Place:Altofts, West Riding of Yorkshire, England

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NameAltofts
TypeVillage, Urban district
Coordinates53.697°N 1.416°W
Located inWest Riding of Yorkshire, England     ( - 1974)
Also located inWest Yorkshire, England     (1974 - )
Yorkshire, England    
See alsoNormanton, West Riding of Yorkshire, Englandurban district of which it was a part 1938-1974
Wakefield (metropolitan borough), West Yorkshire, Englandmetropolitan borough of which it is now a part
Agbrigg and Morley Wapentake, West Riding of Yorkshire, Englandwapentake in which it was situated
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Altofts is a village in West Yorkshire, England. It lies north-east from the centre of Wakefield and less than north-west of Normanton. The M62 runs close to the village to the north-east, and the Aire and Calder Navigation to the north-west.

The village is part of the civil parish of Normanton, but for local elections it is part of the ward of Altofts and Whitwood, which also includes the western part of Castleford.

Altofts was considered an urban district from 1894 to 1938 when it amalgamated with the adjacent Normanton Urban District. Since 1974 it is now within Wakefield Metropolitan Borough in West Yorkshire.

Historically, it was located in the ecclesiastical parish of Normanton in the Agbrigg Wapentake. In the 19th and early 20th century it was part of the Great Preston Registration District until 1869 and then the Wakefield Registration District from 1869 to 1930.

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Social History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Many people in the village previously worked in the local coal mines. The largest mine in the village, The West Riding Colliery, was owned by Pope and Pearsons. It was here that the first British coaldust experiments took place during 1908 and 1909, conducted by W. E. Garforth, manager of the colliery and president of the Mining Association of Great Britain. In the early 20th century Garforth's improvement to worker safety helped to develop underground safety and rescue procedures that are today common worldwide. Today people are either employed in neighbouring towns and cities, or on the Wakefield Europort's 'Tuscany Park' industrial estate which has been developed over recent decades.

Altofts' brickworks, Normanton Brick Co Ltd, moved to its present Greenfield Road site from Wakefield Road in the late 1990s. It ran under Thomas Kirk's great grandsons until it stopped production in 2011.

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Research Tips

  • GENUKI on Altofts. The GENUKI page gives numerous references to local bodies providing genealogical assistance.
  • A Vision of Britain through Time on Altofts.
  • The FamilySearch wiki on the ecclesiastical parish of Normanton (which included Altofts) provides a list of useful resources for the local area.
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Altofts. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
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