Civic society secures culture grant to promote history of Wakefield pubs, Barbara Hepworth and forgotten railway stations

Wakefield Council has awarded the society a ‘culture everywhere grant’ to fund the project.

The money will be used to extend the organisation’s series of ‘Discover Wakefield’ leaflets, which explain aspects of the city’s built heritage.

The new leaflets will be launched in September as part of the society’s contribution to this year’s national heritage open days programme.

Society president Kevin Trickett said: “In 2021, the society was awarded a grant from the council to help promote an awareness of Wakefield’s architectural heritage.

“We were able to produce four leaflets which were accompanied by further information on our website.

“At the time, we were unable to organise our usual range of guided walks because of the risk of infection from Covid and wanted to produce something that people could use to explore the city’s fascinating heritage on their own.

“The leaflets, which were made freely available at Wakefield libraries and at the West Yorkshire History Centre, proved popular.

“We were very pleased to hear that we had been awarded another grant to produce more leaflets this year”.

The themes for the four new leaflets are:

The Barbara Hepworth Connection – looking at the links between the world-renown sculptor and buildings in the city centre with which she was known to have been associated.

Railway stations of Wakefield – This leaflet will provide background to some of the city’s railway stations, many of which are now lost.

Historic pubs of Kirkgate – Although Westgate is often associated with Wakefield’s night-time economy, Kirkgate had a surprising number of pubs, most long-since demolished to make way for modern development.

Lost buildings of Wakefield – A look at old photographs of the city centre and the “astonishing” number of buildings that have been demolished.

The four leaflets produced in 2021 feature the work of architect Charles Watson, credited with the design of Stanley Royd Hospital and houses in St John’s Square.

They also include monuments to women, historic pubs of Northgate and art and sculpture in Wakefield.

The new leaflets will again be made available free of charge from libraries and the history centre.

They will also feature in the society’s guided walks and talks and will be available to purchase on-line.

It will also be possible to download copies of the new leaflets from the society’s website where an expanded text, with additional illustrations, will also be available to read.

For more information visit https://wakefieldcivicsociety.org.uk/discover-wakefield/