History in Maps

Crofton in 1849 - (3 of 9)

Interactive Map! This map is scrollable within the Crofton area only.

Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

Produced just over ten years after the previous map, this is the first version that resembles the Ordnance Survey style we recognise today. It contains far more detail.

The parkland surrounding Crofton Hall dominates the village. The “Fish Pond”—today’s Coppers Lake—is clearly marked. Nearby stand a Methodist Chapel and a Rectory.

Several public houses appear, including the Masons Arms (possibly the Royal Oak), the Cock and Crown (still bearing the same name today), and the New Inn, located where the telephone exchange stands at the end of Slack Lane. “Windmill House” on Towers Lane is now also marked as an inn.

Note the pinfold at the junction of Slack Lane and Doncaster Road. This still exists today. It was used to hold stray sheep, possibly until a fine was paid, and is a good indication as to how some of the nearby land was used.

Many modern street names are already present—Shay Lane, Cock Lane, Slack Lane, Spring Lane, and Middle Lane. Names now used for housing estates also appear, such as Spring Hill and Brand Hill, though not necessarily in their modern locations.

Note the feature The Balk marked on the map between Shay Lane and what was Ings Lane (a continuation of Hare Park Lane today). This is visible, but unnamed on the 1838 map and can still be seen on the latest satellite imagery. The definition of a Balk is an Unploughed piece of land in the open field, used as a field division and also a right of way.

Crofton Windmill is marked close to what is now Weeland Road and is marked "Corn", again indicating how some of the land will have been used. A short distance to the west of the mill is a building marked Shelling Mill. The Shelling Mill would have been used to seperate the corn or wheat from the chaff before being milled at the windmill.

The quarries from the earlier map remain, now labelled “Sandstone”, and are joined by another—Windmill House Quarry.

The nearest railway station is at Oakenshaw, on the Midland Railway’s Derby–Leeds line. Intended to serve Wakefield by omnibus, it was a grander station than one might expect.

Outside of Crofton but worth noting, in the bottom-left corner, you can see part of Charles Waterton’s Walton Park. This map was produced during his lifetinme so it gives us just a glimps of what it may have been like.