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Wakefield is a town in the county of West Yorkshire, England, south of Leeds, and by the River Calder. Its population was 74,764 in 1991. Today it forms part of the City of Wakefield metropolitan borough. The town was a centre for cloth dealing and had its own Piece Hall . The cathedral was restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott.
Its name is often said to derive from "Wacca's field" -- the field belonging to Wacca. However, it is more likely to have evolved from Old English wacu, meaning "a watch or wake", and feld, an open field in which a wake was held (Reaney, 1964, p.161). In the Domesday Book in 1086, it was listed as Wachefeld (Mills, 1998, p. 361).
Cheapside is the longest continuous street of woolstaplers' warehouses in England. Despite being one of the poorer areas of the country, Wakefield has a very large range of cultural attraction - including an art gallery, a sculpture park, Sandal Castle and a museum. Less celebrated is its prison, which is the most high-security in the whole of Britain.
Wakefield is also distinctive in having had an unusually high amount of council housing, although this led to a situation where, by 2004, the council could no longer keep up with the maintenance of the houses and sold them all off to a housing association. As council housing made up more than a quarter of the Wakefield district, this was the second largest stock transfer in British history. The city of Wakefield itself contains seven council estates and was almost 50% council-rented, whilst the wider Wakefield district also includes nearby towns such as Pontefract, Castleford, Hemsworth and OssettOssett [pronounced "Oss-it"] is a town in the county of West Yorkshire, England. It is located half-way between Dewsbury, to the west, and Wakefield, to the east. The town was a centre of the "shoddy" industry, the recycling of woollen garments. The novel.
In 1460Events March 5 King Christian I of Denmark declares the unity of the two provinces of Schleswig and Holstein, who have been treated as one ever since (albeit under different national affiliations). March 6 Treaty of Alcacovas Portugal gives Castile the Ca, during the Wars of the RosesThe Wars of the Roses 1455 to 1487, is the name generally given to the intermittent civil war fought over the throne of England between adherents of the House of Lancaster and the House of York. Both houses were branches of the Plantagenet royal house, tr, the Duke of York was defeated near this city (then a town) in the Battle of WakefieldThe Battle of Wakefield took place at Wakefield, in Yorkshire, on December 30, 1460, and was one of the major actions of the Wars of the Roses. The opposing factions were a royal army, nominally commanded by Margaret of Anjou, and the supporters of Richar.
Although Wakefield is not famous for its sport, there are a number of clubs and teams that play in Wakefield. Examples include Wakefield-Emley Football Club, Leeds United FC Reserves, Wakefield Hockey Club and Wakefield Trinity WildcatsWakefield Trinity are a professional rugby league club based in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. They play in the Superleague. They were founded by the church of the same name. They are sometimes refered to simply as 'Wakey'. They wear white with red and blue t.
Famous people born in or near Wakefield include:
Famous songs regarding Wakefield include: