Moorthorpe
| Moorthorpe | |
|---|---|
 Moorthorpe Cemetery Lodge |
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 Moorthorpe
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| Moorthorpe shown within West Yorkshire | |
| OS grid reference | SE4630611071 |
| Civil parish | |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | PONTEFRACT |
| Postcode district | WF9 |
| Dialling code | 01977 |
| Police | West Yorkshire |
| Fire | West Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| UK Parliament | |
Moorthorpe is a village near Pontefract, in the City of Wakefield district of West Yorkshire, England. Due to the close proximity of South Kirkby and South Elmsall, which join the village at either end, the village often suffers an identity crisis.
Whilst Moorthorpe is a village in its own right and has clearly defined and signposted boundaries many residents simply assume the identity of either South Elmsall or South Kirkby. This can cause a particular problem with addresses when making purchases online, when most services automatically select South Elmsall as the address of many Moorthorpe residents, despite the fact that Moorthorpe forms part of the historic manor of South Kirkby and is tied to South Kirkby through the joint South Kirkby and Moorthorpe Town Council.
This problem is more complex because whilst many Moorthorpe residents are forced to use South Elmsall as their postal address, even on council tax bills, many of them actually pay parish rates to South Kirkby and Moorthorpe Town Council, which has higher rates than South Elmsall Town Council.
Moorthorpe literally means 'farm on the moor' and has its base in Old Norse.
The earliest written account of Moorthorpe is in the Domesday Book of 1086, when Moorthorpe is mentioned as part of the manor of South Kirkby. However, there is known evidence of Iron Age and Roman occupation and activity in the surrounding countryside and it is known that Sweinn and Arnketill, two Anglo-Saxon noblemen held the manor prior to the Norman Conquest. After the Conquest William gave the manor to Ilbert de Lacy.
Whilst there are no medieval maps of the village in known existence the earliest maps appear to show that Barnsley Road (known then as Mellwood Road) was the only or main route through what would have remained a sparsely occupied farming hamlet. Langthwaite House, situated alongside what is now known locally as the "library field" was flanked by Langthwaite Beck, where an ancient well and natural spring were found.
The industrial revolution brought the railways and coal mining to the area and along with it a need for housing and recreation. On Barnsley Road there were a number of shops and the Empire Theatre, which is now an apartment block, though it does retain some of its obvious features externally. The Moorthorpe Picture Palace was located nearby but has been demolished. Also in the village was the miners institute building, although it is now privately owned and its elaborate carved entrance featuring a miner at work has been obscured.
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Wikipedia