The following studies by Terry Spencer are now available on the Knottingley website:

KNOTTINGLEY CARNIVAL
By the last quarter of the nineteenth century the August Bank Holiday period at Knottingley abounded in fun and frolic with the Feast as the hub of the festivities. The fair was supplemented by community sports and of the sporting element within the town none was more prominent than Knottingley Town Cricket Club.

KNOTTLA FLATTS:
Situated on the southern bank of the River Aire, to the north side of Aire Street, lies Knottingley Flatts. Today, the Flatts occupy only a small portion of the original layout which comprised the greater part of Knottingley Ings.

KNOTTLA FEAST:
The modern image of the fair is one of outdoor entertainment for pleasure seeking people but such a concept is one which has developed over the last two centuries being born as a result of the Industrial Revolution.

HOSPITAL SUNDAYS:
Prior to the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948 local people relied for health care in the event of sickness or serious injury upon charitable institutions such as Pontefract Dispensary and Leeds Infirmary.

KNOTTINGLEY COAT-OF-ARMS:
The application by Knottingley Urban District Council for a grant of arms was made to the College of Arms, London, in mid 1942.

FERRYBRIDGE GLASSWORKS:
That there was a glassworks at Ferrybridge is indisputable for it was both documented and photographed. That it was situated on the north bank of the River Aire "..where the Parish of Brotherton merges into the Parish of Ferrybridge" is confirmed by map reference. The doubt lies not in the existence or location of the furnace but with its origin.

NINETEENTH CENTURY KNOTTINGLEY:
The township of Knottingley, situated three miles north-east of Pontefract in the Wapentake of Osgoldcross, developed from a 6th century Saxon settlement in a forest clearing on the south bank of the river Aire. By the time of the Norman Conquest of 1066 the settlement had acquired the status of a manorial vill

KNOTTINGLEY PLAYING FIELDS:
As the process of industrialisation and urban development gained pace in the second half of the nineteenth century the provision of public spaces such as municipal gardens and parks for the purpose of public recreation and amenity became increasingly desirable.

CAPTAIN PERCY BENTLEY:
Percy Bentley, scion of a prominent Knottingley family, was born in that town on the 18th January 1891, the son of James William and Helena Bentley, and was baptised in the parish church of St. Botolph on the 11th February.

KNOTTINGLEY WAR MEMORIAL:
On Wednesday, 25th September 1918, a committee previously sanctioned by Knottingley Urban District Council in meeting assembled, met in the Council Chamber at Knottingley Town Hall to consider the form of memorial to the men who had fallen during the Great War.

FERRYBRIDGE WAR MEMORIAL:
No less than the citizens of its larger neighbour, the inhabitants of the village of Ferrybridge decided to honour those drawn from the community and slain in the Great War.

THE 'K' SISTERS:
For approximately a decade from the mid 1940's the 'K' Sisters, Marjorie and Pamela Kellett, were prominent throughout the town and district of Knottingley as all-round entertainers who harnessed their talent to providing public enjoyment and in so doing raised large amounts of money for local charities.

THE PALACE CINEMA:
The new cinema, one of the earliest purpose-built picture houses in the country, was situated on an oblique strip of land some 560 square yards in extent, adjacent to Ship Lane at the junction with lower Aire Street. The hall was designed to seat 600 people: 500 in the area and 100 in the balcony.

KNOTTINGLEY PUBLIC HOUSES & BREWERIES:
In 1752, eighteen residents of the township of Knottingley in company with John Mitchell, the Parish Constable, agreed to be bound over in the sum of £10 each to observe the legal and moral obligations attendant upon being granted a licence as an innkeeper.

KNOTTINGLEY TOWN HALL CLOCK:
In the Spring of 1994, the recently deceased and much lamented Edwin Beckett arranged for the installation of a clock at the top of the Town Hall turret. The event was celebrated in verse by Mrs Joyce Bell who concluded her eulogy by stating that her mother, Dolly Lightowler, had always wished to see a clock set in the "bare face" of the Town Hall - a wish which had now come true.

STATUE OF THE BLACK PRINCE:
Awareness of a link between my native Knottingley and the Prince's statue came quite recently when Mrs Shirley Bedford of Knottingley informed me that her great grandfather was the master of a barge which had transported the statue from Hull to Leeds in 1903.

KNOTTLA NICKNAMES:
It was in the course of a recent conversation with Roger Ellis that the subject of nicknames arose, following which, in an idle half-hour, I casually began to compile a list of those I recalled. My list quickly exceeded fifty in number and I was seized by a natural desire to list as many more as I could obtain.

KNOTTINGLEY SILVER BAND:
The origin of Knottingley Band is obscure. In 1980 the Band celebrated its conjectured centenary year, the date being taken from an old letterhead of 1880.  However, a subsequent documentary source has been located which indicates that the genesis of the Band may lie much further in the past.

KNOTTINGLEY TOWN HALL:
The burgeoning spirit of civic pride found practical expression on 29th October 1864, when a group of prominent citizens of the town formed the Knottingley Town Hall & Mechanics’ Institute Company Limited.

FIELD SYSTEMS AND PLACE NAMES OF OLD KNOTTINGLEY:
The purpose of this study is to consider the topography of modern day Knottingley and formulate a theoretical model concerning the development of the settlement during the medieval and post medieval eras as reflected in the field systems adopted.

GAZETTEER OF KNOTTINGLEY PLACE NAMES:
An A-Z listing of Knottingley field and place names.

WAR SAVINGS WEEKS:
Conflict is fuelled by finance so it is unsurprising that following the outbreak of war in 1939, local savings committees were established to encourage people to curb personal expenditure and invest surplus cash in the National War Savings Scheme in order to assist the cost of the war.

SELECT VESTRY RIOTS 1874:
The township of Knottingley became a semi-autonomous parish in 1789 following the ecclesiastical reorganisation of that period but remaining under the patronage of the Vicar of Pontefract until it became an independent parish in 1846

KNOTTINGLEY TOWN HALL

by TERRY SPENCER B.A. (Hons), Ph D.

Dedicated to past and present members of Knottingley Town Hall Management Committee and all their supporters.

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The population of Knottingley, recorded as 2692 in 1801, had almost doubled by mid century and by the 1860’s the steadfast nature of the ‘Knottla’ native augmented by the determination and vigour of ‘incomers’ had combined to forge a common identity and pride in the expanding township.

The burgeoning spirit of civic pride found practical expression on 29th October 1864, when a group of prominent citizens of the town formed the Knottingley Town Hall & Mechanics’ Institute Company Limited.

The following month a notice was published in the Pontefract Advertiser revealing details of the new venture.  The prospectus stated that the company had been established “to fill a long-felt need for a public place of assembly” and that the inhabitants of the town were now “determined to erect a good and substantial building to comprise rooms for a Mechanics’ Institute, class and reading rooms, societies, and Co.”  The underlying aim of the company was “to promote the interest and well being of the town rather than the realisation of any great profit.”

Nevertheless, the venture was a commercial one and it was anticipated that a 5% dividend would be obtained.  The company sought to raise £1,000 by the issue of £1 shares whilst reserving the option to increase the share issue.  The public were invited to apply for 700 of the allotted initial issue before 21st November 1864.

The Chairman of the new company was Sydney Woolf, owner of the Ferrybridge Potteries and, later, Member of Parliament for the Borough of Pontefract.  The directors of the company were listed as Rev. E Gatley, Minister of the Independent Chapel, Edward Moorhouse, lime merchant and vessel owner, William Worfolk and Robert Garlick, shipbuilders, John Howard, ropemaker, John Arnold and John Copley, shipowners, George Greenhow, chemist and druggist, John Balance, willow merchant, Daniel Haigh, druggist, and Nathaniel Dickinson, draper.  The company secretary was Thomas Worfolk (secretary of the existent Mechanics’ Institute).  The solicitors were Messrs John Foster & Sons, Pontefract, and the bankers were Messrs Leatham & Tew & Co., Pontefract.

It is perhaps of passing interest to note that while six of the directors were members of the town’s administrative body, the Select Vestry, its Chairman, John Carter, proprietor of the Knottingley Brewery and the wealthiest and most influential figure in the township, played no direct part in the venture nor did several of his close friends who were also Vestrymen.  The omission may presage the developing political tension within the town which had an underlying religious bias and was to culminate in the Select Vestry ‘Riots’ a decade later.

Whatever the latent political ramifications, the proposal drew the enthusiasm of the public.  An editorial in the Pontefract Advertiser noting the increase in the number of eligible voters in Knottingley, which being based on property qualification was therefore an indication of growing prosperity, commented on the social aspirations of the inhabitants, stating that it was “remarkable that no previous attempt has been made to provide a public venue," as the town had long outgrown the primitive and makeshift arrangements then in existence.  In expressing his best wishes for the success of the venture, the editor concluded that “the general happiness of the town would be considerably increased by the provision of such a room.”

There was indeed need of a public hall.  For almost a century the meetings of the Select Vestry had been held in the committee room of the workhouse at Hill Top, while public gatherings such as the annually held Town’s Meeting and similar assemblies, were convened in the National Schoolroom, and local church halls were utilised for social functions.  The desire for a hall as the focal point for public affairs was fully endorsed by the local populace which quickly subscribed to the proffered share issue.

It is unsurprising that Sydney Woolf was the prime figure in the promotion of the scheme for he already had an active interest in the promotion of mechanics’ institutes and had cut his political teeth lecturing in such local institutions.  Indeed, the Mechanics’ Institute at Knottingley of which Woolf was president, had been established within the town during the middle of the previous decade in rooms constituting part of the Swan Inn.  Having outgrown this venue, the Institute had next moved to the Congregational Schoolrooms before eventually occupying the Wesleyan Schoolrooms.

The annual soiree held at the latter venue on the last Tuesday in March, 1865, coincided with the announcement of the acquisition of the site on which the new Town Hall was to be erected.  The site was a parcel of land a little over 736 square yards in extent, being part of a close known as Cock Garth, bounded on the west side by the Weeland Turnpike Road, and on the south side by a public footpath and a private cart road, formerly a ropewalk.  The land acquired belonged to two spinsters, Fanny and Emma Smallpage and to John Carter.  Carter’s willingness to make his portion of land available to the promoters of the Town Hall scheme indicates his public spiritedness regardless of any reservations he may have entertained regarding the scheme.

It was decided to combine the annual soiree of the Mechanics’ Institute with the cutting of the first sod and so following a tea for 500 people in the Wesleyan Schoolrooms, a procession headed by Sydney Woolf and supported by Rev. E. Gatley and Rev. P.V. Saville proceeded to the site where a flag marked the spot for the intended building.  To a deafening cheer and loud plaudits, Woolf cut the turf and spoke of the success of the undertaking.  Rev. Saville emphasised the need for the proposed building and following a vote of thanks by William Worfolk, seconded by John Howard to which Woolf suitably responded, the procession re-formed and returned to the Wesleyan Schoolrooms where a concert was performed before local dignitaries, one of whom was John Carter.  Woolf, as President of the Mechanics’ Institute then gave the annual report, emphasising the growing attendance and the success of its library.  The Report was followed by a further round of speeches before the evening concluded with the singing of the National Anthem.

The Town Hall was designed by Messrs Shaw and Weightman and built by a local builder, John Stanhope, under the supervision of a sub-committee of the directors of the Town Hall Company headed by the ubiquitous William Worfolk.

From the start the project was dogged by controversy as disagreements arose between the contractors and the abrasive and forceful Worfolk, who being a member of the Mechanics’ Institute as well as a director of the Town Hall Company was delegated to monitor the materials and quality of workmanship applied to the construction of the hall.

The foundation stone was laid by Sydney Woolf on 29th June 1865, on which occasion he was presented with a silver trowel.  Disputes notwithstanding, a public notice on the front page of the Advertiser in September 1865, announced the forthcoming opening of the Town Hall.

The building comprised a two storey brick structure with a central tower at the front, and second floor balcony surmounting the centrally situated entrance.  The centrally located porch had double-headed arches to right and left, with twin staircases leading to the public hall above.  A centrally situated passage with a series of rooms intended as classrooms, each 20 feet x 16 feet x 15 feet, and lit by a well placed window, designed, it was stated, in accordance with the most recent model for mechanics’ institutes ‘as found in the most flourishing manufacturing towns’, occupied the remainder of the ground floor.  To the left at the east end of the passage was a staircase leading to the platform or stage of the public room, permitting access without transit through the main body of the hall.

The main room was 68 feet x 30 feet x 20 feet and lit by four large windows to either side and at night by three gaseliers, above each of which was a ventilation shaft.  The platform at the east end of the public room was about three feet high and deemed ideal for visual convenience.  Some criticism was, however, directed at the acoustics, it being contended that the sound quality was most effective when the auditorium was no more than half full, being observed that a speaker’s voice tended to rebound if the room was above half full.  Within the basement area were public baths.

The rectangular building was covered by a pyramid roof of blue slates, and the tower had a blue slated apex topped by a weather vane of ornamental ironwork.

The opening on 15th September 1865, was marked by a commemorative tea commencing at 5.00pm.  Admission was by ticket costing five shillings which in addition to the tea ensured a reserved place at the following soiree.  Tea and unreserved admission to the body of the hall cost 1s. 6d., tickets being available from various business outlets in Knottingley and Pontefract.

For the opening the hall was filled to capacity with 700 people in attendance.  Above the platform chair, to be occupied by Sydney Woolf, was a motto made from 500 pink paper roses on a white background and bearing the words ‘Long Live Our Chairman’ produced by the daughter of George Greenhow.  The words ‘God Save The Queen’ were above the motto and were flanked on either side by a Royal Standard and the Union Flag with supplemental flags arranged as festoons, all provided by W. S. Hepworth, Secretary of the Marine & Fishermens’ Insurance Society.  Central to all was the banner and motto of the Prince of Wales.  Between the red curtains of the stage and side windows were various flags lent by local vessel owners with banners and armorial shields featuring the arms of neighbourhood nobility and gentlemen.  At the west end of the room, between the twin doors, was an English ensign flanked by those of Prussia and Denmark with the motto ‘Independence’ beneath and two others: ‘Wisdom is Power’ and ‘Unity is Strength’ running the full length of each side wall.  The angle between the ceiling and the walls was filled with wreaths of evergreens.

Amongst the dignitaries who were present for the opening soiree were the two local M.P.’s, H.C.E. Childers and Major Waterhouse, Mr R. Arundel, the Mayor of Pontefract, the Rev. S.E. Blomfield M.A., Vicar of Knottingley, Rev. R.S. Coe and Rev. W. Sanders, local Nonconformist ministers, and R. Moxon, J.P.  Lord Houghton who had originally signified his intention to be present, was unable to attend, finding a sudden necessity to visit Vichy for the baths and waters, but providing in his absence two fine specimens of arbor vitum to adorn the platform.

Terry Spencer

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