Wakefield is the main settlement of the City of Wakefield metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder, it had a population of 76,886 in 2001.
Wakefield was dubbed the "Merrie City" in the Middle Ages.
The name "Wakefield" is sometimes said to derive from "Waca's field" - the field belonging to someone named "Waca". However, the name is more likely to have evolved from Old English word wacu, meaning "a watch or wa...
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Wakefield is the main settlement of the City of Wakefield metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder, it had a population of 76,886 in 2001.
Wakefield was dubbed the "Merrie City" in the Middle Ages.
The name "Wakefield" is sometimes said to derive from "Waca's field" - the field belonging to someone named "Waca". However, the name is more likely to have evolved from Old English word wacu, meaning "a watch or wake", and feld, an open field in which a wake was held. In the Domesday Book of 1086, it was listed as Wachefeld. also as Wachefelt.
Much of what is now Wakefield, including Lupset, was held by William Earl Warenne, Earl of Surrey, as conferred on him by King William I. As early as 1203 William Earl Warenne received a grant to have a market in Wakefield. Wakefield and its environs formed the caput of an extensive baronial holding by the Warennes that extended to Cheshire and Lancashire. The Warennes, and their feudal sublords, continued to hold...
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