Talk:Pontefract

dates
could we say which century or range of centuries the castle dates from? not all readers will know when "norman times" were. -- Tarquin

"Broken Bridge"
I don't think the name does come from the Latin for "broken bridge", though that's what I assumed when I first heard it. As the article says later on, it used to be known as Pomfret. What is the evidence for this statement? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.44.0.174 (talk) 15:18, 30 October 2005


 * Ekwall's Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names (1936–60) cites:
 * Fracti-pontis (genitive) 1069 (1141) Ordericus Vitalis, Historia Ecclesiastica
 * Pontefracto (dative) 1100–2 Early Yorkshire Charters 1418
 * Pontfreit 1177 Pipe Rolls
 * (I don't know what to make of the double dating.)
 * Ekwall also says the local pronunciation is pumfrit. Obviously either Pontem Fractum (Latin) or Pont Freit (French), meaning Broken Bridge, is the original and Pomfret the worn-down descendant thereof.  &mdash;Tamfang 21:27, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Lacy
Nothing on the Lacy family, who probably built the castle and certainly were the first holders of the honour of Pontefract? See W. E. Wightman, The Lacy Family in England and Normandy 1066-1194 (Clarendon Press, 1966). I'll try to find time to do this. -Michael K. Smith 19:12, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

POV
The phrase "In recent years much of the town has grown considerably poorer" demonstrates a personal point of view and is unquantifiable. Jonobass 13:37, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

It seems incredibly that there is no reference to Pontefract's role at the heart of the Yorkshire mining industry. Prince of Wales colliery, Pontefract, was one of the centres of militancy during the 1984-85 strike. There were also several other pits in the immediate vicinity, with Pontefract providing a commercial centre for those communities. The reason thew town has grown poorer is because of the economic collapse following the closure of the pits from 1985 onwards. Rather than deleting this POV reference maybe it should be expanded Billieco (talk) 21:04, 22 February 2009 (UTC)Billie

True?
"...sporting one of the most concentrated numbers of public houses in the UK"


 * Is this true? Is there any evidence from a source to back this claim up? I think this should be removed if it is not actually true and backed up by a source, I couldn't find a source on the internet, if someone wouldn't mind looking for a source as well it would be helpful.  Otherwise it should be removed from the page.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.143.91.48 (talk) 11:54, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

Edward Upward?
Actually, I came to this page because I was intrigued to read that the English writer Edward Upward, friend of Stephen pender and Christopher Isherwood, died in Ponty earlier this month. This is recorded on Wikipedia. Does anyone know what his connection was with Pontefract? Billieco (talk) 21:11, 22 February 2009 (UTC)


 * According to the Telegraph "In his last years he had been living in a care home at Pontefract, close to the home of his daughter, who survives him." Keith D (talk) 22:07, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

Schools
Would it be worth noting that there used to be 4 schools. 2 Girls' and two Boys'. One of the girls schools is now NEW College (mention in the piece). The other Girls' school site is where Morrisons (and it's car park) and the new (?) swimming baths are.

The two boys schools became comprehensives and are the ones we have now.

I'm currently looking for a good reference! Dannman (talk) 15:46, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

Nevison
Surely we could have a reference to the notorious highwayman after whom Nevison's Leap is thought to be called. Jodosma (talk) 21:55, 31 January 2013 (UTC)

Haunting
Isn't When the Lights Went Out set in Pontefract? (1, 2) - Jack Sebastian (talk) 04:41, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

The article of 'A History of Robin Hood and Pontefract'
Dear All Users,

In regard to the academic paper entitled, Robin Hood, The Origins and Development of the Legend, please note that this work was initially an undergraduate dissertation research paper, and thereafter became a postgraduate Master of Arts Research thesis. The dissertation paper was acclaimed by the Faculty of Arts at the University of Leeds, and in addition to receiving a 1st Class Honors degree, was described by Professor Graham Loud of the School of History, at the University of Leeds as being 'ingenious..and in regard to the matter of identifying the origins of the legend of Robin Hood, it is at least as convincing as anything which has preceded it'. The postgraduate research paper, a 30,000 word thesis, was successfully peer reviewed by Dr Emilia Jamroziack of the School of History, Faculty of Arts at the University of Leeds, Professor Graham Loud Faculty of Arts at the University of Leeds and Professor David Crouch of the School of History, Faculty of Arts at the University of Hull, all of whom are leading medievalist historians teaching in UK institutions of Higher Education (a list of their credentials can be found online with a simple Google search).

The Research Administration Department at the University of Leeds has a hardbound copy of the original document, entitled, La' Chance, Scott A, The Origins and Development of the Legend of Robin Hood (Leeds: The University of Leeds, 2014) which has been published and copyrighted by the university in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. In due process, The Origins and Development of the Legend of Robin Hood will be transferred to the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds, where it will be made available for all UK users via requested inter-library loan. Likewise, full citation details of this work will be made available to the public when this paper is eventually electronically listed on the University of Leeds library website.

The University of Leeds is itself a leading Russell Group University, and the Russell Group

'UK research base is highly productive and has a global reputation for excellence: with less than 1% of the world’s population, the UK earns 12% of international citations and 16% of the most cited papers. This is seen as the acid test of whether research is being taken seriously'.

So, as a result of having been both peer assessed by leading medievalist historians working for Russell Group Universities, and of having been published and copyrighted under the terms of UK law by the University of Leeds Research Administration Department, the academic paper entitled, The Origins and Development of the Legend of Robin Hood is, I would suggest, fit for reference purposes on Wikipedia.

What follows is a balanced review of that academic paper, written in the third person, picking out the key points that are of relevance to the listing that it is headed under. I have listed the article on the following page because it is deemed to be of importance to the history of the township, as one will discover if one takes the time to read the article. Moreover, a full and accurate citation has been provided to the work under the heading of La' Chance, Scott. A The Origins and Development of the Legend of Robin Hood (Leeds: The University of Leeds, 2014). In consequence, the article can in no sense be considered as being malicious, and I would therefore be very grateful if you would kindly stop removing it. However, if you have an issue with either the style of the listing or the accuracy of its content, and would care to formally discuss these issues with me in a personable manner, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Yours,

Scott A La' Chance

BA Hons History, MA by Research History — Preceding unsigned comment added by Siggasonswein (talk • contribs) 11:32, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

Hi, I've just entered a paragraph on how the town of Pontefract acquired its name
Hi, I've just entered a paragraph on how the town of Pontefract acquired its name, complete with citations to published academic works.Siggasonswein (talk) 14:51, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 03:13, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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Greens of 11 Beastfair
I am interested in any info on Greens, used to be in Beastfair, assume they were a jewellers, I bought a vintage watch which was originally sold there in 1976. Middle More Rider (talk) 12:15, 16 May 2021 (UTC)

Robin Hood and the outlaw's Pontefract connection
I suggest this is over-long and barely relevant. Should it be removed, reduced to a mention or moved somewhere else? Esemgee (talk) 16:07, 30 December 2021 (UTC)

Saxon church and graves on The Booths
This wasn’t discovered by “archeologists” but by Mr Houlder of Kings school and his Archeology AO level class. I know because I as one of them. We found over 100 sets of remains but the new road was scheduled to go through the site and Mr H drive to Wakefield to get and extension. My classmate Martin Jones discovered the first stone of what turned out to be a church. Jimbutler4369 (talk) 19:48, 27 May 2024 (UTC)