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Wakefield is a city in Yorkshire, south of Leedsin in England. It is located on the River Calder. Its population was 76,886 in 2001, of which 1,657 were prisoners. Today it forms part of a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire named the City of Wakefield.
Its name is often said to derive from Wacca field the field belonging to Wacca. However, it is more likely to have evolved from Old English wacu, meaning a watch or wake, and feld, an open field in which a wake was held. In the Domesday Book in 1086, it was listed as Wachefeld. It was dubbed the Merrie City in the Middle Ages.
The town was a centre for cloth dealing and had its own Piece Hall. Coal-mining was historically a large employer, although it never dominated Wakefield in the way of nearby towns such as Castleford and Hemsworth.
The district is divided into 21 wards and each is represented on the district council by three councillors. Each councillor is elected on a first past the post basis.
Wakefield Cathedral is a 14th century parish church, which was restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the 19th century. There is also a 14th century Chantry Chapel.
Wakefield has a very large range of cultural attractions: one of Europe foremost sculpture parks, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Sandal Castle, the nearby National Coal Mining Museum for England, a town-centre art gallery and a museum.
There are two train stations in the city centre -Wakefield Westgate and Wakefield Kirkgate as well as the Sandal & Agbrigg station on the East Coast Mainline, just to the south of the main Westgate station.
Wakefield has its own newspaper, the Wakefield Express, and radio station Ridings FM.
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