Wakefield

The ancient town of Wakefield has been around much much longer than you think in fact the first written documentation of Wakefield’s existence is dated right back to 1086 where it is recorded in the famous domesday book. The first records actually listed Wakefield as Wachefeld and the name originates from the word watch and feld which is old language meaning a wide rural open space, this is quite suitably matched as Wakefield was at one time very rural and very picturesque acording to history.

Wakefield was always it seems thought of as the headquarters of the five towns district and was at one time very famous in the North for it’s great cattle market which ran right from the 1700′s until after the second world war in the city centre. There is evidence that Wakefield had a market dating right back to the 1200′s, Wakefield was selected as the home of all the major amenities in the area such as home to the prison, registry offices and the main schools until the surrounding villages were given their own amenities.

Wakefield was always known as Wakefield town and was not actually formally declared the city of Wakefield until 1888 which is the same year that Wakefield formed the first official council of the city. One of the most famous landmarks of Wakefield is the great All Saints Cathedral that has always been in the background and is in fact the centre that the rest of the city is actually built around, old photo’s clearly show that early roads were formed around the great Cathedral and that it was used as a main focal point. The Cathedral dates back to the 14th century and was formely known as the Parish Church, it was not declared a Cathedral until 1888.

The Cathedral was always looked upon as a very important part of Wakefield and this is reflected with the fact the the tower and spire is the highest in Yorkshire and only the fourth highest in the whole of England standing at 247 feet high. Chantry Chapel on Chantry bridge is also very important to history as this dates right back to the 1340′s it is only one of four in England and the chapel was rebuilt in 1847. St John’s Church in the city centre was built in 1795 and is also quite a famous building and easily recognised by anyone local.

Wakefield’s house of correction as it was known was built in th 1590′s and as time has passed throughout the centuries the population of inmates has gradually expanded until the prison as it is today was built in the 1840′s and is now one of the most secure prisons in Britain and has housed some very notorious criminals. The current population of the prison is around 1700 inmates to date.

Wakefield got it’s very first train station in 1840, Kirkgate Station was a long awaited feature in Wakefield by the public and ran trains to and from Lancashire and even London. The town hall was opened in 1880 on Wood Street and it was around this period that Clayton Hospital was opened. Thomas Clayton is the namesake of the hospital and was in the 18th century a well respected businessman, he owned a dispensary that expanded and expanded until Clayton Hospital was formed and opened in 1879 with 60 beds it was a very important land mark in time for Wakefield.

In 1904 an electric tram network was installed in Wakefield throughout the main centre’s roads and even now some of the electric wiring is still visible in certain area’s. The trams were successful until 1932 when the public stopped using them as often and the new motor buses were launched at the expense of the city council. The first motor buses were double decker 48 seaters and were painted a bright brilliant red not so different to the traditional London bus used today in the capital. The buses followed the same route from the bus station as they do now down past the bull ring and through Kirkgate.

The bus station was first opened in 1952 and the clock of the bus station became quite a famous landmark used as a meeting point for decades and is still seen today even though the original bus station has now been demolished. Wakefield is also the home of the famous nursery ryhme ‘The Grande Old Duke Of York’ which is actually about Richard Of York who led the great battle of Wakefield at Sandal Castle in the 1400′s.

ThIn 1873 Wakefield’s rugby team was formed named the wildcats and is still going strong today. Wakefield’s twin towns in Europe are as follows.. Herne in Germany, Castres in France and Konin in Poland.