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An active church serving the
Five Towns area of West Yorkshire, U.K.
Five Towns?

So what are these ‘Five Towns’?

The Five Towns are a group of small communities in the county of West Yorkshire, in the north of England.

They are Castleford, Pontefract, Knottingley, Normanton and Featherstone.

They are 200 miles (320 km) north of London.

The Five Towns cover an area of about 8 miles (13 km) by 5 miles (8 km). The nearest major cities are Leeds and Wakefield. International airports at Manchester and East Midlands are an hour’s drive away, and the more local Leeds/Bradford Airport and Robin Hood Airport (Doncaster) only half an hour.

Population:

  • Castleford 40,000
  • Pontefract 29,000
  • Normanton 20,000
  • Knottingley 16,000
  • Featherstone 11,000
Location of the Five Towns in the UK
The Five Towns in relation to each other

No history, I suppose?

Don’t you believe it! The Five Towns are rich in history. For instance...

  • Normanton, as its name suggests, has links with the Normans, who invaded Britain from France at the famous Battle of Hastings in 1066.
     
  • Pontefract has the remains of a Norman castle that later played a prominent Castleford boundary signrole in the Civil War (mid 17th century). The town is also famous for its liquorice confectionery and is the home of the renowned Pomfret Cakes. The sweet smell from the factory wafts over the town centre when the wind is right.
  • Castleford was once a Roman settlement called Lagentium. A Roman road, straight as a die, still runs through it—now unglamorously called the A656.
    The name ‘Castleford’ comes from the fact that it was the place where visitors from the north forded the River Aire en route to Pontefract Castle.
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