Hessle and Hill Top is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the

City of Wakefield The City of Wakefield is a local government district with the status of a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Wakefield, the largest settlement, is the administrative centre of the district. The population of the City of ...

district 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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Scattered settlement in the rural parish includes the hamlet of Hessle, which lies about northwest of the village of

Ackworth Moor Top Ackworth is a village and civil parish in the metropolitan borough of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It stands between Pontefract, Barnsley and Doncaster on the River Went. It has four parts: High Ackworth, Low Ackworth, Ackworth Moor Top, ...

and southwest of the town of

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wake ...

. At the 2011 census the parish was grouped with the small neighbouring parish of

West Hardwick West Hardwick is a village and civil parish in the City of Wakefield in 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 eastw ...

, and a combined population of 138 was recorded.

Governance

Until 1974, Hessle and Hill Top was part of

Hemsworth Rural District Hemsworth was, from 1894 to 1974, a rural district in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Creation The district was formed by the Local Government Act 1894 as successor to the Hemsworth Rural Sanitary District. A directly elected rural d ...

. The parish still falls within the

Hemsworth Hemsworth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire and had a population of 13,311 at the 2001 census, ...

UK parliament constituency.

Nostell Nostell is a village in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, near Hemsworth. It is in the civil parish of Huntwick with Foulby and Nostell, which had a population of 90 in 2001, and 164 at the 2011 census (including Wintersett) ...

, a smaller village to the west, is grouped with Hessle and Hill Top as well as several other small parishes as a division of Wakefield City Council.

The parish

The earliest recorded date for the parish is 1066, referred to as Hessle, derived from meaning hazel tree, under the administrative unit of Odgodcross and attributed to a Lord Alward in 1066 and then to Lord Mauger of Elington 20 years later. In the 1870s, Hessle, previously known as Hasel, was described as :"a township in Wragby parish...4 miles E of Wakefield" Hessle and Hill Top is a small parish largely consisting of green space and countryside, with the woodland and agricultural farm land making up roughly 95% of the total land use, however only 6.1% of the parish use these spaces. Within the parish there are 66 dwellings. Five of them, dating between 1641 and 1810 are

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The majority of households in the parish are three-bedroom detached or semi-detached properties. Due to the parish's small size there are almost no local shops within the parish, however there are many other neighbouring settlements which do provide such services, the closest being Ackworth. There are two scenic walks that go through Hessle and Hill Top and the neighbouring parish of Ackworth, visiting most of both parishes' landmarks and places of interest. The nearest railway stations are at Pontefract,

Featherstone Featherstone is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, two miles south-west of Pontefract. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 2011 ...

and Fitzwilliam.

Population

The population of Hessle and Hill Top has shown a decrease since 1881 from a total population of 296 to its current population of 138, according to the 2011 census, as part of a steady trend since the beginning of the 20th century. People aged 40 years old and over make up 73% of the population of the parish. Other indicators of an ageing population include the mean age being 45.6 years, 6 years older than the national average. The parish has an almost entirely white population, with only one person being of mixed race and the other 137 of white British descent.

References

{{Reflist Civil parishes in West Yorkshire Geography of the City of Wakefield

Governance

The parish

Population

See also

References