West Bretton
[5] 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.[8] Swein de Bretton granted the right to pasture 200 cattle and sheep on land north of the village to the monks of Byland Abbey.He was unmarried but his illegitimate daughter Diana, wife of Lt Colonel Thomas Beaumont MP for Northumberland inherited the estate.[15] Their son Thomas Wentworth Beaumont was Liberal MP for seats in Stafford and Northumberland and supporter of the Reform Act 1832.[16] His son Wentworth Blackett Beaumont spent more time in the north east where he owned more than 14,000 acres of land as well as the Bretton estate.[17] During the Second World War the hall was used by the military and maintenance cost rose leading to its sale to the West Riding County Council in 1947 followed by the estate land ten years later.[19] The West Yorkshire Archaeological Society has documents relating to the three-field system that operated in the village in medieval times.[21] After the Dissolution of the Monasteries Matthew Wentworth bought "all the myne, and delff of ironstone" around Bentley Grange, the Byland Abbey property.A mine was operated by Thomas Wood in 1806, Bretton Colliery managed by Tweedale and Watson paid rent to the estate in 1820s and bell pits, the Gate Royd Pits, (near the motorway service area) operated in 1849, The Jagger Brothers who owned Emley Colliery opened shafts on Malt Kiln Farm between 1856 and 1871.[30] The River Dearne flows west to east through the landscaped valley in Bretton Park where it is dammed to form two lakes.Among its more well known alumni are the TV comedy team known as The League of Gentleman, writers Colin Welland, Kay Mellor and John Godber and educationalist Sir Ken Robinson.[41] In 2007 the club celebrated its centenary year, and marked the occasion by inviting the former England wicket-keeper turned artist Jack Russell to visit the ground and paint a landscape of the pitch and clubhouse.
Monk BrettonWest YorkshireOS grid referenceCivil parishMetropolitan boroughCity of WakefieldMetropolitan countyRegionYorkshire and the HumberCountryEnglandSovereign statePost townPostcode districtDialling codePoliceAmbulanceYorkshireWakefieldM1 motorwayDomesday BookHarrying of the NorthNorman conquest of Englandde LacysHonour of PontefractWilliam IByland AbbeyBlack DeathHenry VIII'sSandal CastleTemple NewsamChristopher SaxtonBretton HallRoyalistsEnglish Civil WarBattle of NasebyJacobite rising of 1745Reform Act 1832Wentworth Blackett BeaumontWentworth Canning Blackett BeaumontGeorge VSecond World WarWest Riding County CouncilNational Union of MineworkersWest Yorkshire Archaeological Societythree-field systemmedievalDissolution of the Monasteriespig ironWortley Top ForgeKirkstallbell pitsmotorway service areamillstone gritBurslemWest Riding of YorkshireSandal MagnawapentakeAgbrigg and MorleySilkstoneStaincrosspoor law unionwatershedDearneCalderCarboniferouscoal measuresdry stoneBarnsleyHuddersfieldDenby Dalenational schoolGrade II-listedBretton Hall CollegeUniversity of Leedschapel of easeSt Bartholemew's ChapelMethodismDissentersPrimitive MethodistsMethodistsAnglicanslocal ecumenical partnershipYorkshire Sculpture ParkElisabeth FrinkAuguste RodinBarbara HepworthHenry MooreCastlefordwicket-keeperJack RussellListed buildings in West BrettonUniversity of NottinghamHistoric EnglandNational Heritage List for England