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Knottingley

Coordinates:53°42′18″N1°14′56″W/ 53.705°N 1.249°W/53.705; -1.249
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Knottingley
Knottingley is located in West Yorkshire
Knottingley
Knottingley
Location withinWest Yorkshire
Population13,710 (Ward. 2011)
OS grid referenceSE495235
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townKNOTTINGLEY
Postcode districtWF11
Dialling code01977
PoliceWest Yorkshire
FireWest Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire
53°42′18″N1°14′56″W/ 53.705°N 1.249°W/53.705; -1.249

Knottingleyis a town in theCity of WakefieldinWest Yorkshire,England on theRiver Aireand the oldA1 roadbefore it was bypassed as theA1(M).Historicallypart of theWest 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 theKnottingley wardrepresented onWakefield Council.

Until 1699, it was an important inlandriver portbut, in that year, the Aire was madenavigableas far asLeeds,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 byKnottingley 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 aFerrybridgepostmaster.[4]There is a Bagley's Glass gallery inPontefract Museum.

Close to Knottingley isFerrybridge Power Station,which had the largestcooling towersof 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

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St Botolph's Church

Knottingley means "theclearingof Cnotta's people ", from theOld Englishpersonal nameCnottameaning "knot",describing a small, round man and -ingas"people of" +leāh"wood, modernlee,not the same meaning as Leah (personal name) ". The name was recorded asCnotinesleahemmin 1128.[6]

During the three Sieges ofPontefract Castle,Oliver Cromwelltook residence in the town of Knottingley, believed to be in Wildbore House. The house was later demolished when its land was mined as aquarryfor thelimestoneunderneath.[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 FerrybridgeHengeshows it had significant indigenous habitation long before then.[8]

Aire & Calder Navigation

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 theGreat North Roadlinking London withYorkandEdinburghbeyond 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 toLeeds.[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 hadKellingley Collieryoperating until December 2015. The demand for coal was helped by the hugepower stationatFerrybridge.[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 fromKnottingley Town Hallto the Social Club in December 2015.[16]

Sport

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A short livedgreyhound racingtrack existed from 1940 to 1946 and again during 1947. The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body theNational 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 arugby unionclub, who meet on Marsh Lane.[19]

Media

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Local news and television programmes are provided byBBC YorkshireandITV Yorkshire.Television signals are received from theEmley MoorTV transmitter.[20]Local radio stations areBBC Radio Leedson 92.4 FM,Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire(formerlyRadio AireandRidings FM) on 96.3 and 106.8 FM,Hits Radio West Yorkshireon 102.5 FM,Heart Yorkshireon 106.2 FM,Capital Yorkshireon 105.1 and 105.8 FM and 5 Towns FM, a community radio station that broadcasts fromCastleford.[21]The town is served by the local newspapers,Wakefield Expressand thePontefract and Castleford Express.

Education

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Knottingley has one high school,De Lacy Academyformerly 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 nearbyPontefract,WakefieldandSelby.

Notable people

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See also

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References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toKnottingley.
  1. ^"Census 2001: Urban Areas: Table KS01: Usual Resident Population".Office for National Statistics. Archived fromthe originalon 23 July 2004.Retrieved26 August2009.
  2. ^"City of Wakefield Ward population 2011".Neighbourhood Statistics.Office for National Statistics.Retrieved2 March2016.
  3. ^Glass manufacturing
  4. ^"Bottle making",Knottingley Website
  5. ^"UK's last deep coal mine Kellingley Colliery capped off".BBC News Online.14 March 2016.Retrieved6 December2016.Kellingley Colliery in North Yorkshire closed in December, bringing to an end centuries of deep coal mining in Britain.
  6. ^Ekwall, Eilert (1960).The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names(4. ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 282.ISBN0-19-869103-3.
  7. ^"Early History Official guide to Knottingley".www.knottingley.org.Archived fromthe originalon 15 November 2016.Retrieved17 March2017.
  8. ^Roberts, Ian."Ferrybridge ritual landscape"(PDF).West Yorkshire Archaeological Services. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 25 September 2006.Retrieved4 July2008.
  9. ^Bradley, Tom (1889)."The Old Coaching Days in Yorkshire".The Yorkshire Post. p. 182.
  10. ^Hadfield, Charles (1972).The canals of Yorkshire and North East England(1 ed.). Newton Abbot: Vt. pp. 17–20.ISBN9780715357194.
  11. ^"15.0 Archaeology and cultural heritage"(PDF).peelenvironmental.co.uk.pp. 363–364.Retrieved17 March2017.
  12. ^"Knottingley & Ferrybridge delivery plan 2012-2015"(PDF).wakefield.gov.uk.p. 21.Retrieved17 March2017.
  13. ^"The History and Origins of Knottingley and Ferrybridge".www.knottingley.org.Retrieved17 March2017.
  14. ^Bounds, Tom (11 December 2015)."Date set for closure of UK's last deep mine at Kellingley".FT.Archived fromthe originalon 10 December 2022.Retrieved17 March2017.
  15. ^Ledger, John (31 March 2016)."Closure of Ferrybridge fuels sense of missed opportunities".Pontefract and Castleford Express.Retrieved17 March2017.
  16. ^"Thousands march through Yorkshire to mark end of deep coal mining at Kellingley".BBC News.BBC. 20 December 2015.Retrieved28 August2021.
  17. ^Barnes, Julia (1988).Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File, page 417.Ringpress Books.ISBN0-948955-15-5.
  18. ^"Knottingley".Greyhound Racing Times.Retrieved9 May2019.
  19. ^"Knottingley RUFC".www.pitchero.com.Retrieved4 August2020.
  20. ^"Emley Moor (Kirklees, England) Full Freeview transmitter".UK Free TV.1 May 2004.Retrieved6 January2024.
  21. ^"5 Towns FM Radio Online".Internetradiouk.com.Retrieved6 January2024.
  22. ^"Godwin is stellar signing as Rams begin recruiting".Dewsbury Reporter.18 October 2013.Retrieved13 July2024.
  23. ^"5 questions to the Liberal Democrat election candidate for Harrogate & Knaresborough".Archivedfrom the original on 6 July 2024.Retrieved6 July2024.
  24. ^"Simon Middleton".Rugby Journal.26 March 2022.Retrieved29 April2023.
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