Castleford is a town within the

City of Wakefield Wakefield, also known as the City of Wakefield, is a Local government in England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status and a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. Wakefield, the largest settl ...

district,

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the River Aire and the Aire and Calder Navigation. It is located north east of

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

, north of

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. It lies to the east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the ...

and south east of

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. Castleford is the largest town in the Wakefield district after Wakefield itself. The town is the site of a Roman settlement. Within the historical

Municipal Borough of Castleford The Municipal Borough of Castleford was a local government district in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1955 to 1974 around the town of Castleford, covering Airedale, Castleford, Airedale, New Fryston, Altofts and Whitwood, Whitwood, Cutsyke, G ...

are the suburbs of Airedale, Cutsyke, Ferry Fryston, Fryston Village,

Glasshoughton Glasshoughton is a neighbourhood of Castleford in the City of Wakefield, Wakefield district of West Yorkshire, England. The area is next to Junction 32 of the M62 motorway and the Glasshoughton railway station, and borders Pontefract. Glassho ...

, Half Acres, Hightown, Lock Lane, Townville, Wheldale and Whitwood. Castleford is home to the

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

team

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...

History

Castleford's history dates back to Roman times, archaeological evidence points to modern day Castleford being built upon a

Roman army The Roman army () served ancient Rome and the Roman people, enduring through the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), the Roman Republic (509–27 BC), and the Roman Empire (27 BC–AD 1453), including the Western Roman Empire (collapsed Fall of the W ...

settlement which was called Lagentium (thought to mean 'The Place of the Swordsmen'). Roman funeral urns have been found in modern-day Castleford, giving further evidence to this theory. A Roman milestone was unearthed in Beancroft Road, now believed to be in Leeds City Museum. Queen's Park in Castleford provides evidence of Roundhouses used by the Anglo Saxons. This was a strategic area due to the views of the entire settlement. The history of the area includes

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

's encampment in nearby Knottingley and Ferrybridge (originally thought to be in Castleford itself) whilst his forces laid siege to Pontefract Castle. In the 19th century, Castleford became a

boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although t ...

with the population growing from 1,000 to 14,000 as collieries opened around the town; however, these collieries closed in the 20th century. Ferrybridge Power Station and

Kellingley Colliery Kellingley Colliery, known affectionately as ''the 'Big K, was a deep coal mine in North Yorkshire, England, east of Ferrybridge power station. It was owned and operated by UK Coal. The colliery closed on 18 December 2015, marking the end ...

have also closed (in 2015 and 2016 respectively) and used to employ Castleford residents. The newer warehouses and distribution centres in

have brought in many new jobs to the area. In 2008 ''

Grand Designs ''Grand Designs'' is a British television series that has broadcast on Channel 4 since 29 April 1999 and is presented by Kevin McCloud. Format Episodes generally follow a regular format, with small variations depending on the progress of t ...

'' presenter Kevin McCloud and

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

led a community regeneration scheme to redevelop Castleford. In February 2017 Castleford Swimming Pool closed. A new modern leisure facility including a swimming pool is proposed for nearby Pontefract Park. Built in 1890 the underpass/bridge made by Deborah Saunt called the Tickle Cock Bridge was established and was refurbished in 2003 and was closed around Christmas 2005, but was completed in 2008. Also known by its original name The Tittle Cot bridge but was later changed To Tickle Cock and still has a controversial stance.

Economy

Burberry, the retailer and designer label, has a factory in the town, plans were proposed to close this once a new facility was built in Leeds. However these plans were put on hold in 2016 and the factory is due to remain in the town for the foreseeable future. A large

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

factory, which produced Toffee Crisp and After Eights for 40 years, closed in 2012 and demolition starting in 2014 to make way for housing. Castleford has previously been home to Dunsford and Wesley Textiles, which at peak business times had three factories in Castleford which have all since ceased production. TEVA also have their UK headquarters here. Castleford had potteries from the early 18th century until 1961, notably the Castleford Pottery (1790–1820) of David Dunderdale, which gave its name to "Castleford-type" stonewares.

Governance

Castleford was established as an urban district, in the administrative county of the

in 1894 under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The act followed the reforms carried out at county leve ...

, with an urban district council. Whitwood and

were added to the district in the 1930s. The urban district was incorporated as a

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

in 1955. Castleford Civic Centre was completed in 1970. Following the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, the

was abolished on 1 April 1974; it then became an

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparis ...

of the

, a

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

. Castleford is now controlled by Wakefield Council. Three electoral wards cover the town: Airedale and Ferry Fryston; Altofts and Whitwood; and Castleford Central and Glasshoughton.

Amenities and entertainment

The town contains the ''Junction 32'' multi-store outlet shopping village and the '' Xscape'' leisure complex, both in the Glasshoughton suburb at the south of the town. Within Xscape is the large ''Snozone'', which used to have Britain's largest indoor real snow slope; this was later edged out by ''Chillfactore'' in Manchester. It is also home to Frankie & Benny's and

Nando's Nando's (; ) is a South Africa, South African multinational fast casual restaurant chain that specialises in Portuguese flame-grilled, peri-peri style Chicken as food, chicken. Founded in Johannesburg in 1987, Nando's operates over 1,200 outl ...

restaurants. It is also home to a 14-screen ''Cineworld'', which underwent a refit in 2018 and is now home to a 4DX screen and a Screen X. Castleford has an open and an indoor market, a shopping centre on Carlton Street and a retail park; in addition,

Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom, fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Sco ...

, Aldi and

Co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

supermarkets are located there. Castleford Forum Museum April 2017

In December 2013, the ''Castleford Forum Museum'', a library and heritage museum, opened in a new building. The town's library had been in temporary accommodation for two years, while the old site was redeveloped. The existing frontage was kept, while the building further back was demolished. A new three-floor building was then constructed. The town centre has

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

s, bars and social clubs, although the number of these has declined in recent years with leisure becoming focused on the ''Xscape'' complex. In 2000, three nightclubs were situated in the town centre; today, none remain.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire. Television signals are received from the Emley Moor TV transmitter. The town's local radio stations are BBC Radio Leeds on 92.4 FM, Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire on 106.8 FM, Heart Yorkshire on 106.2 FM, Capital Yorkshire on 105.1 FM and 5 Towns FM, a community online radio station serving the town and surrounding areas. The local newspaper is a weekly called Pontefract and Castleford Express. Stoneground Records is a local independent record label named after the Stoneground Flour Mills on the River Aire.

Transport

Roads

Castleford is only away from the M62 at Junction 32 via the A656 road. It has other A roads that criss-cross the town and provide access to Junction 31 on the same motorway.

Waterways

The rivers Aire and Calder have a confluence just north-west of the town and also feed the Aire and Calder Navigation. Whilst it is an industrial waterway, it also hosts tourism with moorings on the Castleford Cut of the Navigation.

Railways

Castleford railway station is situated on both the

Hallam Hallam may refer to: Places * Hallam, Victoria, Australia ** Hallam railway station UK * Hallamshire, an area in South Yorkshire, England, UK ** Royal Hallamshire Hospital ** Sheffield Hallam (UK Parliament constituency) ** Sheffield Hallam Univer ...

and Pontefract lines; these lines connect the town directly with

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

Goole Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse, Yorkshire, River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's Historic counties of England, historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom censu ...

and

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. All trains arrive from the west and leave in that same direction. In January 2021, the station was completely revamped, providing a modern waiting facility, sheltered cycle parking and changes to the car park layout. Train services used to travel eastwards to

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

, via

Burton Salmon Burton Salmon is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England, close to the border with West Yorkshire, and approximately north from Knottingley, on the A162 road. According to the 2001 Census the parish had a populatio ...

, but passenger workings ceased in 1970 with the section retained for freight workings only. Castleford also had a second service to Leeds that left the station eastwards and swung north onto the former Castleford–Garforth line, which saw services calling at Ledston and Kippax, before arriving in Garforth and continuing to Leeds. In December 2023, services were restored towards York, with Transpennine Express providing four round-trips daily, from

Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Piccadilly is the main railway station of the city of Manchester, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England. Opened originally as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchest ...

to York via

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

, Wakefield Kirkgate and Castleford. The

area of the town is served by its own railway station, which is situated one stop beyond Castleford on the Pontefract line.

Buses

In 2016, a new £6 million

bus station A bus station, bus depot, or bus interchange is a structure where city buses or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. A bus station is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can st ...

was opened adjacent to the railway station to allow an integrated travel site for the 12,000 people using the bus station per day. Local services are provided primarily by Arriva Yorkshire, but also by Globe Holidays (Barnsley) and Ross Travel. Routes link Castleford with Leeds, Pontefract and Wakefield.

Education

The town's primary schools for young children are Wheldon Infant School, Castleford Park Junior, Smawthorne Henry Moore, Townville Infant School, Airedale Juniors, Oyster Park Primary, Fairburn View Primary, Three Lane Ends Academy, Ackton Pastures, saint josephs castleford catholic primary and Half Acres. Castleford's secondary schools for children aged 11–16 are Castleford Academy and Airedale Academy. The town has a small further and higher education college on the Castleford Campus of Wakefield College in Glasshoughton.

Sport

Rugby League

Castleford has multiple

teams. The local team,

was formed in 1926, Castleford was one of the twelve founder members of

when the new league format was introduced in 1996. The 'Tigers' nickname and logo were introduced in 1992 and the club's honours include four

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

and one Super League Leaders Shield. The club have been based at Wheldon Road since 1927. Castleford also has two other lower league rugby league teams, Castleford Lock Lane and Castleford Panthers. Both Lock Lane and the Panthers play in the fourth tier of British Rugby League, meanwhile

have play in the top tier of British Rugby League.

have played majority of their Rugby League in the top tier and have done since their promotion in 2008, to present day. Rugby league in the town was originally represented by

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

, unrelated to Castleford RUFC, who did not participate in The schism in English rugby and still exist, nor were they predecessors of the current Castleford Tigers who were founded in 1926. The original Castleford rugby league club played in the Northern Union (Rugby Football League) from 1896–97 to 1905–06, and it had one player named Isaac Cole who won a

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1906 against Other Nationalities.

Motorcycle sport

From June 1979 to July 1980, Castleford had its own

Speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

racing team, The Kings, based at the Castleford Whitwood Stadium. The circuit was 202 yards and the team never entered the league – only challenge matches were staged. In the 1960s, motorcycle scrambling used to take place on the north side of the hill at Queens Park. This was often featured on the BBC's Grandstand sports programme on Saturday afternoons and was commentated upon by Murray Walker.

Football

Glasshoughton Welfare play in the Northern Counties East League, Fryston Colliery Welfare were members of this league until they left in 1991 due to ground grading problems. In the 1920s Castleford Town played in the Midland League alongside clubs such as Doncaster Rovers, Chesterfield, Scunthorpe United, Halifax Town, Leeds United (for 1919–20 season only), Lincoln City and Mansfield Town. This league also contained the reserve sides of Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley, Nottingham Forest, Grimsby Town and Hull City. In 1920 Castleford reached the 2nd round of the FA Cup, losing 2–3 at Bradford Park Avenue. Castleford played at Wheldon Road – when they shut down the ground was taken over by the rugby league team.

Greyhound racing

Castleford hosted two greyhound tracks both of which are no longer in existence. The first was in Whitwood and held racing from 1939 until 2001. The second track was the slightly larger 1,500 capacity Castleford Sports Stadium located east of Lock Lane sitting on the north bank of the River Aire.

Notable people

People born in Castleford: * Paul J. Anderson (born 1971), rugby footballer * Mark Aston (born 1967), rugby coach * Arthur "Bruss" Atkinson (1906–1963), rugby footballer * Dennis Baddeley (1921–2006), rugby footballer * Mark D. Bailey (born 1960), professor * George W. Banks (c.1909–????), rugby footballer * John Beaman (born 1951), politician * Ben Blackmore (born 1993), rugby footballer * Peter Broughton (born 1935), cricketer * Sonia Burgess (1947–2010), immigration lawyer * Mark Burns-Williamson (born 1964), politician * Wilf Burrows (1902–1985), footballer * Abi Burton (born 2000), rugby player * Harold "Harry" Burton (died 2009), rugby footballer * Mark Byford (born 1958), deputy director-general of BBC * Fred Carter, rugby footballer * James "Sticks" Clare (born 1991), rugby footballer * Daryl Clark (born 1993), rugby footballer * Gary Cooper (1938–2019), rugby footballer * Matt Crowther (born 1974), rugby footballer * Will Dagger (born 1999), rugby footballer * Jonathan Davies (born 1991), rugby footballer * Les Dyl (1952–2022), rugby footballer * Cecil Eastwood (1894–1968), footballer * Greg Eden (born 1990), rugby footballer * Derek Edwards (c.1943–2020), rugby footballer * Brett Ferres (born 1986), rugby footballer * Richard Foulkes (born 1909), footballer * Tommy Gale (1895–1976), footballer * Sammy Gledhill (1913–1994), footballer * John A. Harman (born 1950), politician * Jack Hebden (born 1900), footballer * Jonny Hepworth (born 1989), rugby footballer * Keith Hepworth (born c.1942), rugby footballer * Gary Hetherington (born 1954), rugby footballer * Thomas Holmes (born 1996), rugby footballer * John Illingworth (1904–1964), footballer * Gill Isles (born 1972), TV producer * Neil James (1961–2014), rugby footballer * Kryan Johnson (born 1994), rugby footballer * John Kear (born 1954), rugby coach * Stan Kielty (1925–2008), rugby footballer * Brad Knowles (born 1993), rugby footballer * Shaun Le Roux (born 1986), squash player * Christopher "Cliff" Lethbridge (born 1963), cricketer * Joyce Lishman (1947–2021), professor * Walter "Ginger" Lynch (1896-c.1923), footballer * Dominic Maloney (born 1987), rugby footballer * Lester Marshall (1902–1956), footballer * Nathan Massey (born 1989), rugby footballer * Peter Meakin (born 1942), journalist * Roger Millward (1947–2016), rugby footballer *

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...

(1898–1986), artist * Viv Nicholson (1936–2015), expatriate * Julian Norton (born 1972), veterinary surgeon * Steve Norton (born 1951), rugby player * Danny Orr (born 1978), rugby coach * Stephen Payne (born 1975), footballer * Daryl Peach (born 1972), pool player * Mervyn Pike (1918–2004), politician * Harry Poole (1935–1977), rugby footballer * Gary "Slogger" Price (born 1961), rugby footballer * Greta Rana (1943-2023),poet & writer * Colin Roberts (1933–2017), footballer * Donald Robinson (1932–2017), rugby footballer * Ash Robson (born 1995), rugby footballer * Nicky Saxton (born 1984), rugby footballer * Waen Shepherd (born 1971), composer * Chris Smith (born 1975), rugby footballer * Harry W. Smith (1886–1955), cricketer * Tony "Casper" Smith (born 1970), rugby player * Reginald Soar (1893–1971), flying ace * Anthony Starks (1873–1952), rugby footballer * Gary Stephens (born 1952), rugby footballer * Harry Street (1927–2002), rugby footballer * Gay Taylor (1896–1970), writer * John "Jack" Taylor (1877–1951), rugby player * Bob Tomlinson, footballer * Andrew Townsley (born 1952), cricketer * David Treasure (born 1950), rugby footballer * Calum Turner (born 1997), rugby footballer * John "Willie" Ward (1873–1939), rugby footballer * John "Johnny" Ward (1940/41–2019), rugby footballer * Liam Watts (born 1990), rugby footballer * Noel Wilders (born 1975), boxer * Kyle Wood (born 1989), rugby footballer * Val Wood, author * Martyn Woolford (born 1985), footballer

References

External links

{{Authority control Towns in West Yorkshire Unparished areas in West Yorkshire Former civil parishes in West Yorkshire Geography of the City of Wakefield