Visit West Bretton Places

Welcome to Visit West Bretton Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in West Bretton

  

West Bretton Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about West Bretton

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West Bretton history

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Toponymy

Bretton derives from the Old English Brettas, the Britons and tūn meaning an enclosure, farmstead, village or estate. The Briton’s farm or settlement was recorded as Bretone in the Domesday Book of 1086 and West Bretton in 1200.

Manor

West Bretton was laid waste in the Harrying of the North after the Norman conquest of England. The population suffered the effects of the Black Death in 1350. The de Bretton, Dronfield and Wentworth families became pre-eminent. Bretton Hall was built by Sir William Wentworth who inherited the estate in 1706. He was a Captain of Horse in the Trained Guards in the Jacobite rising.

Agriculture

The West Yorkshire Archaeological Society has documents relating to the three-field system that operated in the village in medieval times. Its fields were enclosed by 1759 and Home Farm was built by 1800. Evidence of brewing is the old malt kiln at the farm of the same name.

Industry

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries Matthew Wentworth bought “all the myne, and delff of ironstone” around Bentley Grange, the Byland Abbey property. Though the ironstone was exhausted by the mid-1600s, smithies continued to operate fuelled by charcoal. The furnace at Bretton supplied pig iron to Colnebridge, Wortley Top Forge and Kirkstall in 1728.

West Bretton geography / climate

West Bretton covers 849 acres (344 ha) of hilly land from 122 metres (400 ft) to 152 metres (499 ft) above sea level. The underlying geology is that of the Carboniferous period and comprises 18 coal seams of coal measures and the Tankersley ironstone seam.

You can visit West Bretton places with Walkfo West Bretton to hear history at West Bretton’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo West Bretton has 16 places to visit in our interactive West Bretton map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout West Bretton, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at West Bretton places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to West Bretton & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 16 audio facts unique to West Bretton places in an interactive West Bretton map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit West Bretton Places Map
16 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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West Bretton historic spots	West Bretton tourist destinations	West Bretton plaques	West Bretton geographic features
Walkfo West Bretton tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in West Bretton

  

Best West Bretton places to visit

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West Bretton has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied West Bretton’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo West Bretton’s information audio spots:

Woolley Hall Woolley Hall is a Grade II* listed building in West Yorkshire. It is a country house in Woolley, West Yorkshire, England.

St Bartholomew’s Chapel, West Bretton St Bartholomew’s Chapel is a former estate church in the grounds of Bretton Hall, in West Bretton near Wakefield in West Yorkshire. The redundant Grade II* listed chapel has been restored as gallery space for the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

Sitlington Sitlington was a township in the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Thornhill in the wapentake of Agbrigg and Morley in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 5,963.

Visit West Bretton plaques