Gawthorpe
Gawthorpe Water Tower
Gawthorpe is located in West Yorkshire
Gawthorpe
Gawthorpe
Location within West Yorkshire
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom

Gawthorpe is a village to the north of Ossett, in the Wakefield district, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. It is roughly midway between Wakefield and Dewsbury north of the A638.

Gawthorpe's name derives from Gorky, a Viking name, and thorpe was a settlement, but evidence suggests the village may have Roman origins.[1] Gawthorpe's Mayday celebrations date back to at least 1875 when a seventy-foot fir tree was bought and erected by public subscription on the village green. The maypole was last replaced in 1986.[1]

Gawthorpe Water Tower is a Grade II listed concrete structure built between 1922 and 1928 to store drinking water for the Ossett area.[2] The 55m tall tower is a prominent local landmark of the Ossett and Gawthorpe area.[2]

Gawthorpe hosts the World Coal Carrying Championships.[3] The Championships were originally run from the Shaw Cross colliery to the May Pole, although the collieries in this area all closed in the Robens era. It also gives its name to the Gawthorpe seam of coal, which stretches from the village down through Horbury and Crigglestone.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Gawthorpe Maypole". Wakefield Council. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012.
  2. 1 2 Historic England. "Gawthorpe Water Tower (1472774)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  3. ↑ "Coal Race Event". Gawthorpe Maypole. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "The Barnsley-Warren House Seam (The Art and Science of Mining, 17th June 1939, Page: 388, Column: 1)". Durham Mining Museum. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
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