CARLETON (near Pontefract) is a small village, and township in a fertile vale of the parish of Pontefract, formed into an ecclesiastical parish in 1869, and is within the parliamentary borough of Pontefract, 1 ½ miles south from Pontefract, in the Eastern division of the Riding, Pontefract anion and county court district, wapentake of Osgoldcross, rural deanery of Pontefract, archdeaconry and diocese of York. The church of St. Michael is a stone building in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave and bell turret, and contains 2 modern stained windows and an organ. The register dates from the year 1848. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £140, with residence, in the gift of the vicar of Pontefract and held by the Rev. Edward Barber, of St. Alban Hall, Oxford, and St. Bees. The land belongs to the Frank family, J. H. Greaves esq. and others, subject to the manor court at Tanshelf. The soil is of a rich, sandy, loamy nature; subsoil, marl and loam. The population in 1871 was 284. the area is 589 acres: rateable value £2.428.

Parochial (mixed) school, erected in 1868.