Castleford

Castleford is a town in the county of West Yorkshire, England, near to Pontefract, with a population of approximately 40,000. To the north are the River Calder, the River Aire and the Aire and Calder Navigation. To the west and south is the M62 motorway.

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Castleford is built upon the site of a Roman army settlement that was named Lagentium or Legioleum. The modern name of the town is derived from the fort, Castle (referring to the fort) and Ford (referring to the River Aire which runs through Castleford.)

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Castleford started as a quiet village, but between 1811 and 1891, its population increased from 890 to 14,143, due to the Industrial Revolution. Many people worked in coal mines and in the glass-making, chemical and textile industries. Castleford Pottery is still famous amongst avid collectors.

County: Originally, in continental Europe, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count. Counts are called "earls" in post-Celtic Great Britain and Ireland - the term is from Old Norse jarl and was introduced by the Vikings - but there is no correlation between "county" and "earldom." Rather, t...

West Yorkshire: West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in England, corresponding roughly to the core of the West Riding of the traditional county of Yorkshire. It borders on Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Derbyshire, North Yorkshire and South Yorkshire....

England: :For an explanation of often confusing terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology)....