Gawthorpe, Wakefield

Gawthorpe is a village to the north of Ossett in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It is roughly midway between Wakefield and Dewsbury north of the A638.

Gawthorpe Water Tower

Gawthorpe's name derives from Gorky, a Viking name, and thorpe was a settlement, but evidence suggests the village may have Roman origins.[1] Gawthorpe Water Tower located at the highest point of the Ossett and Gawthorpe area is a local landmark that can be seen for miles around. This concrete structure built between 1922 and 1928 stores drinking water for the Ossett area the tower is 55m tall. Gawthorpe's Mayday celebrations date back to at least 1875 when a seventy-foot fir tree was bought and erected by public subscription on the village green. The maypole was last replaced in 1986.[2]

Gawthorpe hosts the World Coal Carrying Championships. It also gives its name to the Gawthorpe seam of coal, which stretches from the village down through Horbury and Crigglestone.[3] The Championships were originally run from the Shaw Cross colliery to the May Pole, although the collieries in this area all closed in the Robens era.

References
  1. http://www.wakefield.gov.uk/AboutWakefield/LocalCommunities/Ossett/OssettHistory/gawthorpemaypole.htm
  2. http://www.gawthorpemaypole.org.uk/?page_id=21
  3. http://www.dmm.org.uk/news19/9390617a.htm Durham Mining Museum, The Barnsley-Warren House Seam

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