Upton 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 ...

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 had a population of 3,541 in the 2001 census. It is situated south of Badsworth and north of

North Elmsall North Elmsall ( ) is a village and civil parish in the City of Wakefield district in West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 4,093 in 2001 and 3,873 in 2011. Until 1974 it was part of Hemsworth Rural District. The parish is seven mil ...

and is part of the SESKU (

South Elmsall South Elmsall ( ) is a town and civil parish in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. South Elmsall lies to the east of Hemsworth The town had a population in 2001 of 6,107, increasing to 6,519 at the 2011 Census. History The town ...

South Kirkby South Kirkby is a town in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England which is governed locally by South Kirkby and Moorthorpe Town Council. The town forms half of the civil parish of South Kirkby and Moorthorpe. The parish has a population ...

, Upton) area. The village is also in the WF9 postal area (

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 ...

) and very close to the

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

boundary.

History

The village is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, where it is noted as having a church. The name literally means ''Higher Town'' and is recorded as ''Uptune'', ''Uptone'' and ''Opton'' in old documents. Historically, the village was in the

wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Southern Schleswig, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek, C ...

of Osgoldcross and the parish of Badsworth. In 1885, the

Hull and Barnsley Railway Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in af ...

opened a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

at the south end of the village, which also served the community of North Elmsall. In 1924, Upton Colliery was opened to the south east of the village, but was closed in 1964 due to geological faulting and a serious explosion which required the shafts to be sealed. A former coal mining community, regeneration is in progress as a housing overflow for the more expensive areas of

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

and Pontefract. In the 1960s the village was in its prime due to the strong mining community, with retail outlets such as "Mr Farthings" Chemist, and "Mr Kings" newsagents.

Sport

The village was home to Upton Colliery F.C. who appeared in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

and featured Charlie Williams as a player. A short-lived

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

track was opened near the village by the Carters' Knottingley Brewery Co Ltd. The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body, the

National Greyhound Racing Club The National Greyhound Racing Club was an organisation that governed Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom. History The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) was formed in 1928 and this body would be responsible for regulation, licensing and the r ...

) and was thus known as a "flapping track", which was the nickname given to independent tracks. The lease was granted in 1933 to the tenant of the Greenfield Hotel, who wanted to attract the local mining community. The Greenfield Hotel and track are believed to have closed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, with the six-acre site being made available for housing in 1947. The Carters' Knottingley Brewery Co Ltd also leased out greyhound tracks at Great Houghton and

Notable people

Recent recognised villagers include playwright

John Godber John Harry Godber (born 18 May 1956) is known mainly for observational comedies. The ''Plays and Players Yearbook'' of 1993 rated him the third most performed playwright in the UK after William Shakespeare and Alan Ayckbourn. He has been cre ...

, and Ada Mason (formerly the oldest living woman in England).

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in West Yorkshire Geography of the City of Wakefield Civil parishes in West Yorkshire

History

Sport

Notable people

See also

References

External links