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Wakefield, Yorkshire, England. Geographical and Historical information from 1887.
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WAKEFIELD:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1887.
"WAKEFIELD, a parish in the Agbrigg-division of Agbrigg and Morley wapentake."
"ALVERTHORPE, and THORNES, are two pleasant villages in the parish of Wakefield, the former on the Great Northern Railway, 1 mile W. by N. and the latter 1 mile W. by S. of Wakefield. The township of Alverthorpe-with-Thornes includes also Westgate common and suburb of Wakefield and is in Wakefield parish, union, county court district, and bankruptcy court district, Lower division of Agbrigg wapentake and petty sessional division, Alverthorpe polling disctrict, Normanton parliamentary division of the county, Wakefield rural deanery, Craven archdeaconry, and Ripon diocese. Alverthorpe Church (St. Paul) is a massive structure, with a square tower, and was erected by the Church Building Commissioners in 1826, at a cost of £8000. The living is a vicarage, valued at £320 a year, in the patronage of the Vicar of Wakefield, and incumbency of the Rev. Joseph Walton, M.A. Thornes Church (St. James) was built in 1831, at a cost of £2000, also defrayed by the Church Building Commissioners. The benefice is a vicarage, valued at £200, in the patronage of the Vicar of Wakefield and incumbency of the Rev. Walter Allen Lewis, who has a good residence near the church. St. Michael's Church, on Westgate Common, which has been noticed with Wakefield, is in this township. There are two chapels belonging to the Wesleyans, three to the Primitive Methodists, and one to the Congregationalists. In Alverthorpe village is a National School, and there is a Church of England School at Kirkham Gate, besides a National School for Infants at Thornes. Alverthorpe-with-Thornes School Board (extra municipal) was formed in November, 1875. The poor have several benefactions. The Gaskell family supports a school at Thornes."
"HORBURY, a large village and township in the parish of Wakefield, on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, lies in the vale of the Calder, 3 miles S.W. of Wakefield, and is also in the Wakefield, union, rural deanery, and county court district, Wakefield (Lower Division of Agbrigg) petty sessional division, Normanton parliamentary division of West Riding, Ripon diocese, and Craven archdeaconry The township includes most of the village of Horbury Bridge, which . is partly in Shitlington. It had 5050 inhabitants in 1881, and comprises 1279 acres of land; the rateable value is £28,846. The Local Government Act was adopted in this township in 1863, and Mr. George M. Berry is clerk to the Board. The Parish Church, a handsome cruciform structure, in the Italian style, with a lofty tower and spire at the west end, was rebuilt in 1791 by John Carr, Esq., at a cost of £8000. The living is a vicarage, valued at £225, in the patronage of the Vicar of Wakefield and incumbency of the Rev. Canon Sharp, M.A. St. John's Church, Horbury Bridge, was built by subscription in 1884, at a cost of £2600, for a district comprising part of the old parish of Horbury, with Thornhill and Middlestown. The living is a vicarage, valued at £150 a year, in the patronage of Keble College, Oxford, and in the incumbency of the Rev. R. Blakelock, M.A. The Independents, the Wesleyans, the Free and the Primitive Methodists, and the Christian Brethren, have Chapels here. The Town Lands, given by Sir G. Clifton in 1663, comprise 45A 1R. 34P., let (with buildings upon them) for upwards of £300 per annum, for the benefit of the church, the highways, etc. Here are Almshouses for four poor widows. There are National Schools at Horbury and at Horbury Bridge, a Wesleyan School at Horbury, and another school built and endowed by the late D. Gaskell, Esq. The Church Institute has 170 members, and contains a good library, etc. The People's Hall, which belongs to the Co-operative Society, is a similar Institute to the preceding. The Yorkshire Penny Bank has branches in this township. Horbury House of Mercy, established in 1858, occupies a spacious building of mediaeval appearance, which was erected in 1863, at a cost of about £13,000 and has since been enlarged at a cost of £6,781; it is managed by the sisters of St. Peter the Apostle, who have conducted since 1880 a high school for girls in the House. The Liberals and the Conservatives have associations in the village."
"STANLEY, and WRENTHORPE, two scattered villages, one on the Calder, 1 ½ mile N.N.E. and the latter, commonly called Potovens, 1 ½ mile N.W. of Wakefield, form a township in the parish of Wakefield, and partly in the borough Wakefield, in Wakefield union, county court district, and petty sessional division, and rural deanery, Normanton parliamentary division of the Riding, Craven archdeaconry, and Ripon diocese. The township, which includes the hamlets of East Moor, Outwood, Lingwell Gate, Newton Lane End, Lofthouse Gate, Wrenthorpe, Bottom Boat, and Carr Gate, comprises 4674 acres, and had 13,431 inhabitants in 1881; the rateable value is £56,172. The Union Workhouse and the West Riding Lunatic Asylum are situated here. Stanley Church (St. Peter)at Lake Lock, was built out of the "Million Fund" in 1821, at a cost of £12,000. The interior was beautified in 1851 by the late John Maud, Esq., and in 1862 the galleries were removed and open seats erected. The benefice, a vicarage valued at £300, is in at a cost of £1000 by a Burial Board which was established here in 1880. Outwood Church (St. Mary Magdalene), a Decorated edifice, seated on an eminence, was erected in 1858, at a cost of about £2500. All the seats are free. A district was assigned to the church in 1860, and the living is a vicarage with residence, valued at £270, in the gift of the Vicar of Stanley, and in the incumbency of the Rev. T. H. Bywater. A new cemetery, of about 3 acres, was opened at Outwood in 1872. There is a Mission Church at Lawns, and the erection of one at Newton Hill is in contemplation. Here are Almshouses for two poor widows, and a church Sunday school Wrenthorpe Church (St. Anne), was erected in 1874, at an expense of £1500. The Rev. T. J. Puckles, M.A., in the incumbents, and has a residence near the Church. The Wesleyans have Chapels in this township at Lee Mount and Newton Lane End, the Primitive Methodists at Lingwell Gate, Ouchthorpe Lane, Lofthouse Gate, Bottom Boat and Stanley Lane End; the Free Methodists have one at Potovens, Stanley, and Newton Lane. The Congregationalists, one at Lake Lock, built on a site given by J. T. Fleck, Esq. The School Board was formed on July 24, 1875, and Board Schools have been erected at outwood and Stanley, besides which there are several Church Schools. A Cottage Hospital was established at Stanley Lane End, by subscription, in 1870."
[Transcribed from White's General and Commercial Directory of Wakefield, Horbury, Alverthorpe, Sandal Magna, Stanley and Normanton - 1887]