Alverthorpe
| Alverthorpe | |
| Yorkshire West Riding | |
|---|---|
 Batley Road | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SE310215 |
| Location: | 53°41’21"N, 1°31’51"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Wakefield |
| Postcode: | WF2 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Wakefield |
Alverthorpe is a suburb of, and former village in Wakefield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
The village is a mile and a half north-west of Wakefield in the valley of the Alverthorpe Beck which supplied water for the mills. The underlying rocks are the coal measures of the South Yorkshire Coalfield.[1]
History
After the start of the Industrial Revolution woollen and worsted yarns were spun and woollen and worsted cloth woven in the mills and factories that were built in the valley. Rope and twine were also manufactured.[1]
In 1830 the township's population was 4,590 and in 1870 it had 1,423 houses and the population had risen to 6,645.[2]
A. Talbot & Sons manufactured sweets for many years in a factory with a landmark chimney which was originally a rag mill. The company originated in 1890, selling wholesale groceries from a horse-drawn vehicle, but moved into boiled sweet manufacture when its sweet supplier, John Kay of Flushdyke, retired and gave it his recipes. The company's humbugs, mint imperials, toffees and Yorkshire mixtures became popular throughout Yorkshire and further afield.[3] The Talbots ran the business until the mid-1960s, when it was sold to Victory V lozenges.
In the early 20th century, rhubarb was grown in the surrounding area, the region known as the Rhubarb Triangle. Forcing sheds were surrounded by fields of rhubarb plants.
Churches
- Church of England: St Paul
St Paul's stands at the top of a hill, north of the village. It is a Commissioners' Church built in 1826[4] to accommodate 1,590 worshippers, at a cost of £7,828 16s. 8d.
There was a Methodist chapel in the centre of the village, but the building is now used for business purposes. A Presbyterian congregation met in a disused malt kiln in Flanshaw Lane from 1672, but moved to a new chapel in 1697 which combined the Flanshaw and Wakefield congregations. A Presbyterian burial ground with over a hundred graves remained in the village until the tombstones were removed around 1905 and the ground was used for market gardening.
About the village
Much of the meadowland between Alverthorpe and the neighbouring village of Wrenthorpe is a designated Local Nature Reserve, covering 52 acres.[5]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Alverthorpe) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lewis, Samuel (1848). Alverthorpe. British History Online. pp. 49–53. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50754#s8. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
- ↑ "History of Alverthorpe, in Wakefield and West Riding | Map and description". Visionofbritain.org.uk. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/21251. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
- ↑ "Flanshaw". Visitor UK. http://www.visitoruk.com/historydetail.php?id=31266&cid=592&f=dewsbury. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
- ↑ White's General and Commercial Directory of Wakefield, Horbury, Alverthorpe, Sandal Magna, Stanley and Normanton. 1887. http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/WRY/Wakefield/Wakefield87.html. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
- ↑ "Local Nature Reserves". Natural England. http://www.lnr.naturalengland.org.uk/Special/lnr/lnr_details.asp?C=0&N=alverthorpe&ID=1578. Retrieved 1 February 2011.