Ledsham, West Yorkshire

Ledsham is a village and civil parish 4 miles (6 km) north of Castleford and 11 miles (18 km) east of Leeds in the county of West Yorkshire, England. The village is in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough and near to the A1(M) motorway. It had a population of 162 at the 2001 Census,[2] increasing to 181 at the 2011 Census.[1]

Ledsham
Village
A game of Cricket in Ledsham, 2003 (note church spire in the background)
Ledsham is located in West Yorkshire
Ledsham
Ledsham
Location within West Yorkshire
Population181 (2011 census)[1]
OS grid referenceSE455297
Metropolitan borough
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
PoliceWest Yorkshire
FireWest Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire

History

Ledsham is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Ledesha, as belonging to Ilbert of Lacy and having six villagers, three ploughlands, and 5 acres (2 ha) of meadow.[3] However, it was recorded in a charter from 1030 as Ledesham. Like nearby Ledston, the name seems to refer to Leeds (or the Old English precursor of this name, Loidis, which denoted a region rather than a town); the second element is the Old English word hām ('homestead, farm'). The name thus meant 'the farm belonging to the region of Loidis'.[4][5]

Ledsham parish once also included the township of Fairburn, whose name is likewise first attested around 1030, as Faren-burne. This name comes from the Old English words fearn ('fern') and burna ('spring, stream'), and thus meant 'spring characterised by ferns'.[6]

Geography

To the east is Selby Fork junction, which is also partly in South Milford, in North Yorkshire, but previously in the West Riding; in the early 1960s, the M62 motorway was planned to have its eastern terminus at Ledsham, possibly at the Selby Fork junction.[7]

Characteristics

There is a late seventh-century Anglo-Saxon church (the oldest church and the oldest building standing in West Yorkshire),[8] and nearby Ledston Hall. The village school, like schools in Collingham and Thorp Arch, was named after Lady Elizabeth Hastings. The school is now located in the nearby village of Ledston,[9] which was rated as good by OFSTED in 2018.[10]

Ledsham have a cricket team, who currently play in the York League.[11]

Governance

Historically, Ledsham was in the wapentake of Barkston Ash, but since 1974, it has been a part of the metropolitan borough of City of Leeds, in the county of West Yorkshire.[12][13] It is its own civil parish, and is in the Kippax and Methley ward for local affairs, and is in the Elmet and Rothwell Constituency for national level politics.[14]

See also

References
  1. UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Ledsham Parish (E04000200)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  2. Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : Leeds retrieved 10 September 2009
  3. "Ledsham | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  4. Victor Watts (ed.), The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), s.v. LEDSHAM WYorks.
  5. "Ledsham :: Survey of English Place-Names". epns.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  6. Harry Parkin, Your City's Place-Names: Leeds, English Place-Name Society City-Names Series, 3 (Nottingham: English Place-Names Society, 2017), p. 45.
  7. Liverpool Echo Thursday 13 July 1961, page 18
  8. 1987 publication by West Yorkshire Archaeology Service: HC/2/SW,CP "Historic Churches of West Yorkshire - Ledsham Church"
  9. "Lady Elizabeth Hastings - About Us". www.ladyehastings.leeds.sch.uk. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  10. "Lady Elizabeth Hastings CofE Primary School URN: 108100 Address: Green Lane, Ledston, Castleford, West Yorkshire, WF10 2BD". reports.ofsted.gov.uk. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  11. Harber, Tony (5 August 2021). "Cole is all-round star as Castleford beat Ledsham". The Wakefield Express. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  12. "Genuki: Ledsham, Yorkshire (West Riding)". www.genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  13. "Ledsham, Leeds". getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  14. "Election Maps Ledsham". www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Retrieved 7 March 2023. Ensure that the Westminster and the Metropolitan District wards are selected
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