History in Maps

Pits and Land Use - (5 of 9)

Pit Map (1921)

1921 Pit Map - Reproduced with permission of the National Library of Scotland

This 1921 map of pits and railways shows the scale of mining activity and the spread of the railways in the Crofton area. Note that both the pits and the railway lines are marked with the owners of the individual lines and pits. There was no unified railway or mining organisations in the UK until nationalisation in the late 1940's.

Note: Haw Park Pit was located just south of Haw Park Wood and can be seen on the 1907 map.

Land Use Map (1937)

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

Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

The 1937 land-use map uses the following key:

Purple: Housing with gardens large enough for productive growing.
Red: Pits, quarries, industry.
Red over Housing: Housing density too high for agriculture.
Green horizontal lines: Meadowland and permanent grass.
Brown: Arable land.

This map was produced between 1932-37 and gives an indication as to how land was being used. Much of the area around Crofton was either grassland/meadowland (Green horizontal lines) or arable (brown), just as it is today. You can also see the industrial areas (red) of the brickworks/colliery at Nostell and Walton.

Most of the housing is highlighted in purple, meaning that the gardens must have been of a reasonable size. Contrast that to the new estate on "The Lump" which are highlighted in red, which effectively means gardens too small to be productive.

Looking at the underlying map, a new stretch of the main road to Pontefract, called Weeland Road, has been built which avoids the Cock and Crown–Spring Green stretch of Pontefract Road.