Normanton

Normanton is first mentioned in the Domesday book in 1086 under the name of Normantune, it was listed as having 2 manor houses and a church and it is thought that the Parish church now stands on the outline of the original church mentioned in the Domesday book. In 1906, a medieval alter slab was found under the sanctuary floor, where it had most likely have been since the remodel hundreds of years ago. The church as it stands now was built in 1256 and is home to the tomb of John Freeston who died in 1594.

History documents that Normantune stood on a hill surrounded by a moat with the small Norman settlement enclosed within it and the remains of the barrier can still be seen at Haw Hill Park. It was not however the Normans that gave the town the name Normantune, the town was actually named this before the Norman invasion according to the records in the Domesday book and was probably named by the Norwegian vikings that settled there before the Normans settled in Normanton.

In 1592 Normanton had it’s first grammer school founded by John Freeston of Altofts Hall hence the name of the local high school which is still named after him. John Freeston was born in 1512 and died in 1594 in his will he funded and endowed the school his wishes that the children of Normanton should get an education. The school was originally built where today stands the parish rooms and even though the school was moved to it’s current location in the 1950′s the original school chimney remains arestill located there today. The school is today known as Freeston Business and Enterprise College.

In the 1800′s building began for the railway in Normanton and the railway carried on growing until lines for Leeds, Derby, York and Manchester were added. Normanton railway then became an important addition to the area and even had the longest platform in England at one point boasting a length of a quarter of a mile long.

Queen Victoria visited the railway at Normanton and even stayed one night at the Station Hotel it was then very productive and served an important part in the coal and brick industry. As the industry declined the station became unused and neglected and most of the lines are even now still visible in the undergrowth at the station.

Normanton in the 1800′s was booming in the brickwork industry with three brickworks already successfully in service a fourth was about to be founded by a local man from Nottinghamshire called Thomas Kirk, he came with his son and put the whole of the family life savings into opening a fourth brickyard and formed the Brick Company that still exists and is in service today. Coal mining was also a big industry and employed hundreds of local men until the 1970′s when the idustry had reached it’s peak and was at a decline.

In 1906 Normanton opened the tram network that was also opened around this time in neighbouring towns Wakefield, Castleford and Pontefract, the trams were very popular at this time and ran successfully until 1925 when the trams were replaced by the first motor buses. The first public baths were opened in Normanton in 1926 at the top of the high street and at that time was next door to the Majestic Cinemathat ran from it’s opening in 1931 to it’s closure in 1959. Both buildongs were demolished in recent years and now the site belongs to the supernarket Netto. The market in Normanton was always popular in the market place and opened in 1901 just at the bottom of the high street the market clock is still hanging outside the Junction Inn.

In 1974 Normanton town council was formed and is still running the town today organising events to bring the town together such as the yearly gala. Normanton is an ideal place to live at the moment due to the lower house prices and the transport links especially the motorways leading to every way you can possibly go around the country. There are also many job opportunities due to the ever expanding industrial estate situated near the motorway.

Normanton Voice