Knottingley

Knottingley
Calder Grange, Knottingley
Knottingley  Knottingley shown within West Yorkshire
Population	13,503
OS grid reference	SE495235
Metropolitan borough	City of Wakefield
Metropolitan county	West Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	KNOTTINGLEY
Postcode district	WF11
Dialling code	01977
Police	West Yorkshire
Fire	West Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
EU Parliament	Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament	Pontefract and Castleford
List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire

Knottingley is a town within the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England on the River Aire and the A1 road. It has a population of 13,503.

Until 1699, it was an important inland river port but, in that year, the Aire was made navigable as far as Leeds, which soon surpassed it. Knottingley continued as a centre for boat building into the twentieth century. After 1870, the town also became known for glass manufacturing.

The town is served by Knottingley railway station.

Knottingley is famous as a glass manufacturing town. In 1887 Bagley's Glassworks purchased the rights to the first bottle-making machine, invented by a Ferrybridge postmaster.

Close to Knottingley is the Ferrybridge Power Station, which has the largest cooling towers of their kind in Europe. Three of these towers collapsed in high winds in 1965. These towers can be seen for miles around. One of the oldest purpose-built cinemas in England, located in Aire Street, has been converted into flats.

The town is one of the few in the United Kingdom to have a working coal mine, Kellingley Colliery.

History

St Botolph's Church

Knottingley means "the clearing of Cnotta's people", from the Old English personal name Cnotta meaning "knot", describing a small, round man and -ingas "people of" + leāh "wood, modern lee, not the same meaning as Leah (personal name)". The name was recorded as Cnotinesleahemm in 1128.

During the three Sieges of Pontefract Castle, Oliver Cromwell took residence in the town of Knottingley, believed to be in Wildbore House. The house was later demolished when its land was mined as a quarry for the limestone underneath.

Knottingley, inextricably linked with Ferrybridge, is a West Yorkshire town whose history is tied to river travel and industry. It has managed to retain certain elements of that industrial history as thriving enterprises today, providing employment for many of its population of some 17,000. It was originally an Anglo-Saxon settlement, though the ancient monument of Ferrybridge Henge shows it was a significant habitation long before then.

The crossing over the Aire at Ferrybridge was of importance for many centuries. A bridge was built there in 1198, and another to replace it two centuries later. Located on the Great North Road linking London with York and Edinburgh beyond that, the town became an important staging place for the coach traffic on that route. The traffic continued to develop, until in 1804 the government had to build a wider bridge over the river to accommodate it. The new bridge was designed higher to allow easier passage of the barge traffic on the Aire and Calder Navigation.

Knottingley was an inland port of some note, long the last navigable point on the Aire until the Aire and Calder Navigation enabled barges to make it to Leeds. Its shipyards built and maintained both inland and seagoing vessels. Pottery was a significant industry for the town from the 19th century until as late as the 1940s, when the Australian Pottery, opened to cater to that country’s needs, finally closed. Glass manufacturing continues to be important. The town has Kellingley colliery still operating, helped by the demand from the huge power station at Ferrybridge.

Knottingley is a central point for horse racing fans, with Pontefract, York, Wetherby and Doncaster all close by.

Education

Knottingley has one high school, Knottingley High School and Sports College.

It has several primary schools: England Lane Junior and Infant School, Ferrybridge Infant School, Ferrybridge Roundhill Junior School, Knottingley Church of England Junior and Infant School, Knottingley Vale Junior and Infant School, Simpsons Farm Junior and Infant School There are sixth-form colleges in nearby Pontefract, Wakefield and Selby. For extra curricular activities there is the local air cadet squadron, 2446 (Knottingley), which is based on the High School campus.

Notable people

• Terry Cooper, former Leeds United & England footballer. Currently Southampton's European scout.
• Wayne Godwin, Bradford Bulls Rugby League footballer, and also played for Knottingley Rockware ARLFC.
• Dale Morton, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Rugby League footballer, and also played for Knottingley Rockware ARLFC.
• Zak Hardaker, Leeds Rhinos Rugby League footballer, and also played for Knottingley Rockware ARLFC.
• Ian Preece, Batley Bulldogs Rugby League footballer, and also played for Knottingley Rockware ARLFC.
• Craig Moss, Keighley Cougars Rugby League footballer, and also played for Knottingley Rockware ARLFC.
• William "Bill" Horton rugby league footballer of the 1920s and 1930s who played for; Wakefield Trinity, Yorkshire, England and Great Britain.
• William Sefton Moorhouse, a New Zealand politician.
• Graham Steadman, Former York Wasps, Featherstone Rovers, Castleford Tigers & Great Britain Rugby League footballer.
• Professor Austin Tate, Director of AIAI (Artificial Intelligence Applications Institute) in the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh.
• Ben Thompson, former Marshal of Austin, Texas; notable gambler and gunman in Texas and Kansas.
• Billy Thompson (gunman), a gunman and gambler in the American West, and the younger brother of Ben Thompson.