Wakefield became a city in 1888, a status it acquired by virtue of having a cathedral. Nevertheless, it still feels very much like a large town, certainly when compared to Sheffield and – as we shall see later – Leeds and Bradford. In fact, Wakefield is a county town of sorts, having become the administrative centre of the administrative county of Yorkshire, West Riding, in 1889. It existed as a settlement at the time of the Domesday Book and its name may derive from Old English, although the town’s early history is scanty and elusive: most of the City of Wakefield’s most famous interactions with history took place at neighbouring towns and villages, some of which we will visit over the course of the next few walks. Wakefield – like so many towns in the West Riding – grew in importance with the Industrial Revolution, but there are nevertheless a couple of surviving buildings of interest on our tour of the town centre that predate that, plus many fine Victorian ones. Indeed, the first Victorian building is the railway station at which the walk begins, Wakefield Kirkgate.
Wakefield has two railway stations, both of which are included on this walk: it can be started from either, and both are well-served by trains between Sheffield and Leeds. Kirkgate is the more handsome of the two, opened in 1840 and retaining its original Victorian station building of 1867. It once boasted an ironwork canopy connecting the main stone-built building to brick buildings on the island platform between Platforms 2 and 3; this is long gone and those brick buildings largely demolished, although a restored wall remains and the station was spared further vandalism when it was listed in 1979. In spite of its Grade II-listed status, the station building suffered ignominious neglect and become dilapidated almost to the point of dereliction for many years, until it was restored between 2013 and 2017.
From the station, we head North West along Monk Street, passing the former Wakefield Arms public house – currently boarded up – on the corner. Obscurely, this has been awarded Grade II-listed status partly because it is apparently the only surviving example of a building with render made out of Portland cement, patented by cement manufacturer Joseph Aspdin. From here, take the first left turn and then at the end turning left along Kirkgate. Whilst this area is not the town’s most salubrious, we soon leave it behind, passing under a railway bridge and turning left along Calder Vale Road, before bearing right and then left again to cross the medieval bridge over the River Calder (take a detour to the left just before this to view the handsome former Board Room for the Aire and Calder Navigation Company, which proudly supports a blue plaque proclaiming its original function). This nine-arched sandstone bridge was built soon after 1342 (although it was widened in the eighteenth century) and is both a scheduled ancient monument and also one of six Grade I listed buildings in the town centre. It also supports a second: halfway along the bridge can be found the Chantry Chapel of St. Mary, built between 1342 and 1356.
The Chantry Chapel of St. Mary.
As noted when we visited Rotherham, only six bridge chapels survive in England and Yorkshire is fortunate to boast two, of which this is the second. A blue plaque is attached to the front of the chapel and proudly announces its historic significance. The plaque – like the one on the former board room mentioned above – forms part of Wakefield Civic Society’s Blue Plaque Trail, much of which our walk follows.
At the far end of the bridge, rejoin Doncaster Road, crossing at the next Pelican crossing to reach the other side, and then turn right. From here, we turn left to visit the purpose-built and award-winning Hepworth Gallery, passing the impressive red-brick nineteenth century Rutland Mill on the left before bearing right to reach the main gallery entrance. This opened in May 2011 and is well worth a visit. From the entrance, proceed straight on over the footbridge crossing the River Calder, looking over the right hand parapet for a view of the weir. This is the closest we shall come on this particular walk to either the river or the larger Aire and Calder navigation, which brought trade to the town during the Industrial Revolution, but we shall become much more familiar with it on other walks in the City of Wakefield. For now, we part company with it, leaving the bridge, and turn left along Thornes Lane, following it as bends right away from the river. Continue to follow the lane as it passes first under the arches of a lengthy red-brick railway viaduct and then under a second bridge on another railway line to end at Denby Dale Road.
Turn right and follow the road to the Grade II-listed Church of St. James, a squat, sturdy-looking affair built in the early nineteenth century. Across the road, the unusual square, red brick bandstand of Clarence Park can be seen. After passing the church, carefully cross Denby Dale Road and bear left to follow a drive into the park. Slightly confusingly, Clarence Park merges with two other parks (Thornes and Holmfield) and the boundaries aren’t clear, meaning that the names vary from map to map. The drive gradually becomes a path; stay on this until it reaches a lodge by one of the park’s entrances. The tree-crowned hill to the left as we follow this path is all that remains Lowe Hill motte and bailey castle, also known as Wakefield Castle, the history of which is somewhat unclear: presumed to have been built by the third Earl Warenne during the twelfth century, the wooden buildings are believed to have been destroyed by a gale in 1330 and never rebuilt.
Continue to follow the path to the left of the lodge, eventually reaching Thornes Park Miniature Railway (which at the time of writing runs on Sundays), then turn right to exit the park on Park Grove Road. Cross straight over and follow Lawefield Lane until it ends at Westgate. On the corner, the handsome former Westgate Wesleyan Methodist Church can be seen, on the other side of which is a pub, The Wagon. Cross over the road at the nearby pelican crossing, then turn right and follow towards the town centre, with Ings Beck running alongside you on the left for a short distance. Continue past a couple of pubs (The Swan with Two Necks, followed by Henry Boons) and under another railway bridge, after which Pemberton House can be seen on the left, which was built by cloth manufacturer Pemberton Milnes. Continue up Westgate to the Theatre Royal, opposite which the impressive the Unity Works building can be seen. Turn right in front of the theatre along Drury Lane, then proceed past the old library on the right and York House (now a hotel) on the left, turn left and walk down the hill to Mulberry Way, crossing the road to visit the orangery of Pemberton House. The orangery dates from c.1780 and boasts an attractive small garden, as well as graveyard that reflects its later use as a Unitarian Chapel Hall.
Turn right along Mulberry Way and walk in front of Wakefield Westgate, Wakefield’s other – and busier – railway station. This originally opened in 1856, was rebuilt in its current location in 1867, before being completely rebuilt between 2009 and 2013; as a result, it has lost both its original buildings and its charm, but gained a full array of facilities that Kirkgate currently lacks, including toilets. From the front of the station, turn right along a path between buildings to Cliff Lane. Turn left and then right again past the side of Wakefield One, currently home to Wakefield museum and library (as of 2023, the museum is destined to be re-housed elsewhere), then on reaching Burton Street, turn left into Bell Street. Turn right along Bell Street, then left along Bond Street, walking round the impressive County Hall building in the process. Another Grade I-listed building, this imposing gothic edifice dates from 1898. From here, follow Bond Street between County Hall and the gardens, visiting the war memorial, to reach Cliff Parade. Take a detour to the left to view the statue of Queen Victoria; otherwise turn right along Wood Street, passing the Town Hall and Wakefield College, formerly the Mechanics Institute and marked as such by another blue plaque. The Town Hall, like the County Hall, is Grade I-listed and built in the gothic style, but is marginally older, having been built in 1880. Take another detour to George and Crown Yard to see the previous town hall building, which also boasts a blue plaque, and opposite which is a memorial to Nelson Mandela.
Return to Wood Street and at the junction with Marygate, cross over and walk down Cross Square to visit Wakefield Cathedral.
Wakefield Cathedral.
Like most cathedrals this is Grade I-listed, and also like most cathedrals it has a more formal name, which is the Cathedral Church of All Saints. Originally the parish church, it was rebuilt in 1329 on the site of an Anglo-Saxon church (and rebuilt, extended and repaired a few more times over the years), and is notable for having the tallest church spire in Yorkshire, standing at two hundred and forty-seven feet. Note the blue plaque on the cathedral wall commemorating the life of Noel Gay, lyricist and popular song writer, who was a choirist at Wakefield Cathedral in his teenage years. The Cathedral has a coffee shop and toilet facilities and is worth visiting, after which we walk to Kirkgate and proceed east along it, turning right at a T-junction. Cross the road and continue along it, crossing straight over a large island and proceeding along Monk Street to return to Wakefield Kirkgate.
Having explored Wakefield, our next few stops are on the Wakefield Line, back down south-east across the City of Wakefield region in the general direction of Doncaster. There are four stations on route, the first of which is just across the river from Wakefield, and from which a walk will take us to the first of two castles in this part of our Yorkshire odyssey…