West Bretton
| West Bretton | |
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Jan2006.jpg) War Memorial, West Bretton |
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 West Bretton
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| West Bretton shown within West Yorkshire | |
| Population | 459 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | SE285135 |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WAKEFIELD |
| Postcode district | WF4 |
| Dialling code | 01924 |
| Police | West Yorkshire |
| Fire | West Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
West Bretton is a village and civil parish in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It lies 7 miles (11 km) from Wakefield, close to junction 38 of the M1 motorway. It has a population of 546, reducing to 459 at the 2011 Census.
There is a school in the village, West Bretton Junior and Infant School, and a church, which is an Anglican-Methodist local ecumenical partnership.
Bretton is the farmstead of the Britons and derives from the Old English, Brettas and ton. It was recorded as Bretone in the Domesday Book of 1086 and West Bretton in 1200.
This part of Yorkshire was laid waste in the Harrying of the North after the Norman conquest of England. Most of West Bretton was granted to the de Lacys, lords of the Honour of Pontefract by William I and a small part to the Manor of Wakefield. After the devastation, growth was slow but more land was eventually cultivated to sustain a growing population. A water-powered corn mill was recorded in 13th century and in 1379 there was a smith. The population at this time was approximately 70 people and one family had adopted the surname "de Bretton". The de Bretton, Dronfield and Wentworth families became pre-eminent and Sir Willian Dronfield held the manor when he died in 1406.
Swein de Bretton granted the right to pasture 200 cattle and sheep on land north of the village to the monks of Byland Abbey. The population suffered the effects of the Black Death in 1350. Richard Wentworth inherited the manor and hall in 1477. His great grandson, Sir Thomas Wentworth was Henry VIII's Knight Marshall and keeper of Sandal Castle. An oak bed from this time, supposedly slept in by the king, is preserved at Temple Newsam. The old hall, on a different site to the present hall, was recorded on Christopher Saxton's Yorkshire map of 1577 but its exact location is unknown.
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Wikipedia