OULTON-CUM-WOODLESFORD is a township in the parish of Rothwell, comprising the pleasant villages of Oulton and Woodlesford (which have been formed into two separate ecclesiastical parishes), in the Southern division of the Riding, lower division of Agbrigg wapentake, Hunslet union, Wakefield county court district, Wakefield rural deanery, Craven archdeaconry and Ripon diocese. Oulton in 6 miles east-south-east of Leeds, 5 north-east from Wakefield and half a mile from Woodlesford station. The church of St. John, at Oulton, was erected in 1830, a sum of £12,000 having been bequeathed for the purpose in 1827 by John Blayds esq. and is a fine specimen of Pointed architure, consisting of a richly decorated chancel, nave, aisles and square tower with embattled parapet, crowned by a beautiful spire and containing 1 bell: the windows are stained. The register dates from the year 1827. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £305, in the gift of Edmund Calverley esq. and held by the Rev. Richard Hugh Hamilton M.A. of Trinity College, Dublin. There is an endowment and repair fund of £120 yearly, derived from invested funds. The Wesleyan have chapels here. Wehster’s charity, founded in 1824, amounts to £240, derived from £8,000 £3 per Cent. Consols, one-third of which is for apprenticing and the remainder for distribution. Oulton Hall, a large and elegant mansion in the Grecian style, standing in an undulating and well-wooded park, was rebuilt of Oulton stone in 1851, after the instruction by fire of the greater portion, and is the residence of Edmund Calverley esq. J.P. lord of the manor and chief landowner. Quarrying constitutes the chief industry of these townships, there being very large stone quarries both at Woodlesford and Oulton, the principal stratum of which furnishes a grit-stone of excellent quality for building purposes. The soil is a rich loam; subsoil, various. The chief crops are wheat, barley, turnips, and some land is in pasture. The area is 1,361 acres; rateable value, £13,113; and the population in 1861 was 1,851; in 1871, 2,042.

Schools

St. Johns, Ernest Boothroyd, master; Miss Annie Parish, mistress.

Hoard, John Longbottom, master; Miss Clara Castle, mistress; Miss Elizabeth Abbey, infants’ mistress.