Crofton, West Yorkshire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Crofton | |
  Crofton shown within West Yorkshire |
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| Population | 5,978 |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| Metropolitan borough | City of Wakefield |
| Metropolitan county | West Yorkshire |
| Region | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WAKEFIELD |
| Postcode district | WF4 |
| Dialling code | 01924 |
| Police | West Yorkshire |
| Fire | West Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| European Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| UK Parliament | Hemsworth |
| List of places: UK • England • 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 and 4 miles from the town of Featherstone.
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[edit] History
Crofton is listed in the Domesday Book as Scroftune. 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.
[edit] 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, 2 fish and chip shops - one in New Crofton, mini supermarkets and a carpet store . The village also boasts 8 pubs: the Crofton Arms & the Cock and Crown both on the A638 road, the Weavers Green, The Royal Oak, The Lord of the Manor, The Slipper, The Working Men's Club, and the Crofton Community Centre which was formerly known as the Nostell Miners Welfare.
Crofton made national tabloid headlines when the famous motel in the village 'The Redbeck,' stayed open for 21 years without ever closing, working its way through renovations, leaks and power cuts. The redbeck is a diner and a popular long haul truck stop on the outskirts of Crofton located on the A638.
[edit] Sport
Crofton is in the centre of what is known as rugby land, and the local team Crofton Cougars keeps up the tradition of good rugby. The team was formed in 1996 by Pete Shorley and Andy Reed. They play rugby in the CMS Unison Division 1. They won the CMS Division 2 title in 2006. The home ground of the Cougars is Courgar Park which is part of the Community Centre Facilities. It provides up to 3000 capacity, all of which is standing, but there are plans to add seats to the ground.
Crofton Cricket team play at The Sidings Playing Fields as well as Crofton Juniors AFC.
Nostell Miners Welfare F.C. also play at the community centre facilities and are currently in the Northern Counties Premier division.
[edit] Notable residents
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 Lord of 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
[edit] 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 2007 Crofton High School achieved record GCSE pass rates, putting it in the top 100 state schools in the country.
In 1808 Miss Richmal Mangnall bought Crofton Hall School for Young Ladies, which at least one of the Brontë sisters is thought to have attended.
[edit] 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 145/148/149/150, Arriva Yorkshire - Wakefield to Knottingley and Pontefract via Crofton and Featherstone.
- 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 450, Arriva Yorkshire - Wakefield to Selby via Crofton, Featherstone, Pontefract and Knottingley.
- 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.
Crofton is located 26 miles from Leeds Bradford International Airport, and offers services to European and Asian destinations such as Paris, Milan, Rome, Alicante, Tenerife, Larnaca and Islamabad. Crofton is also the same distance from Doncaster Airport, at Finningley in Doncaster. That airport has destinations to smaller European Destinations. The nearest International Airport with major destinations is Manchester Airport, which is 69 miles from the village. Manchester has flights as far as Dubai, New York, San Francisco, Moscow and Vancouver to name a few.
