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 |
VALE HEAD HOUSE
A large detached house situated at the Weeland Road end of Dark (Narrow) Lane,
Hill Top. In the late nineteenth century the house was the residence of Henry
Seal, a wealthy lime merchant and quarry owner but by the second decade of the
following century was in the possession of Mr. J. Harris who produced
cinematograph shows, initially at the Town Hall and from about 1914, at the
Palace Cinema, Knottingley. Vale Head House was subsequently the residence of
numerous businessmen and is still in residential use today.
VICARAGES
The earliest of several parsonages in the parish of Knottingley stands in
Chapel Street and is a substantial detached house built in 1809 with funds
from Queen Anne’s Bounty and public subscription, of which Mrs brown, a former
native of Knottingley, subsequently resident at York, donated half the sum.
The original vicarage was replaced in 1912 by the acquisition of Belmont House
which stood at the corner of Chapel Street near the Town Hall, and the old
vicarage was sold for £365 to Mr. J. Jackson, remaining in private occupation
to this day.
In 1981 the decision was taken to demolish Belmont House and the following
year a new, smaller vicarage was built on the same site.
When, in 1848, Knottingley East parish was created and a vicar appointed for
the newly constructed Christ Church situated at Seatons Croft, it became
necessary to obtain a suitable residence for the new incumbent. In 1852 a
parsonage was built to the north of Weeland Road close by the junction with
Racca Field Lane (Womersley Road). However, in 1871 the glassworks of Messrs
Bagley, Wild & Co., was established on an adjacent site and expanded so
rapidly over the following decades that the vicarage became surrounded by the
factory. It was decided to obtain a more salubrious location for a parsonage
and early in the twentieth century the existing vicarage was sold to Bagley &
Co., and has been used as company offices ever since. Glebe House, situated at
the south side of Hill Top, became the residence of the vicars of the East
parish until the parish was united with the parish of St Botolph in 1940.
WAITHWAITE FIELD
One of the furlongs in the South Field, lying between the Weeland Road and
Simpsons Lane on land now occupied by Knottingley Railway Station and its
environs. The linguistic possibilities for the name are several. The Old
English ‘hwaete’, means land on which corn grew well (although an adjacent
area was known as Stoneylands and the whole area is littered with elements of
limestone). The Old Norse ‘thwaite’ indicating an assarted clearing, meadow or
paddock is also appropriate. Over the centuries various distortions of the
original name occurred (e.g. Waithwaite / Wheat Withe / Warthwaite / Thwaite
Wheat) arose but there is little doubt concerning the association of this land
with the production of grain.
WALL CLOSES
Situated near England lane, the five acre Upper Wall Close and the adjacent
eight acre Lower Wall Close, were formed by consolidation of peasant strips
some of which were originally part of the South Field and others part of the
Middle Field, indicating how the process of consolidation blurred former
centuries old boundaries. The ‘Wall’ element of the name may indicate a latter
day limestone construction or be a lingering reference to the former medieval
field marker.
WAR MEMORIAL The
Stands at the junction of Weeland Road (Hill Top) and Chapel Street. Designed
and erected by G. H. Fairbairn, a local builder, the monument is of grey
granite topped by a figure representing Victory. The dedication on a panel
near the base commemorates the fallen of two world wars in the twentieth
century who are named individually on the four side panels above the
dedication. The monument was unveiled by Colonel C.C. Moxon C.M.G., D.S.O., on
Sunday 25th September 1921.
The base area of the monument was refurbished and a service of rededication
took place on Sunday 24th June 2000.
WATCH HOUSE CLOSE
Situated in the South Field close to the site of the present Railway Hotel,
the land probably takes its name from a look-out post or watch house which
commanded an overview of the surrounding land in all directions. In the
uncertain days of former centuries, it would have been well placed to observe
movement along the Weeland and Ferrybridge roads and along the course of the
River Aire.
WATERFIELD HILL / FLATT / LANE
The land lying in the Middle Field to the east of England Lane between the
farmstead at Southfield Road end and Darrington Leys in a southerly direction,
and Middle Lane to the east. Owing to substantial limestone excavation on the
site during the nineteenth century the rise in the gradient of the remaining
land is now so minimal as to be barely discernable making the appellation
something of a misnomer.
Waterfield Flatt, a three acre enclosure formerly part of a furlong sited
adjacent to Waterfield Hill.
WATER LANE
Located near the junction of Chapel Street and upper Aire Street, close to St.
Botolphs Church. The short lane provided access to the riverside.
WATER TOWER The
As late as 1890 Knottingley township had no public water supply. Water was
obtained from wells or pumps mainly located within the various yards and areas
of settlement. Indeed, reports in 1875 and 1878 reveal that many inhabitants
obtained water for domestic use from the River Aire or the canal. The bulk of
the town’s water was of impure quality and as late as 1892 Dr. Percival, the
town’s Medical Officer, stated that the well water in the town would not bear
the test of scientific analysis.
By mid 1894 an agreement was reached whereby Pontefract Corporation would
supply Knottingley with mains water from its Roall pumping station. Mains
pipes were laid within the town and a water storage tower was built at the top
of Simpsons Hill in the late 1890s. The tower served the town until the
closing decade of the twentieth century when improved hydro technology made it
redundant and it was demolished.
WARRENS The
Introduced into England by the Normans, the rabbit was a valuable
supplementary source of fresh meat and was also useful for its fur. Rabbits
were therefore bred in special warrens known as coneygarths or clappers. Such
a range was situated on the edge of the South Field close to the road at Hill
Top. In more recent times the site became known as Warren Avenue. From the
last quarter of the eighteenth century Warren Hill was also the site of a
windmill reputedly designed and erected by the celebrated engineer John
Smeaton. The disused mill, serving as a domestic dwelling, stood on the site
until it was demolished in the early 1960s as part of the Simpsons Lane
housing development scheme.
By the early nineteenth century, a second windmill, known as Beevers Mill, had
been built on an adjacent site but this was demolished later in the century.
WELL CLOSE
Situated at the west side of Middle Lane, this six acre enclosure in the
Middle Field was underlined with limestone which was excavated in the
nineteenth century. The natural subterranean spring which gave the site its
name, flooded the worked out quarry and the resultant pool was used by several
generations of local inhabitants who named it the ‘Swimming Quarry’. The
quarry was filled up in the 1960s and the land was ultimately used as playing
fields for Knottingley High School.
WESLEYAN SCHOOLROOMS The
Situated close to the junction of Longwoods Walk and Primrose Hill, this
denominational school was established in 1846 as a mixed gender school with an
infants’ department. The school was replaced in 1910 by the State sponsored
Ropewalk School.
WEST RIDING POTTERY
Founded in 1882 on a site adjacent to the Australian Pottery by Thomas & Edwin
Llewellyn Poulson. The family had existing connections with the local pottery
trade for Walden Poulson had been the manager of the Australian Pottery and
was succeeded in that post by Thomas in 1866. The large house at the end of
Pottery Lane, later to become a fish and chip shop before being restored to
domestic use, was originally the managers residence. By 1877 the Poulsons
controlled all three adjacent potteries and continued in business until 1926
when for economic and family reasons the pottery closed.
WHEATSHEAF INN The
This large detached house was built as a private residence in the late
eighteenth century or early in the nineteenth century. By 1848 it was a public
house named the Wheatsheaf, owned by William Knapton. Between 1871-1891
Charles Knapton was the licensee and by 1878 had changed the name to the
Sailors Home. In 1990 the premises were purchased, refurbished and re-opened
as the Frog & Firkin Inn, but closed in 1997. After standing empty for some
years the property was purchased and converted to domestic use.
WHITE COTTAGE The
Situated in Low Green, this much renovated property still retains an overall
semblance of the original dwelling designed and built to fit the spatial
confines of an individual peasant strip holding adjoining the Green. The name
of the property is probably a recent appellation in keeping with its
modernised image but there remains sufficient indication of the antiquity of
the property which is one of the oldest remaining secular buildings in the
town.
WILD GOOSE CLOSE
A rectangular plot of slightly over five acres situated in the Middle Field
and perhaps named after the wild birds which frequented the site.
WILLOW CLOSE
A small enclosure of only 3 roods 35 perches situated in the Middle Field. The
site probably takes its name from the presence of a willow tree on or near to
the site.
WILLOW GARTH
Situated at the far eastern edge of the East Field and lying alongside
Stocking Lane, this site is merely named as an allotment in the East Ings in
the Enclosure Award Schedule of 1793. By the 1830s however, the site was
occupied by Barnabas Rhodes and John Balance, basket makers, the moist swampy
soil being ideal for the production of osiers used in the manufacture of
baskets, hurdles, hampers, etc.
WILLOW ISLAND
An alternative name for Goose Island.
WOMENS
An ancient field name yet curiously unrecorded as such in the 1793 Enclosure
Award Schedule but featured in the Tithe Award of 1842. The six acre pasture,
adjacent to the Mill Bridge and opposite Goose Island, now forms the entrance
to the portion of land lying between the Canal and the River Aire. The name
probably arose from its womb like shape.
WORKHOUSE The
Situated at Hill Top near the junction of Headlands Lane and Ferrybridge Hill,
the site containing three cottages was given to the township of Knottingley
for use as a poor house by David Poole Esq. in the late eighteenth century.
Apart from housing the parish paupers the building provided residence for the
Workhouse Master and his family and a committee room used by the Select Vestry
for the conduct of the town’s business.
Following the establishment of the Pontefract Poor Law Union in 1862 and the
building of the Workhouse at the Headlands Pontefract, the transfer of the
Knottingley inmates took place in 1866. The old workhouse was purchased by
William Jackson in 1868 and after a period of use as a storehouse for the
towns street lamps etc., the building was eventually restored to its former
use as cottages.
About 1960 the building was demolished and the site incorporated into the
construction of the shopping Arcade, built by McLaughlan Ltd.
WORKINGMENS’ CLUBS
The club movement nationally had its roots in the late nineteenth century and
arose in response to the skilful propaganda of the Temperance Movement, its
basic aim being to present working men as sober minded, socially responsible
beings.
In Knottingley, however, the movement had its beginnings in the middle class
milieu of political activity which became increasingly polarised from the mid
1870s. At that time George William carter established the Conservative Club in
premises in Aire Street and within a few years the Club had moved to the
premises previously occupied by the Bowling Club near Gaggs Bridge. In
response to Carter’s action a Liberal Club was established in property lying
between Aire Street and Back Lane, previously known as Poplar House or The
Poplars.
The reaction to the restrictive licensing laws of during the Great War
resulted in the establishment of several genuine working class clubs within
the town during the post war period. A workingmens’ club was founded at
Greville House, Hill Top (Top Club) and the National Association of Discharged
Soldiers & Sailors was established in Aire Street before relocating to new
premises near Racca Green in the 1930s (Low Club). The Liberal Club was
reorganised as the Central Club, known affectionately as the ‘Rat Trap’ while
the former inn named the Jolly Sailor was registered as the Foundry Lane W.M.
Club (The Jolly).
The period of post war economic prosperity following the Second World War
resulted in the rebuilding of the Hill Top and Conservative Clubs and the
influx of miners from Scotland and the North of England from the 1960s
prompted the opening of new clubs such as the ‘Scottish, Yorkshire & Durham
Miners’, (known as the SYD Club) and the Kellingley (Knottingley) Social Club.
A severe downturn in trade and the collapse of the mining industry from the
1980s caused the closure of the Top Club and the Central Club and severely
affected the trade and prosperity of the remaining ones.
WRIGHTE’S HOUSE
A now demolished building which stood at the entrance to Smith’s Yard, Aire
Street, and was built of local limestone in the year 1641 as the residence of
Rubin Wright and his presumed wife Hanna (sic). Nothing is known of the couple
other than their names which were featured on a limestone plaque built into
the façade of the house which was knocked down in the late 1960s as part of
the Aire Street ‘improvements’.
Mr. Ron Gosney informs me that the commemorative stone is in the possession of
Mrs Yvonne Thickett of North Ferriby, a descendant of the Smith family who
owned the property before its demolition.
Terry Spencer
INDEX |
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I-J |
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