Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for LEDSHAM

LEDSHAM, a township and a parish in Pontefract district, W. R. Yorkshire. The township lies 3½ miles SW of Milford-Junction r. station, and 6 N of Pontefract. Acres, 1,864. Real property, £3, 315; of which £1, 050 are in mines, and £30 in quarries. Pop., 459. Houses, 84.—The parish contains also the townships of Fairburn and Ledstone. Post town, South Milford. Acres, 5, 176. Real property, £8, 494. Pop., 1, 146. Houses, 239. The property is divided among a few. The manors of Ledsham and Ledstone belonged formerly to the Withams, the Earls of Strafford, the Huntingdons, and others; and belong now to the Rev.Wheler. Ledstone Hall, the manorial mansion, is a stately edifice, in a beautiful park. The manor of Fairburn belongs to the Rev. H. Sulivan and Lady Palmerston. Limestone abounds, and coal is worked. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of York. Value, £400.* Patron, the Rev.Wheler. The church is ancient; comprises nave, aisle, porch, and chancel, with tower and spire; and contains a fine monument of Lady Elizabeth Hastings. There are an Independent chapel, two Primitive Methodist chapels, an endowed school for twenty boys, an endowed school for twenty orphan girls, and an endowed hospital or charity for eleven aged men and women. The schools are supported by Lady E. Hastings' trust; and the hospital was founded by Sir John Lewis, and has an income of about £170. There are also some small charities.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a township and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions")
Administrative units: Ledsham CP/AP       Pontefract RegD/PLU       Yorkshire AncC
Place: Ledsham

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