Ledsham is a village and

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 ...

north of

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

and east of

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

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. The village is in the

City of Leeds The City of Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Garforth, Guiseley, Horsforth, Morley, Otley, Pudsey, Rothwell, W ...

metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan ...

and near to the A1 Great North Road. It has a population of 162, increasing to 181 at the 2011 Census.

Etymology

Ledsham is first mentioned in a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

of around 1030 in the form ''Ledesham''. Like nearby

Ledston Ledston is a village and civil parish north of Castleford and east of Leeds in the county of West Yorkshire, England. The village is in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough. It had a population of 400 in 2001, which decreased slightly to 3 ...

, the name seems to refer to Leeds (or the Old English precursor of this name, ''Loidis'', which denoted a region rather than a town); the second element is the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

word ''hām'' ('homestead, farm'). The name thus meant 'the farm belonging to the region of Loidis'. Ledsham parish once also included the township of Fairburn, whose name is likewise first attested around 1030, as ''Faren-burne''. This name comes from the Old English words ''fearn'' ('fern') and ''burna'' ('spring, stream'), and thus meant 'spring characterised by ferns'.

Geography

To the east is Selby Fork junction, which is also partly in

South Milford South Milford is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. The civil parish includes the hamlet of Lumby, located south-west of the main village. The village was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire un ...

, in North Yorkshire, but previously in the West Riding; in the early 1960s, the

M62 motorway The M62 is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting Liverpool and Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; of the route is shared with the M60 orbital motorway around Manchester. The road is part of ...

was planned to have its eastern terminus at Ledsham, possibly at the Selby Fork junction.

Charactistics

There is a late seventh-century

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

church (the oldest church and the oldest building standing in West Yorkshire), and nearby

Ledston Hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gr ...

. The village school, like schools in Collingham and Thorp Arch, is named after

Lady Elizabeth Hastings Lady Elizabeth Hastings (19 April 1682 – 21 December 1739), also known as Lady Betty, was an English philanthropist, religious devotee and supporter of women's education. She was an intelligent and energetic woman, with a wide circle of conn ...

. Ledsham have a cricket team, who currently play in the

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

League.Ledsham Cricket Club

References

External links

* Villages in West Yorkshire Places in Leeds Civil parishes in West Yorkshire {{WestYorkshire-geo-stub

Etymology

Geography

Charactistics

See also

References

External links