Shafton

Shafton is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England, on the border with West Yorkshire. At the 2001 census it had a population of 2,840.^[1] The parish contains the villages of Shafton and Shafton Two Gates.

Shafton lies to the north of Shafton Two Gates, on the road to Ryhill. It is located at approximately 53° 35' 10" North, 1° 24' West, at an elevation of around 80 metres (262 ft) above sea level. Sceptun in the Domesday Book of 1086 then later in c. 1160 Scaftona meaning a farmstead marked by a pole, or made with poles.

Shafton Two Gates lies to the south of Shafton and north of Cudworth, on the intersection of the A628 and A6195 roads. It is located at approximately 53°35′40″N 1°24′30″W / 53.59444°N 1.40833°W / 53.59444; -1.40833, at an elevation of around 75 metres (246 ft) above sea level.

Shafton Two Gates takes its name from the two roads that enter Shafton at this point. The etymology derives from the Old Norse word gata, the equivalent of the modern English word road. The two roads in question are both ancient and locally important. The more southerly of the two is the road between Pontefract and Barnsley, this section of which was made into Turnpike in 1833,^[2] with a turnpike gate which was sited slightly to the east of the modern roundabout serving the Cudworth Parkway and Engine Lane. The second more northerly road, is the old Salter's road that runs from Shafton Two Gates via the North Field of Cudworth (Weetshaw Lane)through to Carlton where it continued towards Smithies and eventually up through Penistone to the Salter's Brook Bridge 53°29′46″N 1°47′41.3″W / 53.49611°N 1.794806°W / 53.49611; -1.794806which marked the ancient boundary between Yorkshire and Cheshire at Longdendale(These days the boundary is between the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and Derbyshire).This was an ancient packhorse route.

References

External links

Media related to Shafton at Wikimedia Commons