Garforth
Garforth is a town in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
It sits in the Garforth and Swillington ward of Leeds City Council and the Elmet and Rothwell parliamentary constituency. As of 2011, the population of Garforth was 14,957, having decreased since the last census. It is 6.5 mi east of Central Leeds, 16 mi south-west of York and 10 mi north of Wakefield.
The place-name Garforth appears first in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Gereford and Gereforde, with gar- spellings first appearing in 1336 in the form Garford. The name seems to derive from the Norse words gāra ('triangular plot of land', derived from the word gār, 'spear') and ford ('ford)', and thus meant 'ford at a triangular plot of land'. The plot is thought to have lain at a sharp turn in the road now called The Beck. Spellings beginning with ger- reflect the Old Norse counterpart of Old English gāra, geiri, and therefore the existence of Norse-influenced pronunciations of the name existing alongside Old English ones. Correspondingly, the district also once included the place Church Garforth, whose name is first attested in the fifteenth century as Kirkgarford; here again the form kirk reflects the Old Norse form of the word church, kirkja.
It sits in the Garforth and Swillington ward of Leeds City Council and the Elmet and Rothwell parliamentary constituency. As of 2011, the population of Garforth was 14,957, having decreased since the last census. It is 6.5 mi east of Central Leeds, 16 mi south-west of York and 10 mi north of Wakefield.
The place-name Garforth appears first in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Gereford and Gereforde, with gar- spellings first appearing in 1336 in the form Garford. The name seems to derive from the Norse words gāra ('triangular plot of land', derived from the word gār, 'spear') and ford ('ford)', and thus meant 'ford at a triangular plot of land'. The plot is thought to have lain at a sharp turn in the road now called The Beck. Spellings beginning with ger- reflect the Old Norse counterpart of Old English gāra, geiri, and therefore the existence of Norse-influenced pronunciations of the name existing alongside Old English ones. Correspondingly, the district also once included the place Church Garforth, whose name is first attested in the fifteenth century as Kirkgarford; here again the form kirk reflects the Old Norse form of the word church, kirkja.
Map - Garforth
Map
Country - United_Kingdom
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The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of England (which included Wales, annexed in 1542) and the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707 formed the Kingdom of Great Britain. Its union in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Most of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which formally adopted that name in 1927. The nearby Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown Dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation. There are also 14 British Overseas Territories, the last remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's landmass and a third of the world's population, and was the largest empire in history. British influence can be observed in the language, culture and the legal and political systems of many of its former colonies.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
GBP | Pound sterling | £ | 2 |
ISO | Language |
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EN | English language |
GD | Gaelic language |
CY | Welsh language |