Wakefield was originally a settlement on the River Calder in West
Yorkshire, first Anglo-Saxon, then Viking controlled. After the Norman
conquest, the manor passed to the Warenne family and Wakefield grew into
an important market town in the area. In the Wars of the Roses Richard,
Duke of York was killed at the Battle of Wakefield. Wakefield's
prosperity was growing as an inland port and a centre for tanning, the
wool trade and coal mining. By the Industrial Revolution, Wakefield was
a wealthy town, benefiting from opening of the Aire & Calder canal which
enabled it to trade goods, particularly grain and cloth, throughout the
country. Wool mills were built in the 19th century and Wakefield became
the administrative centre in West Riding, given city status in 1888.
Although many industries closed in the later decades of the 20th
century, including its extensive coalfields, the city has embarked on a
programme of regeneration, which includes the new Hepworth Wakefield art
gallery, named after Wakefield-born artist Barbara Hepworth.Through
successive centuries the author looks at what has shaped Wakefield's
history. Illustrated throughout, this accessible historical portrait of
the transformation that Wakefield has undergone through the ages will be
of great interest to residents, visitors and all those with links to the
city.
