Wakefield, about eight miles south from Leeds, has been considered as one of the most opulent of the clothing towns. Many of the new streets contain remarkably handsome and spacious mansion houses, built of red brick and stone.

It is charmingly situated on the side of a hill sloping gently towards the Calder. Most of the streets are regular. The market-cross is an elegant structure, being an open colonnade of the Doric order, supporting a dome with an ascent, with an opening circular pair of stairs leading to a large room which receives its light from a lantern at the top, and in which most of the business of the town is transacted. The market is held on a Friday, and a great deal of business is done, particularly in the sale of wool. The fortnight fairs held every other Wednesday, are well attended by graziers and jobbers from Lincolnshire, the East Riding, and Craven, and by butchers from Halifax, Huddersfield, Sheffield and Manchester.

Huddersfield is in fact a thriving handsome town, and has for some time threatened to rival Leeds. The steamboats that run between Huddersfield, Halifax, and other places in the line of the new canal, are also called fly-boats, on account of their expedition. By the junction of this canal with the river Calder at Cooper’s-bridge, a communication is opened with Halifax, Wakefield, Leeds, York, and Hull.

The parish church of Wakefield is an ancient, lofty, Gothic structure, dedicated to All Saints: the spire is said to be the highest in the county. The time when this church was built is uncertain; but in August 1329, Godfrey Plantagenet confirmed to the monks of Lewes, in Sussex, the pension of sixty shillings out of it, which had previously been given to them by William Earl Warren. In November 1348, the church being become the property of the king, was appropriated by William, Archbishop of York, to the dean and college of the royal chapel of St. Stephen, in the palace of Westminster, reserving to himself and successors, out of the fruits thereof, the annual sum of twenty shillings, and to his dean and chapter, ten shillings. Prior to the second of January, 1439, the church had been governed by a rector secular; but then the said William, Archbishop of York, ordained, at Ripon, that it should be governed by a perpetual vicar (having the cure of souls), presentable by the said dean and college, who should have for his portion the fruits of the church, except the great tithes.

In 1724, the south side of the church was wholly rebuilt; and the greatest part of the north side, together with the east end, have been rebuilt within these few years. On the outside of the cast end, there has likewise been a very elegant vestry room erected.

The parish church is dedicated to All Saints. The new church which was completed in 1795, was consecrated by the Archbishop of York, and is called the church of St. John the Baptist. That elegant quarter of the town where it stands, is called St. John’s.

About forty years ago, a widow lady (Mrs. New-stead), bequeathed the sum of one thousand pounds towards the support of a minister who should officiate in a new church, when built, and also the ground for the same. But the property being litigated, the matter lay dormant until the whole of the testatrix’s property was purchased by Messrs. Maude and Lee, who, concurring with some disinterested inhabitants, procured an act of parliament for fulfilling the will of the donor, and for enlarging the town, by the addition of several new streets. The first stone of the new church was laid by the Rev. Henry Zouch, of Sandall, amidst the applauses of an amazing concourse of people; and a great number of handsome houses in streets and squares have since been erected.

There is a Free Grammar-school, founded and endowed by Queen Elizabeth, but much enlarged by benefactions from private persons, inhabitants of the town and parish. The schoolhouse is a noble and spacious building, erected by Thomas Saville, and sons, ancestors of the Earl of Mexborough. There are several exhibitions appropriated to this school, for the maintenance of students in the University of Cambridge, of very considerable value, and some smaller ones for the students at the University of Oxford. There are likewise two scholarships for young members of Clare Hall, in Cambridge.

Here is also a Charity-school, founded for the instruction and clothing of 106 poor boys and girls of Wakefield. Seventy of these are under the immediate care of a master, who has a good house adjoining the school, for his residence, and a salary of upwards of forty pounds per annum. The remainder of the children are under the care of another person, who has about sixteen pounds a year for instructing them.

The charitable donations to this town, amount in all to about 1000l. Per annum, and are under the direction of fourteen trustees, called governors. They are appropriated to the maintenance of several exhibitions in both universities, as mentioned above; to binding out poor boys to various trades, with premiums; to the support of old and infirm widowers and widows, who have houses also to reside in, and to any other charitable purpose which the governors may think proper.

The West Riding House of Correction is situated in Wakefield, and is an extensive and handsome building, walled round. The governor’s house is a noble structure, standing in the south front wall of the prison.

The hall here erected by subscription, is two stories high, about seventy yards in length, and about ten broad. Each story contains a row of stands or repositories, facing each way, and properly labelled, so that any manufacturer’s stand may easily be found. The commencement of this market is announced by the Hall-keeper, by the ringing of a bell suspended in the cupola before mentioned. The Calder navigation has been the means of promoting the trade of this town equally with that of others with which it communicates. The south entrance into the town of Wakefield is over a handsome ancient bridge, built sometime in the reign of Edward III., over the Calder; a fine specimen of ancient masonry, and on a large scale. In the centre is a chapel, projecting from the east side of the bridge, four arches ranging on either hand. At the northeast angle of the chapel is a staircase for ascending into from the water. The east window has much tracery, and the parapet is perforated. The windows on each side of the building, north and south, are equally rich. But all embellishment seems inconsiderable, and all praise inadequate, when referring to the west front, immediately connected with the pass on the bridge. The design is twenty-six feet in breadth, and is divided into seven parts by buttresses; these parts are made out as so many recesses with pointed arched heads and lofty pediments. The second, centre, and sixth parts have doorways (the centre one and sixth bricked up); above is an entablature supporting niches, turrets, and five basso-relievos: these latter decorations are crowned with small battlements.—The several grounds are filled with compartments and traceries, which with the crotchets, finials and other ornaments, are minute and delicate in the extreme.

This superb relic of antiquity, Mr. Bigland observes, was some years since used as a warehouse, and its beautiful embellishments have received considerable damage. The east window hanging over the river, is adorned with various tracery, and the parapets are perforated. The buttresses, finials, traceries, &c. form an assemblage of Gothic embellishments, which for richness and delicacy, can scarcely be excelled, though the west front, facing the passage over the bridge, exceeds all the rest in profusion of ornament. This superb Gothic chapel, has lately been used as a newsroom by a society of gentlemen.

The basso-relievos exhibit the Nativity, Resurrection, and Ascension; the fourth not quite intelligible, (being with the rest, much mutilated), but appears to contain two personages, one on each side of an altar.

This chapel was dedicated to St. Mary, and appears to have been erected shortly after the bridge, by Edward III., in memory of his father, Richard, Duke of York, who fell in the battle of Wakefield: it was afterwards rebuilt and embellished by Edward IV.

Wakefield has been embellished with a new Courthouse, and a new Asylum for the insane, together with many respectable dwelling houses, near the new church. The Black Bull, is a large handsome inn, of modern erection, in the best street.

---

WAKEFIELD is a parliamentary and municipal borough, market town, head of a poor law union and county court district, parish, township and polling place and place of election for the Southern division of the Riding, 9 miles south-east from Leeds, 10 north from Barnsley, 24 north from Sheffield, 13 north-east from Huddersfield, 14 southeast from Bradford, 21 from Doncaster, 29 from York and 181 ¾ from London, in the lower division of Agbrigg wapentake, rural deanery of Wakefield, archdeaconry of Craven and diocese of Ripon. The borough is divided into seven wards and is governed by a mayor, eight aldermen and twenty-four councillors-three councillors for each of the wards of Calder, Northgate, North Westgate, Primrose Hill, St. John’s and south Westgate and six for Kirkgate ward. The town is seated on the navigable river Calder, which communicates, via Goole, with the port of Hull, and is here crossed by a bridge of eight arches. The Great Northern, Midland, Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire, and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Companies have stations in the town. Wakefield is well situated for the purposes of trade, its railway and water communication and supply of coal being excellent.

Wakefield, considered as the shire town of the West Riding, is the site of Her Majesty’s Court of Probate for the Wakefield district, and its central position with respect to the towns of Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Sheffield, Barnsley and Dewsbury, and as a depot for the produce of the agricultural districts, must always render it a place of great importance: it is well supplied with water by a company formed by Act of Parliament in 1835, amended in 1846, the supply being conducted from the river Calder into a reservoir of 6 acres, situated at Stanley, 2 miles north-east: the waterworks have been purchased by the Corporation, who, in 1880, obtained an Act for bringing water from Rishworth moors, near Halifax. The Gas Works were established under an Act passed in 1822 and enlarged by a later Act in 1846.

The parish church of All Saints, in Northgate, is a noble stone edifice, partly in the Early English and otherwise in the Perpendicular style, erected in the reign of Edward III. and consisting of chancel, nave and aisles, with a tower terminating in singular machicolations at the top, and surmounted by a finely-proportioned crocketed spire, rising to the height of 247 feet: it contains a peal of 10 bells, an illuminated clock and a set of chimes; the restoration of this church, commenced in 1857, was finished in 1874 at a cost of £23,047, raised by voluntary subscription; the tower was cased with stone and the spire rebuilt, the vestry removed and a temporary one erected in the north chancel, the wall and outside buttresses and east window rebuilt and a handsome reredos of Caen stone and white marble erected, the chancel laid with stone and black marble, the screen dividing the nave from the chancel extended and open seats of oak, with carved ends, substituted for pews; the tracery of the windows throughout, with the exception of the vestry window, restored; the east and west windows and nine other windows in the south chancel and south aisle filled with stained glass and the font, dating from 1661, repaired: the porch on the north chancel aisle was also removed and a doorway placed in its stead, the south porch restored inside and a flight of steps and a new entrance to the south chancel added and a new approach made to the west or tower entrance; the ceilings of the chancel, nave and aisles were decorated and the Pilkington chapel restored at the expense of Sir L. M. S. Pilkington bart.: this church is 156 feet long and 60 broad, and contains a powerful organ within a handsome case, presented by Frederick Thomas, Earl of Strafford, shortly before his death. The register dates from the year 1613 and is in good condition. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £450 with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Ripon and held by the Rev. Norman Dumenil John Straton M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge, rural dean and surrogate; the Rev. Joseph senior LL.D. who is nonresident, holds the office of Camden lecturer, which is endowed with £100 yearly, under the will of Lady Camden.

St. John’s is an ecclesiastical parish formed in 1844; the church was built by subscription in 1791, at a cost of £10,000, being made parochial jointly with All saints, by ad Act paused in the same year; it is a handsome stone building in the Italian style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles and a domical tower, with a peal of 8 bells: all the chancel windows are stained. The register dates from the year 1792. The living is a perpetual curacy, yearly value £180 with residence, in the gift of the vicar of Wakefield and held by the Rev. Edward Bell M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge, and surrogate.

Holy Trinity is an ecclesiastical parish formed in 1844: the church, in George street, was erected in 1838—9, on land given by the late Robert Hodgson esq.; it is constructed of the stone of the district, and consists of chancel, nave, aisles and square tower with pinnacles. The register dates from the year 1840. The living is a vicarage, with a fluctuating gross yearly income of about £250 and residence, in the gift of five trustees and held by the Rev. Wyndham Monson Madden B.A. of St. John’s College, Cambridge.

St. Andrew’s is an ecclesiastical parish formed in 1844; the church, situated at the top of Warrengate, is a stone building, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles and south porch, completed in 1840, at a cost of £3,000. The register dates from the year 1846. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £150, in the gift of the Crown and Bishop alternately and held by the Rev. William Renwick Bowditch B.A. of St. Peter’s College, Cambridge.

St. Mary’s is an ecclesiastic parish formed in 1844; the church, at Primrose hill, is a stone structure, erected at a cost of £2,150, raised by grants and subscriptions, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles and square tower crowned by a low broach spire; it contains 620 sittings, all of which are free. The register dates from the year 1853. The benefice is a vicarage, yearly value £200 with residence, in the alternate patronage of the Crown and Bishop and held by the Rev. Joseph Dunne, of St. Aidans.

St. Michael’s is an ecclesiastical parish formed in 1862 out of Alverthorpe-with-Thornes township; the church, on Westgate common, was built by subscription in 1859; it is in the Middle Pointed style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles and bell tower, and has 500 sittings, all of which are free and unappropriated; the east window has five lights, all stained; of memorial windows in this church, one on the south side of the chancel is to the Hon. and Rev. C. T. Erskine, first vicar, and was presented by the congregation; another, on the south side of the chancel, is to R. infield esq. and was presented by the family; there are also two windows in the north aisle, one to members of the Halliday family, presented by Mrs. Hide and Miss Archer, and the other in memory of H. Bramley esq. presented by members of his family. The register dates from the year 1858. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £200, in the gift of the vicar of Alverthorpe and held by the Rev. Joseph William Chadwick M.A. of Queen’s College, Oxford.

Christ Church, Thornes lane, consecrated in 1876, is a stone building in the Gothic style, consisting of chancel, nave and aisles, with tower and spire. The register dates from the year 1876. The living is a vicarage, the value derived from endowment, in the gift of Mrs. Disney Robinson and held by the Rev. Herbert Lunin B.A. of Jesus College, Cambridge.

St. Mary’s Chantry, situated on Wakefield bridge and founded by King Edward IV. is a small chapel of Early Perpendicular character, highly enriched, and though much mutilated, was, before its demolition, a beautiful specimen of that style; it was entirely rebuilt by subscription in 1847, at a cost of about £3,000, and displays in its front several very elaborate scriptural representations in carved stone: the present building is an exact copy of the original edifice, is 41 feet long (of which the chancel occupies 14 feet) and 17 feet wide and contains a crypt across the east end measuring 12 feet 8 inches: the building is now again in a very bad state of repair, the finely-carved stone work having gradually decayed.

Queen Elizabeth’s Free Grammar school, founded in 1592, has an income of about £3,000 a year, and is now regulated by a scheme framed by the Charity Commissioners in October, 1875; the school is divided into senior and junior departments, into each of which the boys are admitted by examination; the fees being per term:-Senior department, £4 13s. 4d. and Junior department, £2 13s. 4d.; there are foundation scholarships tenable at the school and Governors’ exhibitions of £60 yearly, tenable at any place of education, together with two exhibitions of £50 yearly at Clare College, Cambridge'; boys from this school have a joint preference with several other schools in competing for two exhibitions at University College and the Hastings Exhibitions at Queen’s College, Oxford. Archbishop Potter and Dr. Radcliffe, the founder of the great library at Oxford, were born in the town and educated at this school.

St. Austin’s Catholic Chapel, in Wentworth terrace, was built in 1828 and enlarged in 1852, and was thoroughly restored in 1880.

The Wesleyans have three chapels in the town; that in West parade, a commodious brick building, erected in 1803 and enlarged in 1844, was also completely renovated in 1880, at a cost of about £3,000, capable of holding a large congregation, and has Sunday schools attached, erected in 1872; of the other two, one on Westgate common, was erected in 1827, and the other, in Stanley road, in 1871, There are two Congregational chapels, with Sunday schools, both in George street; Zion chapel, a handsome stone building, erected in 1782 and rebuilt in 1844, and Salem chapel, a stone and stucco building, erected in 1801.

The Baptist chapel, in Fair Ground road, is a brick building, erected in 1844.

The Methodist New Connexion have a chapel in Grove road, Kirkgate, erected in 1865.

The chapel for Primitive Methodists is a small brick structure in Market street, erected in 1838. In the same street is a handsome chapel belonging to the Methodist Free Church, erected in 1858, and another in Savile street, erected in 1876.

The Unitarian chapel is at Westgate, the Meeting House of the society of Friends in Thornhill street, and the Catholic Apostolic Church Mission Room in Stanley road.

The Town Hall is a handsome stone building, opened by the mayor, William Hartley Lee esq. on the 18th of October, 1880: the architecture adopted is that of the French Renaissance, which still retained a mediaeval feeling, and is here accentuated by the mullioned windows; the stone in front has been elaborately carved in arabesque, at a cost of £800: the front elevation in Wood street is a remarkably striking feature, rising to the height of 80 feet, with a high pitched roof, tiers of dormer windows, open balconies and a massive doorway, it is flanked on the right and overtopped by a lofty and picturesque tower at the north east angle 27 feet by 19 feet 6 inches at the base, and rising to a height of 190 feet, thus constituting a landmark for many miles round; at a convenient elevation it is pierced on either side to admit the dials of a fine clock, above which hang 3 bells, the largest of which weighing 2 tons 14 cwts. 2 quarters, is used for striking the hours, and the other two weighing respectively 9 and 17 cwt. are used as alarm bells in case of fire; within the tower are two large water cisterns connected with hydrants in the corridors: on entering through the principal doorway, a spacious lobby is reached, communicating with all parts of the building; this hall or lobby is supported by an elegant series of arches and pilasters of Casn stone, and is floored with marbles of various colors, hence access is gained to the different offices and committee rooms; within there is a court yard 1,480 feet square, hall keepers’ rooms and other offices: the council chamber is on the first floor front, overlooking Wood street, and is 57 feet long, 34 feet wide and 26 feet high; it is floored with oak, and panelled to the height of 13 feet with American walnut, a screen of walnut wood richly carved, enclosing the spectators’ gallery: the walls of the borough court are also oak-panelled, and all the fittings are of the same material; the dock communicates immediately with the cells beneath: the banqueting room is on the second floor and nearly corresponds in size with the council chamber below it, but is not so lofty; the entire cost of the building, inclusive of furniture, was about £70,000, the architect being T. E. Collcutt esq. of London. The Wakefield borough justices sit at the Borough Court in petty session on Monday, Wednesday and Friday in each week at ten o’clock.

Wakefield Borough Burial Ground, Doncaster road, in the parish of sandal Magna, opened in August 1859, has an area of 20a. 0r. 9 ½p.; the extent of the consecrated part being 8a. 1r. 28 ½p. and of the unconsecrated, 11a. 2r. 21p.; there are two mortuary chapels.

The Corn Exchange, in Westgate, is a handsome and commodious building, including a spacious concert room and various offices, and erected in 1837, with capital raised by means of shares; markets are held every Friday.

Her Majesty’s Prison, in Love lane, covers an area of upwards of 20 acres, having been enlarged in 1846, at a cost of £120,000, and now contains 1,451 separate cells, but the convict establishment was broken up in 1867. The male and female hospital will hold fifty-eight male and twenty-eight female patients, and the fever hospital thirty-eight patients.

The West Riding Panper Lunatic Asylum, Eastmoor, in the township of Stanley, is an extensive establishment, opened in 1818, since which it has been enlarged at different periods, and has cost for land and buildings upwards of £200,000; at present it contains about 1,410 patients; the building contains a dining hall, kitchen and other offices, and has attached a well-built chapel, in the Gothic stye, gas factory and farm steadings.

The West Riding. Sessions House, in Wood street, is a noble stone structure, with a portico of four Doric columns, supporting a pediment, on the apex of which stands a figure of Justice; in front of the building is placed one of the Russian guns, captured at Sebastopol. The West Riding quarter sessions are held at Wakefield in April, July and October, and at the Town Hall, Leeds, in January. The West Riding justices acting in and for the division of Lower Agbrigg, sit in petty session on Monday and Friday in each week at eleven o’clock, and on Wednesday, one West Riding justice attends at twelve o’clock to issue summonses and warrants, and to dispose of prisoners.

The Mechanics’ Institution, a stone building in Wood street, contains a saloon, used as a lecture-room, a good library of 8,210 volumes, and newsroom with warm and cold baths underneath.

The Church Institution and Library, at the top of Westgate, was erected in 1861, at a cost of £3,000, and further aided by a bazaar in 1876; the objects of the institution being the maintenance and advancement of the principles of the Church of England, the promotion of general knowledge, the cultivation of church music and the encouragement of intercourse amongst all classes of churchmen. The library contains 3,140 volumes.

Holy Trinity Young Men’s society, in George street, was formed in 1868, and contains a library of 600 volumes and a billiard room.

The Wakefield Junior Club is in Queen street, contains a recreation room, with daily papers, and a billiard room with two tables.

The General Post Office, in Market street, is a handsome building of red brick, with stone dressings, opened August 1st, 1876.

Here are three banks, the West Riding Bank (Messrs. Leatham, Tew & Co.), in Wood street, the Wakefield and Barnsley Union Bank and the Leeds and County Bank in Westgate.

The savings Bank is a handsome building, situated in Burton street; open on Friday and on Saturday evenings to receive deposits.

The Wakefield Public Baths, in Almshouse lane, erected in 1874, consist of a spacious red brick building, containing swimming, tepid, shower and hot water baths.

The Industrial and Fine Art Institution, in Bell street, is in connection with the science and Art Department, south Kensington.

The Borough Police station is a handsome building of stone, erected at the top of King street, 1878—9. The West Riding Constabulary station is at Cliff house, near the savings Bank. The Police station for the Lower Agbrigg division is in the sessions House, Wood street.

The Office for the Registration of Deeds for the West Riding, in Westgate, opposite All saints’ church, is a fireproof building of stone.

The office of the Court of Probate, in King street, is a stone building, erected in 1863.

The Market House, Market place, and slaughterhouses, on the north side of the parish church, have been erected by the Borough Market Company, at a cost of upwards of £56,000; the Market House being a plain brick building, in the centre of the Market place, a wide area of 3 acres and now the property of Benjamin Shaw esq. of Cowick Park, Snaith.

The Head Quarters of the Fifth West Yorkshire Rifle Volunteers, a force of 278 men, in Bank street and Fair Ground road, consists of a spacious building, containing drill room, armoury, orderly room and sergeants’ quarters, with an adjacent drill ground.

The West Riding Industrial Home, designed for the reformation of women who have served their term of imprisonment in the West Riding House of Correction, is situated in st John’s place.

The Industrial Home, for giving employment, temporary board and lodging, to discharged prisoners, in Westgate, was burnt down in January, 1881.

Clayton Hospital, opened July 30th. 1879, is a building externally Flemish in character, with a frontage of 287 feet, and a central tower 70 feet in height: this hospital is planned on the Pavilion system, with accident and special wards, operating theatre, day rooms and offices, conveniently arranged: the administrative department is placed in the centre of the building, with the kitchens &c. in the rear; the mortuary with laundry is situated at the south side of the site: the entrance for the staff, under the tower, is approached from Victoria square on the north and that for accidents from Northgate: there is also a spacious waiting room with dispensary: the hospital is constructed to accommodate 52 patients, with provision for future extension: the walls of the building are, externally, faced with Elland edge wall stones and Ashlar dressings from the quarries near Huddersfield, and lined with brick; vitiated air is extracted by means of air shafts, connected to the copper cylinders placed in the roof and fitted with rings of gas jets, the exit shafts being carried into the ventilators provided for them: William Bakewell esq. of Leeds, was the architect: the building, erected at a cost of about £25,000, stands on a site between Wentworth street and Northgate, about two acres in extent, and is surrounded with beautiful grounds.

The charities of Wakefield, administered by a body of fourteen gentlemen, called Governors of the Wakefield Charities, realize an annual income of about £5,000; here are also other charities, producing £400 a year, including Bromley’s gift of £700 yearly for apprenticing: the poor’s estate producing £580; and Harrison’s charity of £200 yearly, for £10 each to twenty poor persons. There are besides, almshouses, viz.:-T. Horne’s endowed with £400 yearly, for ten women, and W. Horne’s with £278, for ten men.

Four weekly newspapers are published in the town, on Friday “The Echo,” and on Saturday, the “Wakefield Express,” the “Wakefield and West Riding Herald,” and “The Wakefield Free Press.”

The trade carried on by means of the river Calder and the Aire and Calder Navigation, particularly in corn, is very extensive. Boats are built here and fitted either for inland navigation or the coasting trade. The soil of the neighbourhood is loam and clay. The vicinity abounds in market gardens, and great quantities of vegetables are taken to the neighbouring towns.

There are many collieries around the borough of Wakefield, producing an abundance of coal, suitable for domestic as well as for manufacturing purposes.

A considerable business is carried on here in spinning, knitting worsted, cocoa fibre, carpet yarns and china grass. There are rag grinding and flock mills, chemical works, soap works, iron foundries, manufactories for iron boilers, agricultural implements, several machine works and corn mills, and many other large establishments. Malting and brewing also hold an important place.

The chief support of the town is its corn market, which is visited by merchants from all the neighbouring counties, and a great amount of business is done. The weekly market is held on Fridays for corn, meat, vegetables, fruit and fish, and a cattle market every Wednesday, which is largely attended by graziers and dealers. There are two fairs, held on the 4th and 5th of July, and the 11th and 12th of November, annually, for cattle and sheep, held on a piece of ground called the Fair ground, containing 2a. 3r. 16p. and belonging to the town charities.

Wakefield is mentioned in Domesday Book. The Romans had probably a station in the township of Stanley, and some years since a number of moulds for coining with the coin, in several instances, still remaining in the matrix, were found in a field here, and are now deposited in the British Museum. Formerly all the inhabitants of the soke of Wakefield were compelled to grind their corn at the soke Mills; the late Sir Thomas Pilkington bart. of Chevet Hall, being owner of the Soke: an Act of Parliament was passed in 1853 to enable the inhabitants to purchase the rights of Sokeage for the sum of £18,000, raised by rates, to be repaid, with interest, in six years, at the rate of £4,000 a year: and a board of trustees was elected for carrying out the object.

The manor of Wakefield, with its ‘ Berewicks,' was a demesne of Edward the Confessor, and forms an extensive baronial liberty, extending westward to the borders of Lancashire and Cheshire, and several miles eastward of the town. The Rt. Hon. Lord Conyers is lord of the manor. The manor court is held at the Moot Hall, opposite All saints’ church. The office of the Deputy stewards of the Manor, called the Rolls’ office, adjoining the Moot Hall, is used for the transaction of general business connected with the manor.

The area of the borough is 1,553a. 2r. 30 p.; of the entire parish 10,056 acres; the gross estimated rental of Wakefield is £126,329 19s. 0d.; rateable value, £119,926 17s. 0d.; the entire population of the parish is 68,802.

The municipal and parliamentary limits are coextensive; the population in 1871 was:—

Petty sessions are held at the West Riding sessions House, Wood street, every Monday & Friday. The places in the division are:-Ackton, Altofts, Alverthorpe, Ardsley (East), Ardsley (West), Bretton (West), Carlton, Chevet, Crigglestone, Crofton, Emley, Flockton, Horbury, Lofthouse, Methley, Middlestown, Middleton, Midgley, Netherton, Newland-cum-Woodhouse Moor, Normanton, Oulton, Overton, Rothwell, Rothwell Haigh, Royds Green, Sandal Magna, Sharlestone, Snydale, Stanley, Thornes, Thorp, Walton, Warmfield-cum-Heath. Whitwood, Woodlesford, Wrenthorpe.

Wakefield Union

The Union comprises the following parishes & townships:-Altofts, Alverthorpe, East Ardsley, West Ardsley or Woodkirk, West Bretton, Chevet, Crigstlestone, Crofton, Emley, Flockton, Horbury, Lofthouse-with-Carlton, Newland-with-Woodhouse Moor, Normanton, sandal Magna, Sharlston, Shitlington, Stanley-with-Wrenthorpe, Thorp, Wakefield, Walton & Warmfield-cum-Heath. The total population of the union in 1861 was 53,021 (1871) 68,802; the area is 39,075 acres; rateable value, £398,664.

PLACES OF WORSHIP (with times of service).

CHURCHES.

*** R. Signifies Rectory, v. Vicarage, P.C. Perpetual Curacy.

SCHOOLS

Board schools

Hast moor, Eastmoor road, W. Arnold, master; Miss M. E. Eastburn, mistress; Miss M. A. Rhodes, infants’ mistress.

Westgate, Westgate, Henry Samuel Goodyear, master; Mrs. Mary B. Goodyear, mistress.

Queen Elizabeth’s Free Grammar, top of Northgate, Robert Leighton Leighton M.A. headmaster & six assistant masters.

Girls’ Endowed High Class, Wentworth street, Miss Ellen Allen, headmistress.

School of Art, Bell street, John Swire, headmaster; Saml. Bruce LL.B. Hon. sec.

Catholic, Teall street (mixed), Miss Georgina Smith. mistress; Miss Mary Jennings, infants’ mistress.

Christ Church National, Thornes lane, Thomas Edward Wilkinson, master; Miss Emily Sykes, mistress.

All saints’ National. Zetland St. James Reyner, master: Miss Martha Sidebottom, mistress; Miss Louisa Ann Hill, infants’ mistress.

Holy Trinity National, George street, Edward Wilkinson, master; Miss Ada Griinshaw, mistress; Miss Emily Oates, infants’ mistress.

Lancasterian, Margaret street, William Chadwick, master; Miss Agnes Knight, mistress; Miss Helen Wilson, infants’ mistress.

St. Andrew’s National, Stanley road, Thomas Line, master; Mrs. Clara Line, mistress.

St. Mary’s National, Charles street, Hy. Stanway, master; Miss Emma Fox, mistress.

St. Michael’s National, Horbury rd. John Dove, master; girls’, Westgate common, Miss Ellen Burkinshaw, mistress; infants’, Miss Ellen Brewerton.

St. Johns National, Wentworth street, John Younger Walker, master.

St. Johns (infant), Clarendon street, Miss Fanny Wilkinson, mistress.

Wesleyan, Thornhill street, John Hy. Armitage, master: Miss Mary Ann Kensington, mistress.

NEWSPAPERS

Wakefield Echo, published on Friday, John Towns Copley, manager, White swan yard, Westgate.

Wakefield Express, published Saturday, Thomas Perkin Robinson, proprietor & publisher, Westgate.

Wakefield Free Press, published daily & weekly, William Rowlandson Hall, proprietor & publisher, 21 Kirkgate.

Wakefield West Riding Herald, published Saturday, Esau Carr, publisher, Westgate.

RAILWAYS

Great Northern Railway Co. & Manchester, Sheffield Lincolnshire, station, Westgate, William Irvin Hague, station master. Goods Department, Martin Robert Manley, manager, Back lane.

Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Company station, Monk street, William Dundas, locomotive superintendent; J. Wharton, district goods superintendent; Abraham Walton, station master; Ferdinand Dews, goods agent.

Midland Railway Co. Station, Westgate. Goods Department, Back lane, Benjamin Wright, manager.

General Railway Office, Mrs. Anne Bennett, agent, Northgate.