Editing Rothwell, West Yorkshire (section)

==History==
[[File:Holy Trinity Church, Rothwell - geograph.org.uk - 46367.jpg|thumb|left|[[Holy Trinity Church, Rothwell, West Yorkshire|Holy Trinity Church]] in Rothwell.]]
[[File:Rothwell Colliery - geograph.org.uk - 1565074.jpg|thumb|left|Rothwell Colliery in 1984]]

=== Early history ===
Rothwell was mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]], an 11th-century landholding survey commissioned by King [[William the Conqueror]], as ''"Rodewelle"''.<ref>{{OpenDomesday|OS=SE3428 |name=Rothwell |display=Rodewelle |accessdate=30 April 2019 }}</ref>

One of the royal lodge’s documented owners was [[John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster]], who is supposed to have killed the last [[wild boar]] in England while hunting nearby; hence, a boar’s head formed part of the arms of the former Rothwell Urban District Council.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/content/articles/2009/03/02/places_rothwell_country_park_feature.shtml|title=From pit to park|publisher=BBC News|access-date=19 August 2024}}</ref>

The [[Church of England parish church|parish church]] (Church Street) is dedicated to the Holy Trinity and is on the site of an Anglo-Saxon predecessor. The current church, which has a ring of eight bells, is of medieval origins but was substantially rebuilt in the 19th century: the tower retains medieval fabric believed to be from the 15th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rothwelldistrictcofechurches.org.uk/holy-trinity/1-about-our-church/-bricks-mortar.php|title=Rothwell District C of E Churches {{!}} Bricks and Mortar|website=rothwelldistrictcofechurches.org.uk|access-date=27 April 2020}}</ref> [[John Blenkinsop]] (1783–1831), a pioneer in the use of steam locomotives on the nearby [[Middleton Railway]], is buried at the church.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Gravestone of John Blenkinsopp approximately two meters north of tower of Church of the Holy Trinity|num=1184672|access-date=19 August 2024}}</ref>[[File:Rothwell Jawbone 2016 01.jpg|thumb|right|Whale jaws boundary marker]]
The town was granted the rights of a [[market town]] in the 15th century and a twice-yearly [[fair]]. The tradition of a fair is maintained by the annual carnival which is organised by the Rothwell Entertainments Committee.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ls26.org.uk/cms/local-organisations/rothwell-entertainments-committee/|title=Rothwell Entertainments Committee|access-date=28 April 2019}}</ref> [[May Day]] is celebrated beside the stone cross and on the Pastures on the first Monday Bank Holiday in May, while Rothwell Carnival is held in [[Springhead Park]] on the second Saturday of July every year. [[Rothwell Town Hall]] was completed in 1895.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://dotguide.co.uk/yorkshire/content.pl?action=rothwell  |title=Rothwell|publisher=Yorkshire Guide| access-date=19 August 2024}}</ref>

A notable landmark of the town is an arch made of whale jawbones, which has marked the northern boundary by the junction with Wood Lane and the [[A61 road]] for over 100 years.<ref name=jaws>{{cite news|url=http://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news/town-claws-jaws-back-in-boundary-changes-1-972974 |work=Wakefield Express|date= 8 August 2003|title= Town claws jaws back in boundary changes|access-date=22 September 2016}}</ref>

Rothwell is part of the historic [[Rhubarb Triangle]], with the town and surrounding areas famed for having once produced 90% of the world’s winter forced [[rhubarb]] from the forcing sheds that were common across the fields there.<ref name="WL">{{citation |title=Working Lunch|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/working_lunch/4685636.stm|publisher=[[BBC]]|accessdate=21 February 2010| date=7 February 2006}}</ref>

===20th century===
[[File:Clock Tower of the old Workhouse - Wood Lane - geograph.org.uk - 507276.jpg|thumb|right|Workhouse clock tower]]
[[File:Cornerstone of St George's Hospital, Rothwell.jpg|thumb|right|[[Cornerstone]] of St George's Hospital]]
St George's Hospital was situated off Wood Lane where now exists Castle Lodge Avenue and associated houses. It was built in 1903 to a design by [[Leeds]] architect [[Edward J. Dodgshun]] by the Rothwell, Methley and Hunslet Joint Isolation Hospital Committee which was formed under the Isolation Hospitals Act 1893 by an order of the West Riding County Council 10 January 1900. When first constructed it was known as the New Union [[Workhouse]] and Infirmary for the Hunslet Union. On being taken over by the Leeds [[Public Assistance Committee]] in 1934, it was renamed St George’s Hospital. In 1934 it was transferred to the Leeds Health Committee. In 1948 the hospital was managed by the Leeds Group B [[Hospital management committee|Hospital Management Committee]]. After local government reorganisation in 1974, it was transferred to the Leeds Eastern District and soon after to the Leeds Western District, and was closed in December 1991. From 1934 the hospital provided accommodation for the elderly ill, patients with chronic and acute [[mental illness]], persons with [[Learning disability|learning disabilities]], a [[maternity]] ward and a separate [[Isolation ward (medicine)|isolation ward]]. The site was developed for housing at the start of the 21st century, but the original tall clock tower remains.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/hospitalrecords/details.asp?id=1209&hospital=st+george&town=&searchdatabase.x=102&searchdatabase.y=6 | title = Hospital Records Database | work = National Archives | publisher = HM Government | access-date = 1 May 2012 }}</ref>

Rothwell Temperance Band is a [[brass band sections in the United Kingdom|Championship section]] [[brass band (British style)|brass band]] founded in Rothwell in 1984. Although they do not rehearse in Rothwell itself, instead rehearsing in [[Wakefield]], they have strong connections with the town and hold many concerts for the local community. The closest Champion Section Brass Band is the [[Yorkshire Imperial Band|Yorkshire Imperial Urquhart Travel Band]], formerly of the Yorkshire Imperial Copperworks based in Stourton, from which the band is named. In 2000, the Wallace Arnold (Rothwell) Band merged with the Yorkshire Imperial Urquhart Travel Band, which became for some time the Yorkshire Imperial DUT (Rothwell) Band.<ref>{{cite web|title=Yorkshire Imperial David Urquhart Travel Band|url=http://brassbandresults.co.uk/bands/yorkshire-imperial-david-urquart-travel-band/|work=Brass Band Results|access-date=28 July 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Rothwellaerial.JPG|thumb|right|Aerial map of Rothwell]]
Rothwell has a long history of [[Coal mining in the United Kingdom|coal mining]]. It was a site of early mining, using a system known as [[bell pit]]s. Coal mining has been carried out in the area for over 600 years. There were many local pits including the Fanny, the Rose and Rothwell Water Haigh. As the reserves as Rothwell Haigh Colliery were exhausted, production ended on 9 December 1983, with the majority of the 650 men employed transferring to the new [[Selby Coalfield]].<ref name=Downes>{{cite book|title=Yorkshire Collieries 1947–1994|last=Downes|first=Eddie|publisher=Think Pit Publication|year=2016|page=464|isbn=9-780995-570900|location=London}}</ref> Whereas some mineworkers moved house closer to Selby, many commuted daily from Rothwell to Selby for years. After closure, the old coking plant site at Haigh Colliery remained within the Coal Products Division of the NCB until privatisation in 1994, at which point former employees banded together to buy the site and later sold the site to a housing developer.<ref name=Downes/> In 1995, Leeds City Council and Leeds Groundwork formed a partnership which, together with local residents and community groups, transformed the former colliery site into a 124-acre country park with a sculpture trail, a pond trail, and a habitat for various forms of flora and fauna.<ref name=Downes/>

===21st century===

The introduction of Leeds Valley Park in the early 21st century and its subsequent expansions<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.commercialnewsmedia.com/archives/53440|title=Lowell expands at Leeds Valley Park |date=6 October 2016 |publisher= Commercial News Media|access-date=28 April 2019}}</ref> have caused concerns for residents due to the parking problems caused on neighbouring Wood Lane.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.karenbruce.co.uk/2018/10/26/rothwell-wood-lane-and-valley-park-parking-update/|title=Rothwell Wood Lane and Valley Park parking update|first=Karen|last=Bruce|date=26 October 2018|access-date=28 April 2019}}</ref> This is despite numerous efforts by local councillors, and the community, to include further parking restrictions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.karenbruce.co.uk/2018/03/28/action-on-wood-lane-parking/|title=Action on Wood Lane Parking|first=Karen|last=Bruce|date=28 March 2018|access-date=28 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.karenbruce.co.uk/2017/11/29/wood-lane-double-parking-action/|title=Wood Lane double parking action|first=Karen|last=Bruce|date=29 November 2017|access-date=28 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.karenbruce.co.uk/2017/04/29/rothwell-labour-councillors-news-on-wood-lane-parking-latest-plans/|title=Rothwell Labour councillors' news on Wood Lane parking latest plans|first=Karen|last=Bruce|date=29 April 2017|access-date=28 April 2019}}</ref>

===Administrative history===
Rothwell was an [[ancient parish]], comprising five [[Township (England)|townships]]: [[Lofthouse, West Yorkshire|Lofthouse]] with [[Carlton, Rothwell|Carlton]], [[Middleton, Leeds|Middleton]], [[Oulton, West Yorkshire|Oulton]] with [[Woodlesford]], [[Thorpe on the Hill, West Yorkshire|Thorpe]] and a Rothwell township covering the old village itself and adjoining areas (the latter township also being known as "Rothwell with Rothwell Haigh and Royds Green"). All such townships also became [[civil parish]]es in 1866.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rothwell Ancient Parish / Civil Parish |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10466131#tab02 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=7 February 2024}}</ref>

The Rothwell township was made a [[Local board of health#Local Government Act 1858|local government district]] in 1872, governed by a local board.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=23893|page=3924|date=6 September 1872}}</ref> The district was enlarged in 1892 to also include the townships of Lofthouse with Carlton and Thorpe.<ref>{{cite book |title=Annual Report of the Local Government Board |date=1893 |location=London |pages=238 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mp8aAQAAIAAJ&pg=238 |access-date=7 February 2024}}</ref> Such districts were converted into [[Urban district (England and Wales)|urban districts]] in 1894.<ref>[[Local Government Act 1894]]</ref> Shortly afterwards, Rothwell Urban District Council built itself new council offices on Marsh Street in 1895/6.<ref>{{cite book |title=Rothwell Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan |publisher=Leeds City Council |date=2010 |pages=7 |url=https://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/rothwell%20conservation%20area%20appraisal%20and%20management%20plan%20final.pdf |access-date=7 February 2024}}</ref>

The Rothwell Urban District was enlarged in 1937, absorbing Oulton with Woodlesford from the abolished [[Hunslet Rural District]], and [[Methley]], which had been a separate urban district.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rothwell Urban District |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10055131#tab02 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=7 February 2024}}</ref> Rothwell Urban District was abolished in 1974 under the [[Local Government Act 1972]], with the area becoming part of the [[metropolitan borough]] of the [[City of Leeds]]. As the 1972 Act went through parliament there was a local campaign to have Rothwell included in the [[City of Wakefield|Wakefield]] district instead of Leeds. This was accepted as an amendment to the bill in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] but was overturned in the [[House of Lords]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Local Government Bill: Volume 355, debated on Monday 16 October 1972 |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/1972-10-16/debates/f31e435e-701a-4d27-acf9-15f5c76d30c7/LocalGovernmentBill |website=Hansard |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=7 February 2024}}</ref>