Wakefield Kirkgate railway station

Wakefield Kirkgate is one of two railway stations in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. Unlike nearby Wakefield Westgate, Kirkgate is unstaffed. It is managed by Northern Trains, but also served by Grand Central and TransPennine Express. The station is on the Hallam, Calder Valley, Pontefract and Huddersfield lines, with a limited number of services to London King's Cross.

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West Yorkshire History Centre

The West Yorkshire History Centre is an archive in Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, in England. The centre evolved from the West Riding Registry of Deeds, opened on Kirkgate in Wakefield in 1704. This was the first such registry in England. In 1932, the records were transferred to a new building on Newstead Road in the city, later becoming the West Yorkshire Archive Service. It moved to its current building, back on Kirkgate, in 2016, by which time it held more than 10 million records. It is run by West Yorkshire Joint Services. In addition to the 7 million deeds, the centre holds surviving records of the West Riding of Yorkshire, from 1194 onwards, the National Coal Board collection of records relating to the local area, and the records of Stanley Royd Hospital. The building was designed by Broadway Malyan. It includes a local history centre on the ground floor, and the archives on the upper floors. These are surrounded by a metal mesh wrap, which is lit with changing colours in the evenings.

Chantry Bridge

Chantry Bridge, sometimes known as Wakefield Bridge, is a mediaeval bridge in the city of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, in England. In the early 14th century, there was a timber bridge over the River Calder in Wakefield, with Kirkgate connecting the bridge to the town centre. The bridge was damaged by flooding in the 1330s, and a decision was taken to rebuild it in stone. Construction of the new bridge began in 1342, with spans connecting the north bank to a small island. The Chantry Chapel of St Mary the Virgin was built on the island. The bridge was then completed from the island to the south bank, in similar style, but only the arches supporting the northern part of the bridge have ribs. The chapel was consecrated in 1356, and this is sometimes taken to be the completion date of the bridge. The bridge was widened by nine feet in 1758. It was painted by J. M. W. Turner in 1797, in which year it was widened by nine feet for a second time. This work was probably designed by John Carr of York and undertaken by Bernard Hartley. Wakefield New Bridge was constructed immediately upstream of Chantry Bridge in 1933, and now carries the large majority of traffic. Chantry Bridge was Grade I listed in 1953. The bridge has nine arches. The original arches are visible on the downstream side, and are pointed, while the widened section on the upstream side has round arches. Each arch is supported by a platform with a cutwater. There is a plain parapet.

Battle of Wakefield

The 'Battle' of Wakefield has traditionally been said to have taken place in Sandal Magna near Wakefield in northern England, on 30 December 1460. Recent research demonstrates that it was not a battle in the proper sense of a word, but a small-scale skirmish that resulted in the capture of subsequent death of Richard, Duke of York, his second son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland, and Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury. For several years before the battle, the Duke of York had become increasingly opposed to the weak King Henry's court and his Queen, Margaret of Anjou. After open warfare broke out between the factions and Henry became his prisoner, he laid claim to the throne, but lacked sufficient support. Instead, in an agreement known as the Act of Accord, he was made Henry's heir to the throne, displacing from the succession Henry and Margaret's 7-year-old son Edward, Prince of Wales. Margaret of Anjou and several prominent nobles were irreconcilably opposed to this accord and massed their armies in the north. Richard of York marched north to deal with them. As the Lancastrians held Pontefract Castle, York made for his manor of Wakefield. Later Yorkist and Tudor accounts claimed his took residence in Sandal Castle, but the manorial accounts show that he stayed in the town itself, probably at the Moot Hall. The traditional accounts give several unlikely reasons for him leaving the supposed safety of Sandal Castle to engage a larger Lancastrian army, but the earliest accounts, documentary and chronicle, are in agreement that the Duke and his followers were ambushed on 29 December, probably as they left Wakefield for York, captured and murdered.

Chantry Chapel of St Mary the Virgin, Wakefield

The Chantry Chapel of St Mary the Virgin is a chantry chapel in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, and is designated a Grade I Listed building by Historic England. It is located south of the city centre on the medieval Chantry Bridge over the River Calder. It is the only survivor of four chantries in Wakefield and the oldest and most ornate of the surviving bridge chapels in England. Others are at St Ives (Cambridgeshire), Rotherham, Derby and Bradford-on-Avon. The chapel has had three west fronts, the original medieval façade having been removed to Kettlethorpe Hall in 1832. The medieval bridge is a scheduled ancient monument.