Darrington
Village
A narrow road between two arable fields
Darrington – Westfield Lane
Darrington is located in West Yorkshire
Darrington
Darrington
Location within West Yorkshire
Population1,403 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceSE484200
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townPONTEFRACT
Postcode districtWF8
PoliceWest Yorkshire
FireWest Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire
53°40′N 1°15′W / 53.667°N 1.250°W / 53.667; -1.250

Darrington is a small village and civil parish in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) from Pontefract and 25 miles (40 km) from the city of York. The village is split in two by the busy A1 trunk road which runs from London to Scotland. The 2011 census population was 1,403.[1]

History

The history of Darrington can be traced back to the time of Edward the Confessor.[2] The last Anglo Saxon owners of Darrington were named Jordan, Baret and Alsi.[3] After the Norman conquest it fell to the ownership of Ilbert de Lacy,[3] a favourite of William the Conqueror.[3] The village was recorded in the Domesday Book as Darnintone, which means the town of Daegheard's people.[4][5]

Darrington was on the old Great North Road, and was 175 miles (282 km) north of London.[6] The A1 bypass to the east end of the civil parish was built in the 1970s.[7]

Notable residents

Novelist, historian and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, J. S. Fletcher (Joseph Smith Fletcher) was brought up in Darrington.[8]

Darrington today

At the heart of the village is the village shop, the Spread Eagle pub, church and the school. Darrington Church of England Junior School has over 100 pupils and was rated as Good by Ofsted in 2019.[9] Darrington is home to the Mid-Yorkshire Golf Club, the Kyte Hotel, the Darrington pub and hotel, the Spread Eagle public house, a branch of Ripon Farm Services and Darrington Quarries.[10][11][12]

The village has a community playing field which is home to the 'Feast and Fayre' once a year; this has a collection of stalls, a bouncy castle, dancing and many other types of entertainment. There is also a 5-mile (8 km) run on the same day. This event brings in visitors from surrounding villages and raise money for the upkeep of the field and the purchase of new play equipment.[13]

Although the Holly Cottage Post Office has closed, a post office is available on Monday morning only on Phillips Lane.[14]

St Luke and All Saints Church

Next to the school is the 13th century parish church of St Luke and All Saints, for the parish of Darrington with Wentbridge in the Benefice of the Went Valley.[15][16] Booklets of monumental inscriptions from the churchyard and that of Wentbridge are available here from the Pontefract & District Family History Society. Church records are kept at the West Yorkshire County Archives.[17] The building was restored in 1855, and local people including antiquarians complained strongly of damage to historical features. Fine workmanship on rare stone effigies in the north chancel aisle had been "obliterated" by liberal use of whitewash. A Norman arch between nave and tower had been partially removed to make way for a large pew. A "considerable quantity" of carved oak furniture and woodwork had been sold and dispersed. A "highly interesting stone effigy of a "recumbent figure in armour" had "mysteriously disappeared."[18]

Governance

Darrington is in its own civil parish and part of the Pontefract South Ward. It is represented at Westminster as part of the Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford Constituency.[19]

Population of Darrington 1801–2011[20][21]
1801 1811 1821 1831 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931 1951 1961 2011
480 444 619 619 668 617 744 626 643 625 527 514 527 445 497 575 1,403

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Darrington Parish (E04000228)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  2. ^ Fletcher 1993, p. xiii.
  3. ^ a b c Fletcher 1993, p. 9–15.
  4. ^ "Darrington | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  5. ^ Ekwall, Eilert (1960). The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names (4 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 139. ISBN 0-19-869103-3.
  6. ^ Harper, Charles (1922) [1901]. Great North Road. Vol 2 : York to Edinburgh (2 ed.). London: Cecil Palmer. pp. vi, 65. OCLC 655268751.
  7. ^ The South & West Yorkshire village book. Newbury: Countryside Books. 1991. p. 68. ISBN 1853061360.
  8. ^ "Yorkshire Post article on Fletcher". Yorkshire Post. 8 May 2006. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  9. ^ "Darrington Church of England Primary School URN: 140110". reports.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  10. ^ "The Spread Eagle". wakefield.camra.org.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  11. ^ "Ripon Farm Services Great North Road, Darrington, Pontefract, West Yorkshire". findit.pontefractandcastlefordexpress.co.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  12. ^ "Mid Yorkshire Golf Club | All Square Golf". allsquaregolf.com. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  13. ^ "Darrington Feast and Fayre". darringtonvillagefield.org. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  14. ^ "Darrington Post Office". postoffice.co.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  15. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Luke and All Saints (Grade I) (1313210)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  16. ^ "St Luke & All Saints". achurchnearyou.com. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  17. ^ "Darrington with Wentbridge (St Luke and All Saints with St John the Evangelist), parish records". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  18. ^ Leeds Intelligencer, Saturday 1 September 1855 p7 col3: "Second day's proceedings"
  19. ^ "Election Maps". ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2023. On the left of the screen is the "Boundary" tab; click this and activate either civil parishes, metropolitan district wards, or Westminster Constituencies (or both), however, only two functions can be active at any one time.
  20. ^ Page, William, ed. (1907). The Victoria history of the county of York. vol 3. London: Constable & Co. p. 535. OCLC 500092527.
  21. ^ "Administrative unit Darrington AP/CP Parish-level Unit". visionofbritain.org.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2023.

Sources

External links

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