Lofthouse: The joy and pain of a traditional Yorkshire village

At this period, the area was in the Parish of Rothwell, wap. of Agbrigg, and honour of Pontefract and once the residence of John Hopkinson Esq, the Yorkshire Chronologer.

Benjamin Dealtry occupied Lofthouse Hall and there were victuallers at four pubs. The few traders included a coal merchant, shoemaker, butcher, wheelwright, patten ring maker and clothier.

Also listed was a gentleman, farmer and schoolmaster.

Lofthouse was to see much change in subsequent years with social, leisure, industrial, railway, tramway and motorway developments.

The Leeds Intelligencer of June 22, 1839 said that the first stone of the new church at Lofthouse, was to be laid on July 1 of that year.

Then on May 2, 1840 the same newspaper announced the handsome new church, just completed at Lofthouse, would be opened for Divine Service on Thursday May, 7, by license from the Lord Bishop of Ripon who it was said ‘will consecrate the same at an early opportunity’.

The church has been altered over the years, with a chancel, vestries, and organ chamber added in the 1890s, and major renovation and rebuilding around 2000.

On Monday October 13, 1845, the village of Lofthouse was described as presenting a very animated appearance as people were assembled to witness the interesting opening ceremony of the new schools – the Christ Church National Schools – recently erected.

This was in connection with the village church.

It was reported: ‘Within little more than five years, through the indefatigable exertions of the excellent Vicar of the parish, aided by public and private benevolence, a church, parsonage house, and now schools have been provided for this hitherto neglected district, whose previous spiritual destitution had always pressed heavily upon his spirit’.

Thirty-two years later, William Watson, architect, invited builders to tender for the altering and enlarging the Christ Church National Schools.

Lofthouse was first linked to the railway network shortly after the opening of the Wakefield Westgate-Leeds Central line of the nominally independent Bradford, Wakefield & Leeds Railway in 1857.

The route was operated by the Great Northern Railway. In Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain A Chronology (2001), Michael Quick says Lofthouse station on the GN line was first mentioned in October 1858 and Outwood was added 1865/6.

He mentions that another facility, Lofthouse Joint, (on the Methley Joint Line) opened on May 1, 1876. It’s explained that Joint in the station title was dropped in 1881 and Outwood added 1888.

Research from the outwoodcommunityvideo website states that coal was mined in the Lofthouse and Outwood area from at least the early 1300s.

It continues by saying the Leeds and Yorkshire Co-operative Coal Mining Company began sinking the Lofthouse Station Colliery in 1873 and that it was completed in 1877. By 1895, the colliery was producing around 1,000 tons of coal per day.

A number of tramway schemes were planned for Wakefield from the 1870s. The first was proposed by a party of local businessmen and authorised by the Wakefield & District Light Railway Order of 1901.

The Yorkshire Electric Tramways Construction Syndicate was formed in 1903 to build the tramway. Sixteen miles of rails and overhead wires were completed to a gauge of 4ft 81/2 ins and comprised three routes.

The main contractor was Dick, Kerr & Company of Preston. One of the routes ran from the Castle Inn, Sandal, via Wakefield, and Lofthouse to Thwaite Gate, Hunslet, on the Leeds boundary.

It opened on August 15, 1904. During the following year, the Wakefield & District Light Railway Co. Ltd was absorbed by Yorkshire (West Riding) Electric Tramways Co. Ltd a subsidiary of the Yorkshire Electric Tramways Construction Syndicate. Through traffic to Leeds occurred on June 1, 1905.

Postcards, first widely used at the outset of the 20th century, illustrate aspects of Lofthouse life in the years before the Second World War.

A few of these captured an exciting development – a pleasure and amusement park situated on the east side of the main road at Lofthouse. It opened on June 3, 1908 and the amenities included a pavilion, skating rink, house of mirrors, maze, bandstand and gardens.

A large wooden pavilion was built in a mock-oriental design. Wakefield and Leeds trams carried visitors to the Lofthouse Park and dropped them off at sidings on the opposite side of the road.

On Bank Holiday Monday August 1908, the main attraction at the Park was a treasure hunt, a sum of £108 10s, having been hidden in the grounds in amounts varying from 1s to £20, represented by brown cardboard discs bearing a series number and the value of the prize.

It was said to have been highly amusing watching visitors diligently prodding with sticks or umbrellas and peering into the most unlikely places in the hope of finding treasure.

Lofthouse Park was used to house German and other internees during WWI. A Lancashire syndicate took control of the area in 1921 with a view to reopen it.

However, on Saturday April 22 1922, the pavilion and various other structures caught fire causing extensive damage. The project was never resurrected.

During the Post War years, the two Lofthouse railway stations were closed. Quick (2001) records: The old GN station, June 13 1960; the Methley Joint one, June 17, 1957. A new railway station was opened at Outwood on July 12, 1988.

In this period, the area saw significant motorway developments. The Lofthouse Interchange was created and a section of the M62 between Gildersome and Lofthouse was built.

A photograph from the David Atkinson Archive held in the Leeds Libraries Archives shows the motorway section nearing completion in June 1970.

Lost during the motorway’s construction in Lofthouse, according to Leeds Libraries’ Leodis notes, was the Lofthouse Christ Church National School.

The local cricket ground and pavilion were to the south of Christ Church in the area now occupied by the M62.

On March 22, 1973, it was reported that seven miners at Lofthouse colliery were still trapped 750 ft underground, more than 24 hours after water broke through the face at which they were working.

Some miners were washed along a 'tidal wave', others were half dragged, half carried by their running workmates in the race against death.

Pit managers and other officials were summoned from their beds to the colliery where they quickly tried to make sense of maps to determine the extent of the tragedy underground.

In time, the rescue attempt to free 7 miners failed, though not without the greatest efforts by all those concerned. One body was recovered but it was felt too dangerous to reach the other six.

‘The memorial of the Lofthouse colliery disaster should be a constant reminder of the price that had to be paid for coal,’ said the Bishop of Wakefield, Dr Eric Treacy, on November 24, 1974.

He was speaking at the dedication service of the memorial on a site off Batley Road, Wakefield, which was directly above where the bodies of the six of the seven men who died in the disaster were believed to be entombed.

Lofthouse colliery closed in 1981 after the coal was exhausted and it stood derelict until reclamation began in 1989.

The area was completely reshaped into Lofthouse colliery Nature Park featuring a large stretch of natural green space managed for wildlife and informal recreation.

Lofthouse Hall, off Long Thorpe Lane is said to have been designed and built for merchant Benjamin Dealtry. It was bought and demolished between 2014 and 2018.

Thanks to Leeds Library staff for help with this piece