History in Maps
This map is the first public Ordnance Survey map covering Crofton and builds on the detail in the previous map. It still shows that in 1838, Crofton was a rural community however there are signs that this was changing.
On the northern edge of the map, early signs of coal‑mining activity are already visible: fields north of Sharlston show workings, and nearby Oakenshaw is marked with a railway station where two lines converge. These features hint at the industrial transformation that lay ahead.
The map shows All Saints’ Church (marked with a cross) and Crofton Old Hall. Crofton Old Hall still stands today within the grounds of Crofton Academy.
At the bottom of the hill on Harrison Road, the map marks two additional properties: Hall and Rectory. You can read more about Crofton Hall in the Crofton In Pictures section of this web site.
Close by is marked the word Lidget. This may refer to a place - definitions include "small gate" or "gate by a small meadow".
North of what is now Weeland Road stands a windmill, likely used for milling grain. Another building marked “Windmill House” appears on Towers Lane. Two quarries, one on Shay Lane and another just south of the old Pontefract Road, are shown - these were probably sources of building stone.
Interestingly, some of today’s public footpaths are shown on the map as roads or tracks. For instance, a path branching from Hare Park Lane continues to Shay Lane — not just to Hare Park — suggesting that several current footpaths have had a greater importance in the past.
In short: the 1838 map reveals a rural village with modest housing, agricultural land‑use, early industrial influences, and features — like quarries, a windmill, and old roads — that continue to shape modern Crofton’s landscape.