Knottingley Explained

Country:England
Coordinates:53.705°N -1.249°W
Label Position:left
Official Name:Knottingley
Population:13,710
Population Ref:(Ward. 2011)
Metropolitan Borough:City of Wakefield
Metropolitan County:West Yorkshire
Region:Yorkshire and the Humber
Constituency Westminster:Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley
Post Town:KNOTTINGLEY
Postcode District:WF11
Postcode Area:WF
Dial Code:01977
Os Grid Reference:SE495235
Static Image Name:Knottingley Town Hall.jpg
Static Image Caption:Knottingley Town Hall

Knottingley is a town in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England on the River Aire and the old A1 road before it was bypassed as the A1(M). Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 13,503,[1] increasing to 13,710 for the City of Wakefield ward at the 2011 Census.[2] It makes up the majority of the Knottingley ward represented on Wakefield Council.

Until 1699, it was an important inland river port but, in that year, the Aire was made navigable as far as Leeds, which soon surpassed it. Knottingley continued as a centre for boat building into the 20th century. In the late 19th century, it started glass manufacturing. The town is served by Knottingley railway station.

After 1870, the town became known for glass manufacturing.[3] In 1887, Bagley's Glassworks purchased the rights to the first bottle-making machine, invented by a Ferrybridge postmaster.[4] There is a Bagley's Glass gallery in Pontefract Museum.

Close to Knottingley is Ferrybridge Power Station, which had the largest cooling towers of their kind in Europe. Three of these towers collapsed in high winds in 1965. The remaining towers, which could be seen for miles around, were demolished between 2019 and 2022.

The town was the last in the United Kingdom to have a working deep coal mine, Kellingley Colliery, until it closed in December 2015.[5]

History

Knottingley means "the clearing of Cnotta's people", from the Old English personal name Cnotta meaning "knot", describing a small, round man and -ingas "people of" + leāh "wood, modern lee, not the same meaning as Leah (personal name)". The name was recorded as Cnotinesleahemm in 1128.[6]

During the three Sieges of Pontefract Castle, Oliver Cromwell took residence in the town of Knottingley, believed to be in Wildbore House. The house was later demolished when its land was mined as a quarry for the limestone underneath.[7]

Knottingley, inextricably linked with Ferrybridge, is a West Yorkshire town whose history is tied to river travel and industry. It has managed to retain certain elements of that industrial history as thriving enterprises today, providing employment for many of its combined population of some 17,000. It was originally an Anglo-Saxon settlement, though the ancient monument of Ferrybridge Henge shows it had significant indigenous habitation long before then.[8] The crossing over the Aire at Ferrybridge was of importance for many centuries. A bridge was built there in 1198, and another to replace it two centuries later. Located on the Great North Road linking London with York and Edinburgh beyond that, the town became an important staging place for the coach traffic on that route.[9]

Knottingley was an inland port of some note, long the last navigable point on the Aire until the Aire and Calder Navigation, built in 1704[10] and widened in 1826, enabled barges to make it to Leeds.[11] Its shipyards built and maintained both inland and seagoing vessels.[12] Pottery was a significant industry for the town from the 19th century until as late as the 1940s, when the Australian Pottery, opened to cater to that country's needs, finally closed.[13]

Glass manufacturing continues to be important. The town had Kellingley Colliery operating until December 2015. The demand for coal was helped by the huge power station at Ferrybridge.[14] Whilst most of the coal bound for Ferrybridge left by rail, some was transported up river using barges, the last of which was delivered in December 2002.[15] The last miners, their families and many former miners marched from Knottingley Town Hall to the Social Club in December 2015.[16]

Sport

A short lived greyhound racing track existed from 1940 to 1946 and again during 1947. The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the National Greyhound Racing Club) and was known as a flapping track, which was the nickname given to independent tracks. The venue could accommodate up to 3,000 people.[17] [18]

The town is home to a rugby union club, who meet on Marsh Lane.[19]

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire. Television signals are received from the Emley Moor TV transmitter.[20] Local radio stations are BBC Radio Leeds on 92.4 FM, Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire (formerly Radio Aire and Ridings FM) on 96.3 and 106.8 FM, Hits Radio West Yorkshire on 102.5 FM, Heart Yorkshire on 106.2 FM, Capital Yorkshire on 105.1 and 105.8 FM and 5 Towns FM, a community radio station that broadcasts from Castleford.[21] The town is served by the local newspapers, Wakefield Express and the Pontefract and Castleford Express.

Education

Knottingley has one high school, De Lacy Academy formerly called Knottingley High School and Sports College.

It has several primary schools: England Lane Academy, Willow Green Academy, Knottingley St Botolph's C of E Academy, The Vale Primary Academy and Simpson's Lane Academy.Sixth-form colleges are located in nearby Pontefract, Wakefield and Selby.

Notable people

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Census 2001 : Urban Areas : Table KS01 : Usual Resident Population . Office for National Statistics . 26 August 2009 . dead . http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20040723231324/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D8271.xls . 23 July 2004 .
  2. Web site: City of Wakefield Ward population 2011. 2 March 2016. Office for National Statistics. Neighbourhood Statistics.
  3. http://www.knottingley.org/history/glass_industry.htm Glass manufacturing
  4. http://www.knottingley.org/history/glassmakers.htm "Bottle making"
  5. News: UK's last deep coal mine Kellingley Colliery capped off . . 14 March 2016 . 6 December 2016 . Kellingley Colliery in North Yorkshire closed in December, bringing to an end centuries of deep coal mining in Britain..
  6. Book: Ekwall. Eilert. The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names. 1960. Clarendon Press. Oxford. 0-19-869103-3. 282. 4..
  7. Web site: Early History Official guide to Knottingley. www.knottingley.org. 17 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20161115070836/http://www.knottingley.org/history/early_history.htm. 15 November 2016. dead.
  8. Web site: Ferrybridge ritual landscape . Ian . Roberts . West Yorkshire Archaeological Services . 4 July 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060925015805/http://www.arch.wyjs.org.uk/AdvSrv/Newsletters/News21pag5.pdf . 25 September 2006 .
  9. Web site: The Old Coaching Days in Yorkshire . 1889. Tom. Bradley. 182. The Yorkshire Post.
  10. Book: Hadfield. Charles. The canals of Yorkshire and North East England. 1972. Vt.. Newton Abbot. 9780715357194. 17–20. 1.
  11. Web site: 15.0 Archaeology and cultural heritage. peelenvironmental.co.uk. 17 March 2017. 363–364.
  12. Web site: Knottingley & Ferrybridge delivery plan 2012-2015. wakefield.gov.uk. 17 March 2017. 21.
  13. Web site: The History and Origins of Knottingley and Ferrybridge. www.knottingley.org. 17 March 2017.
  14. News: Bounds. Tom. Date set for closure of UK's last deep mine at Kellingley. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/c3ab8fa0-9aa2-11e5-a5c1-ca5db4add713 . 10 December 2022 . subscription. 17 March 2017. FT. 11 December 2015.
  15. News: Ledger. John. Closure of Ferrybridge fuels sense of missed opportunities. 17 March 2017. Pontefract and Castleford Express. 31 March 2016. en.
  16. Web site: Thousands march through Yorkshire to mark end of deep coal mining at Kellingley . BBC News . BBC . 20 December 2015 . 28 August 2021.
  17. Book: Barnes, Julia. Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File, page 417. 1988. Ringpress Books. 0-948955-15-5.
  18. News: Knottingley. Greyhound Racing Times. 9 May 2019.
  19. Web site: Knottingley RUFC. www.pitchero.com. 4 August 2020.
  20. Web site: Emley Moor (Kirklees, England) Full Freeview transmitter. 1 May 2004. UK Free TV. 6 January 2024.
  21. Web site: 5 Towns FM Radio Online. Internetradiouk.com. 6 January 2024.
  22. News: Godwin is stellar signing as Rams begin recruiting. 18 October 2013. Dewsbury Reporter. 13 July 2024.
  23. Web site: 5 questions to the Liberal Democrat election candidate for Harrogate & Knaresborough . 6 July 2024 . 6 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240706191705/https://www.harrogate-news.co.uk/2024/06/30/5-questions-to-the-liberal-democrat-election-candidate-for-harrogate-knaresborough/ . live .
  24. Web site: Simon Middleton. 26 March 2022. Rugby Journal. 29 April 2023.