vessels built at the yard was ultimately used for the
construction of roads in the Crimea during the war which may prove the
connection with the name of the terrace which was demolished when the footpath
was blocked in the late 1950s.
SETT COCKS
Situated in Longlands Field at a point close to the south of Leys Lane, the
Sett Cocks were the name of a series of peasant strips which took the name
from the period before the land was incorporated into the common field system.
As wasteland the area was a habitat for game birds which were captured for
their food value by nets known as setts. The woodcocks, pheasants and other
birds so netted not only provided a source of fresh meat but reduced the
damage from birds feeding on nearby crops.
SEWERAGE WORKS
As early as 1885 aspects of public health such as public water supply and
drainage systems were being discussed by the Select Vestry but it was not
until 1894 that the newly formed Urban District Council approved a water
supply scheme. Two years later an agreement was reached with the Aire & Calder
Navigation Co., concerning the laying of water and drainage pipes over canal
bridges within the township but as the result of controversy and legal action
it was not until early twentieth century that the plans came to fruition.
In May 1903 the drainage scheme was officially opened by the Chairman of the
K.U.D.C., Cr. John Harker, on the site of the pumping station at Common Lane
end. The occasion being celebrated by a civic dinner held at the Railway
Hotel, Hill Top, afterward. The scheme comprised two plants, a sewerage
treatment plant at Marsh Lane and the pumping station at Common Lane. The
plants were identical in appearance, each having an impressive ornate brick
chimney which served as local landmarks for more than a century. In addition,
the Marsh Lane plant had a small public mortuary on site.
Advances in hydro technology rendered both works obsolete and in the 1960s the
pumping station was demolished, followed some time later by the buildings at
the Marsh Lane site, and also the Water Tower on Simpsons Hill later in the
century.
SHILLING HILL / LANE
Lying alongside the Weeland Turnpike Road to the west of the Great North Road,
Shilling Hill Lane progressed eastward up Shilling Hill to connect with Cattle
Laith Lane and the South Field. The name derives from the medieval English
‘schele’ meaning a hut or shed as that which sheltered a shepherd. The
location was later the site of a turnpike road toll booth.
SHIP GARTH The
The name occurs in a conveyance dated 1866 and refers to a close of land
slightly in excess of 3 acres fronting the river and lying to the east of
manor Farm. The details suggest that the Ship Garth was a later appellation
for the land which was formerly the Manor Park lying behind the Ingram
mansion.
SHIP LANE
Running alongside the site of the former Palace Cinema building and connecting
Aire Street to the river with its shipyard and jetty, the lane also led in the
nineteenth century to the Ship Inn which stood on the Palace site before the
cinema was built in 1912.
SHOULDER OF MUTTON CLOSE
A curved enclosure situated in the Middle Field, this small parcel of land
some 3 roods in extent, probably received its name from its imagined shape,
which as in the case of the Kitchen Chair Closes, is not immediately apparent
from a survey of the contemporary landscape.
SKEW BRIDGE HOUSE
A detached brick-built house located at the western side of Skew Bridge and
owned by William Worfolk and his son Thomas, proprietors of the adjacent
canalside shipyard which was later incorporated into the shipbuilding site of
John Harker Ltd., when the yard was first leased, and later purchased in the
mid 1930s.
SKIPTON CLOSE
Probably the plot referred to in the 1857 Knottingley Rate Book as Shipton
Close, the name is probably an indication of a holding obtained originally by
individual assart. At the time of the Enclosure Award, Skipton Close was a
five acre holding in the former South Field, near Simpsons Lane.
SLEEPY VALLEY
An enclosure lying alongside the canal bank close to Jacksons (Anvil) Bridge.
The site was originally part of the complex known as the Greenhouse fields but
the underlying limestone was much deeper than that of the surrounding land,
hence the Valley name to which the prefix ‘Sleepy’ was given as an ironic
element, perhaps because the low lying ground evoked an image of Washington
Irvine’s story of Rip Van Winkle and Sleepy Hollow? At the time the land was
being excavated the area was identified as the shipyard lime quarry from its
adjacency to the canalside shipyard. From the early twentieth century Sleepy
Valley was utilised as a recreation ground by the Bagleys Glassworks football
teams, the site being purchased by the firm, together with the Banks Garth
cricket field about 1914.
SOUTH MOOR LANE
Self explanatory. The land leading to and from the wasteland or common known
as South Moor which provided common grazing for the livestock of the
inhabitants of the township and was shared with the neighbouring settlements
of Cridling Stubbs, Beal, Kellington, Kellingley and Eggborough (Hut Green).
SOUTH MOOR POTTERY
The east end of the Common was the site of a pottery in the nineteenth century
belonging to Richard Blackburn. Following Blackburn’s demise, the business was
conducted by Richard and William Crossley who are recorded there in 1877. The
site became known as Pot Dicks. It was on the railway adjacent to the site
that a serious incident occurred in 1901 when a locomotive boiler exploded
with two fatalities, the debris being scattered on the defunct pottery site
which now forms part of the Kellingley Colliery complex.
SOUTH PARADE
The name of a group of houses which used to stand at the junction of Sunny
Bank with Cow Lane.
SOWGATE LANE
Situated to the north west of the A1 on the western edge of Knottingley, this
path was originally a byway on the north side of the Pontefract Road, running
parallel to it before rejoining it east of Bondgate to provide access to the
south gate of Pontefract Castle. The name is a linguistic corruption,
(Southgate = Sou’gate = Sowgate).
The lane originally crossed the Great North Road and continued toward Hill
Top, joining Weeland Road at a point opposite and a little west of Warren
Avenue. The upgrading of the A1 and the increased volume of the traffic
severed the line of Sowgate Lane, the eastern portion of which still exists
but is now largely disused.
SPARROW CASTLE
Not strictly a Knottingley location but one belonging to Cridling Stubbs. The
site was, however, frequented by generations of Knottingley youths, being an
isolated and deserted dwelling house, the appellation being given to such
properties quite frequently in the past.
A gym and boxing club located near the Congregational Church ion the Croft and
associated with Tommy garner in the 1930s, was also known as Sparrow Castle.
SPAWD BONE LANE
From the middle English ‘spaldbone’ – shoulder bone – a name suggested by the
contours of the lane. Spawd Bone Lane was originally the southern boundary of
the early field system and following the extension of the South Field became a
headland lying within that field.
With the establishment of the Weeland Turnpike Road Trust in 1745 the road
formed part of the turnpike route through the town, connecting east
Knottingley with Headlands Lane before rejoining Pontefract Road. The
construction of the Wakefield – Goole railway in 1845 cut through the turnpike
road, necessitating a slight diversion between Morley Lane and England Lane
before turning right and resuming along Spawd Bone Lane.
SPIKING / DOUBLE SPIKING
Of ancient origin, being cited in documents dated 1368 and 1421. The location
is unknown but the name suggests a sharply pointed piece of land or in the
case of the Double Spiking, a dual pointed plot, suggesting the image of a
large spike nail (c.f. Bull Horn Close supra)
SPRING FIELD / CLOSE
Land occupied today by the Springfields housing estate. Two centuries and more
earlier it was open land, being one of the furlongs of the East Field. Spring
Close was the location of a natural freshwater spring which gave rise to the
name of the surrounding area.
SPURRIER HOUSE / HILL
Adjacent to the Great North Road, the name may derive from the need to spur on
horses in order to meet the demands of Gallows Hill and the rising incline of
the hill which led off from the road to allow access to the western extremity
of the South Field.
STACKGARTH
Situated to the west of Green House Farm in Spawd Bone Lane, this enclosure
was a little over an acre in size and contained several small buildings.
Perhaps a homestead and croft but could have been an adjunct to the nearby
farm.
ST BOTOLPHS CHURCH
Built in 1150 by Henry de Lacy, Lord of the Honour of Pontefract, to serve as
a chapel of ease to save the manorial inhabitants the journey to their parish
church, All Saints, Pontefract, to worship. The Church is dedicated to a Saxon
missionary who reputedly brought Christianity to Knottingley in the seventh
century.
Rebuilt three times prior to the eighteenth century, a petition was submitted
to the Justices at Pontefract Quarter Sessions in 1751 preying for a new
church as the existing one was dilapidated and too small. The church was
therefore rebuilt with an enlarged nave.
In 1873 a tower of local limestone was added to which a clock was affixed in
April 1884. The chancel was extended in 1887 and the bow pews removed.
The Churchyard was the township burial ground before the opening of
Knottingley cemetery in 1859. A school had been established upon the site in
1679 and a schoolroom and schoolhouse were a feature of the churchyard until
the tower was built. In 1882 land previously forming the eastern part of the
Town Quarry was in-filled and the churchyard extended with a new entrance
created near the junction with Weeland Road.
STAG LANE / CLOSE
Former name for Pottery Lane (c.f. supra) Stag Lane Close was situated near
the junction of Pottery Hill and the Holes.
STOCKING CLOSE
Stocking is a term which indicates the clearance and intake of woodland or
wasteland for the purpose of pasture or arable use. The name is therefore
self-explanatory.
STOCKING LANE
The dirt track which runs parallel to the canal junction between Trundles
Bridge and Bank Dole Lock and beyond is called Stocking Lane. The term
stocking is an alternative name for ‘assarting which means the clearance of
woodland, stocking being the tearing up of the tree stubs following the
cutting down of the trees. The name indicates the process of extending the
East Field as the manorial population expanded from the twelfth century. The
term ‘stokying’ was first recorded with reference to Knottingley in 1341,
indicating that enlargement of the common fields was already taking place by
that date.
STRAWFOLD The
Originally a place of shelter into which creatures, particularly sheep, which
were left to graze throughout the day were brought for nightly protection. The
Strawfold occupied land between Aire Street and the Croft, and was located
opposite the Island at the east end of the Flatts.
By the seventeenth century houses stood on the site which was named Strawfold
Yard. In April 1935 six of the seven houses were demolished as part of a slum
clearance project. The remaining house and other nearby dwellings of
seventeenth century origin were left standing until well into the twentieth
century.
SUNNY BANK
A south facing balk leading off Cow Lane and connecting with Fernley Green to
the east. The term ‘bank’ indicates that this was an early field boundary.
Following the construction of the canal between 1820-26, Sunny Bank became
densely populated and formed a busy link between central Knottingley and the
growing industrial and residential area to the east of the township which was
to culminate in the establishment of the area as a separate ecclesiastical
parish in 1848.
SWINEHOLES The
A part of the common or wasteland where the pigs were turned out to root and
forage. The Swineholes was allotted to the township following the Enclosure
Survey of 1793 and let out annually to the highest bidder as grazing land
thereafter until sold off in 1874 by the Select Vestry for £60 to Sydney
Woolf, proprietor of the Ferrybridge Pottery which adjoined the Swineholes.
SWINLEY GREEN
A greens settlement area known as Low Green and adjoining Fernley Green. The
name derives from the adjacency of the Green to the common land which provided
pannage for the swine belonging to the peasantry.
Terry Spencer
INDEX |
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E-F |
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I-J |
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M-N |
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V-W |
YARDS |
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