West Bretton
Encyclopedia
West Bretton is a village
and civil parish in the City of Wakefield
in West Yorkshire
, England. It lies 7 miles (11.3 km) from Wakefield
, close to junction 38 of the M1 motorway
. It has a population of 546.
There is a school in the village, West Bretton Junior and Infant School, and a church, which is a Anglican-Methodist local ecumenical partnership. There is no pub in the village, but at Midgley, there is the Black Bull; the Station pub and the Old Post Office pub are nearby. The closest shop to the village is the Blacker Hall farm shop, which sells local produce.
acquired the hall in 1792 employing John Carr
, the Horbury
born architect, to remodel the library and dining room in 1793. The hall was enlarged between 1811 and 1814 and the stables built from 1842 to 1852. The hall and other buildings and bridges in Bretton Park are Grade II listed structures. In 1949, the hall became Bretton Hall College, a teacher training college, which was later affiliated to the University of Leeds
. It closed in 2006. Bretton Hall is owned by Wakefield Council.
, the chapelry of West Bretton was partly in the parish of Sandal Magna
in the wapentake of Agbrigg and Morley
and partly in the parish of Silkstone
in the wapentake of Staincross
. It became part of the Wakefield Poor Law Union
in 1837. West Bretton became part of Wakefield Rural District, created in 1894 and abolished 1974, when it became part of the City of Wakefield
Metropolitan District Council.
flows west to east through its landscaped valley in Bretton Park where it is dammed forming two lakes. West Bretton is on the A637 Barnsley
to Huddersfield
road, south west of the junction with the A636 Wakefield to Denby Dale
road and close to the M1 motorway
, which passes to the east of the village.
, consists of 0.8 square kilometres (197.7 acre) of landscaped ground with a large collection of sculpture
s including some by Elisabeth Frink
, some by Auguste Rodin
, and others by local sculptors Barbara Hepworth
, born in Wakefield
, and Henry Moore
, born in Castleford
.
turned artist Jack Russell
to visit the ground and paint a landscape of the pitch and clubhouse. A team from the club recently won the Copmanthorpe 8s tournament in Copmanthorpe, York. The ground is a classic example of village cricket, with its picturesque setting adjacent to the sculpture park.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish in the City of Wakefield
City of Wakefield
The City of Wakefield is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough. Wakefield is the district's administrative centre. The district includes the "Five Towns" of Normanton, Pontefract, Featherstone, Castleford and Knottingley. Other...
in West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England. It lies 7 miles (11.3 km) from Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
, close to junction 38 of the M1 motorway
M1 motorway
The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
. It has a population of 546.
There is a school in the village, West Bretton Junior and Infant School, and a church, which is a Anglican-Methodist local ecumenical partnership. There is no pub in the village, but at Midgley, there is the Black Bull; the Station pub and the Old Post Office pub are nearby. The closest shop to the village is the Blacker Hall farm shop, which sells local produce.
Toponymy
Bretton is the farmstead of the Britons and derives from the Old English, Brettas and ton. It was recorded as Bretone in the Domesday Book of 1086 and West Bretton in 1200.Bretton Hall
Bretton Hall was built about 1720 by Sir William Wentworth, assisted by James Moyser, in 500 acres (2 km²) of lakes and parkland. The Beaumont family, the Viscounts AllendaleViscount Allendale
Viscount Allendale, of Allendale and Hexham in the County of Northumberland, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 5 July 1911 for the Liberal politician Wentworth Beaumont, 2nd Baron Allendale...
acquired the hall in 1792 employing John Carr
John Carr
John Carr was a prolific English architect. He was born in Horbury, near Wakefield, England, the eldest of nine children and the son of a master mason, under whom he trained. He started an independent career in 1748 and continued until shortly before his death. John Carr was Lord Mayor of York in...
, the Horbury
Horbury
-Demography:In 2008 Horbury had a largely white population compared with Yorkshire and the Humber.-Population change:The population of Horbury in 2001 was 10,002-Transport:...
born architect, to remodel the library and dining room in 1793. The hall was enlarged between 1811 and 1814 and the stables built from 1842 to 1852. The hall and other buildings and bridges in Bretton Park are Grade II listed structures. In 1949, the hall became Bretton Hall College, a teacher training college, which was later affiliated to the University of Leeds
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
. It closed in 2006. Bretton Hall is owned by Wakefield Council.
Governance
Historically part of the West Riding of YorkshireWest Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
, the chapelry of West Bretton was partly in the parish of Sandal Magna
Sandal, Wakefield
-Governance:Sandal was anciently a parish town in the Agbrigg Division of the wapentake of Agbrigg and Morley in the liberty of Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire. Following the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, Sandal Magna became one of the 17 constituent parishes of the Wakefield Poor Law Union...
in the wapentake of Agbrigg and Morley
Agbrigg and Morley
Agbrigg and Morley was a wapentake of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was split into two divisions, which in the mid-nineteenth century became wapentakes in their own right....
and partly in the parish of Silkstone
Silkstone
Silkstone is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, between the towns of Barnsley and Penistone, and includes the village of Silkstone Common...
in the wapentake of Staincross
Staincross
Staincross is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley , on the border with West Yorkshire. Formerly part of the now defunct Barnsley West and Penistone borough constituency, following the Boundary Commission for England's report on South Yorkshire's Parliamentary constituencies in 2004...
. It became part of the Wakefield Poor Law Union
Poor Law Union
A Poor Law Union was a unit used for local government in the United Kingdom from the 19th century. The administration of the Poor Law was the responsibility of parishes, which varied wildly in their size, populations, financial resources, rateable values and requirements...
in 1837. West Bretton became part of Wakefield Rural District, created in 1894 and abolished 1974, when it became part of the City of Wakefield
City of Wakefield
The City of Wakefield is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough. Wakefield is the district's administrative centre. The district includes the "Five Towns" of Normanton, Pontefract, Featherstone, Castleford and Knottingley. Other...
Metropolitan District Council.
Geography
The River DearneRiver Dearne
The River Dearne is a river in South Yorkshire, England. It flows roughly east for more than , from its source just inside West Yorkshire, through Denby Dale, Clayton West, Darton, Barnsley, Darfield, Wath upon Dearne, Bolton on Dearne, Adwick upon Dearne and Mexborough to its confluence with the...
flows west to east through its landscaped valley in Bretton Park where it is dammed forming two lakes. West Bretton is on the A637 Barnsley
Barnsley
Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...
to Huddersfield
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Leeds and Manchester. It lies north of London, and south of Bradford, the nearest city....
road, south west of the junction with the A636 Wakefield to Denby Dale
Denby Dale
Denby Dale is a village and civil parish in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England, to the South East of Huddersfield. As a civil parish it covers the villages of Denby Dale, Lower Denby, Upper Denby, Upper Cumberworth, Lower Cumberworth, Skelmanthorpe, Emley, Emley...
road and close to the M1 motorway
M1 motorway
The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
, which passes to the east of the village.
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
The Yorkshire Sculpture ParkYorkshire Sculpture Park
The Yorkshire Sculpture Park in West Bretton, Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England is an open-air gallery showing work by UK and international artists, including Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth...
, consists of 0.8 square kilometres (197.7 acre) of landscaped ground with a large collection of sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
s including some by Elisabeth Frink
Elisabeth Frink
Dame Elisabeth Jean Frink, DBE, CH, RA was an English sculptor and printmaker...
, some by Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin
François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
, and others by local sculptors Barbara Hepworth
Barbara Hepworth
Dame Barbara Hepworth DBE was an English sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism, and with such contemporaries as Ivon Hitchens, Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, Naum Gabo she helped to develop modern art in Britain.-Life and work:Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth was born on 10 January 1903 in Wakefield,...
, born in Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
, and Henry Moore
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....
, born in Castleford
Castleford
Castleford is the largest of the "five towns" district in the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It is near Pontefract, and has a population of 37,525 according to the 2001 Census, but has seen a rise in recent years and is now around 45-50,000. To the north...
.
Sport
West Bretton Cricket Club is located on Park Lane and has two teams in the Pontefract & District Cricket League, in Divisions 2 and 5. The Sunday side plays in the Barnsley & District Sunday League, in Division 1. In 2007 the club celebrated its centenary year, and marked the occasion by inviting the former England wicket-keeperWicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...
turned artist Jack Russell
Jack Russell (cricketer and artist)
Robert Charles "Jack" Russell MBE is a retired English international cricketer, now known for his abilities as an artist, as a cricket wicketkeeping coach and football goalkeeping coach.-Biography:...
to visit the ground and paint a landscape of the pitch and clubhouse. A team from the club recently won the Copmanthorpe 8s tournament in Copmanthorpe, York. The ground is a classic example of village cricket, with its picturesque setting adjacent to the sculpture park.