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Did You Know?

Things you may or may not know about Stanley

In the 1820s it was recorded that the River Calder was so clean that if you dropped a stone into it, the stone would be still visable at a depth of eight feet

Local timber was used in the construction of a transept in York Minster in 1241

Saint Peters School still has a case containing some of the Roman coins that were found at Smalley Bight Farm in 1905

Beaumont Street takes its name from the Beaumont family who owned Hatfeild Hall

Riverdale on Ferry lane got its name from the nearby River Calder

Mount Road got its name from the hill originally being called Lee Mount 

Stanley Church is the only twin towered Church in Yorkshire

The Lake Lock Rail Road was the worlds first public railway

Bread Baker Lane or as it is known today Baker Lane was named after the Baker that lived there

Ferry Lane football fields were once the site of a resoivoir

Newmarket Colliery was one of the oldest pits in the UK when it closed

Lime Pit Lane got its name from the three Lime pits that were worked there in the 19th entury

Rev. Baugh served Stanley for 45 years, the longest serving Vicar to date

Hatfeild Hall is built on the site of the 14th Century Wood Hall

The Aquaduct is the largest such structure built in cast iron in the world, and is said to be the oldest

The River Calder froze in December 1813, the freeze lasted for 13 weeks, Many people skated from Wakefield to Leeds and back, even horses and carts went on the frozen River

The oak beams used in the construction of Hatfeild Hall came from Howley Park in Morley

An Elizabethen house stood at the bottom of Baker Lane up to the 19th Century

The Deep Drop Colliery explosion is Stanleys worst disaster

The first registered burial at Stanley Cemetry was that of a William Craven aged 7 on 17th September 1824

The Rising Sun at Bottomboat is the oldest pub that is still in use in the original building

The Vicarage originally had a servants wing at the back of the building, this has since been demolished

Local Historian Frank Poskett estimates that 107, 352, 00 tons of coal have been excavated from under Stanley

When built Stanley Royd came in £7000 over budget

Long Causeway - The name Causeway means a hard trodden surface or path, it is possible that the path was used as a short cut to Lee Moor and developed overtime into a wider track.

Kirkfield Place Ferry Lane had several nicknames in the village; Burgulars Alley, Sheppards Rest & Chuggler Bunk and the name Kirkfield comes from "Kirk" meaning Church arriving at the name Church fields. This name would have come from the land being owned by the old Saint Swithens Chapel

The name Smalley Bight comes from "Smalley" meaning narrow clearing and "Bight" meaning bend in the River.

The name Welbeck refers to the loop in the River Calder at this point

The name Balk Lane comes from "Balk" meaning boundry ridge

More Facts to follow

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