CASTLEFORD (SE 4525)

The name of Castleford is illustrated by the gold castle and the ford of white and blue waves upon the shield. The white roses are to show that the town is in Yorkshire. The gold Roman eagle is there because the town stands on the site of a Roman fort. A miner's lamp is on the eagle. On each wing of the bird is the badge of the Lacey family, on whose former land Castleford is located.

In the late first century and until 180 AD a roman settlement called Lagentium or Legioleum was located where Castleford is today. It consisted of a vicus (civilian settlement) around a military fort. In those days travellers had to wait for the nearby river (River Aire) to become low enough for a ford to form in order to cross it. When the Romans left, the settlement continued until about 410 AD. The Britons of the area were of the Brigantes tribe.

The Anglo-Saxons occupied the area and called it Casterford (ford by the fort), which evolved into the village of Castleford.

The Industrial Revolution had a huge impact on Castleford, turning it into a boom town. In 1801 the population was under a thousand but just ninety years later it had grown to 14,143. Today the population is around 40,000.

Important industries during and after the Industrial Revolution were pottery, coal mining, glass manufacture, chemicals and confectionary. These declined during the nineteen eighties.

The potteries started in 1724 with the most famous, Dunderdale, starting in 1790.

In 1836 a railway station was built in the town. The present one was built in 1871 for the Great North Eastern railway.

Castleford Registered District was created in 1862 and abolished in 1868.

In 1872, The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales by John Marius Wilson described Castleford as "a township and a parish in Pontefract district, West Riding of  Yorkshire. The township lies on Watling Street, the river Aire, and the York and Leeds railway, 7½ miles ENE of Wakefield; and has a station on the railway, and a post office under Normanton. The Roman station Legiolium is supposed to have been here; and Roman coins, urns, pavements, and substructions have been found. Coal mining, glass-making, and earthenware manufacture are largely carried on; and have occasioned much recent increase of population. A railway hence to Ardsley was opened in May, 1869. Acres, 540. Real property, £9,023. Pop., 3,876. Houses, 813. The parish includes also the township of Glass Houghton. Acres, 2,040. Real property, £11,395. Pop., 4,365. Houses, 926. The church is ancient and cruciform. There are a school church, an Independent chapel of 1862, four Methodist chapels, and two public schools."

In 1887 John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles describes Castleford as a town and parish with railway station, E. division of the West Riding of Yorkshire, 10 miles SE. of Leeds and 181 miles N. of London -- par., 1643 ac., pop. 11,579; town, 564 ac., pop. 10,530; P.O., T.O., 3 Banks, 1 newspaper; has extensive glass works.

Castleford Urban District Council was created in 1894.

The sculptor Henry Moore was born (1898) and educated in Castleford.

In 1904 the leading book about the town's history was published. It was called "Castleford and District in Olden Times" by Lorenzo Padgett.

Castleford Library opened in 1905. The building is still in use but there are plans to build a new Forum building that will include (among other services) a modern library. heritage centre and exhibition space.

The town was a borough until 1974 when as a result of the local reorganisation it became part of the Wakefield Metropolitan District. The leader of Wakefield Council, Peter Box, is a local councillor, grandson of a well-known midwife and son of the town's best known barber.

Today Castleford has become an major regional destination with the recent openings of Junction 32 Shopping Village and the nearby Xscape leisure complex, which includes a real ski slope.

The then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, chose Castleford for a visit on the eve of the 2001 election. He followed the then Chancellor of Exchequer (Gordon Brown, now the Prime Minister), who had visited the town centre a few months earlier.

Further changes are taking place as a result of an Urban Renaissance programme supported by the television company Talkback Thames and Channel 4.

Website copyright © Anthony Wallis 2005 - 2009