Gawthorpe is a village to the north of

Ossett Ossett is a market town in the City of Wakefield metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated between Dewsbury, Horbury and Wakefield. At the 2011 Census, the population was ...

, in the

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

district, in the county of

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England. It is roughly midway between

and Dewsbury north of the A638. Gawthorpe's name derives from Gorky, a Viking name, and thorpe was a settlement, but evidence suggests the village may have Roman origins. Gawthorpe's Mayday celebrations date back to at least 1875 when a seventy-foot fir tree was bought and erected by public subscription on the village green. The maypole was last replaced in 1986. Gawthorpe Water Tower is a Grade II listed concrete structure built between 1922 and 1928 to store drinking water for the Ossett area. The 55m tall tower is a prominent local landmark of the Ossett and Gawthorpe area. Gawthorpe hosts the World Coal Carrying Championships. The Championships were originally run from the Shaw Cross colliery to the May Pole, although the collieries in this area all closed in the Robens era. It also gives its name to the Gawthorpe seam of coal, which stretches from the village down through

Horbury Horbury is a town in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated north of the River Calder about three miles (5 km) south west of Wakefield and two miles (3 km) to the ...

and

Crigglestone Crigglestone is a village and civil parish in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It is recorded as "Crigeston" (along with neighbouring "Orberie") in the Domesday Book. The civil parish had a population of 9,271 at the 2011 Census ...

References

{{authority control Villages in West Yorkshire Geography of the City of Wakefield Ossett Novelty running

See also

References