Going Underground: Wakefield

Wakefield, West Yorkshire, has a subterranean world with ancient cellars, disused railway tunnels, and a burial ground. Coal mining and the wool trade have left behind large cellars, and the Unitarian chapel catacombs are the final resting place of influential figures. Nearby is a secret tunnel to a property where a grizzly bear attacked. The book offers a unique portrait of the city's underground world and its intriguing stories.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 96 pages
Publication date: 15 February 2025
Publisher: Amberley Publishing

Beneath the surface of the West Yorkshire city of Wakefield lies a subterranean world, including ancient cellars, disused railway tunnels, and a burial ground. Coal mining had taken place around Wakefield for centuries, with the last pits closing in the 1980s. Many large cellars are a legacy of the city's history as an important centre of the wool trade going back to the Middle Ages, where additional safe storage was needed for the produce. Catacombs beneath the Unitarian chapel are the last resting place of some of the most influential and important persons in local, regional, and national history, including four MPs, French revolutionaries, diarists, and women of influence on the national stage. The macabre space is unique in the north of England, with 'residents from Manchester and Ireland, as well as elsewhere in Yorkshire. Nearby is a secret tunnel to a property that was the scene of a tragic attack by a grizzly bear. Wakefield also has other crypts: the medieval bridge chapel has a crypt completed c. 1347, the cathedral has a crypt completed in 1902, and the Georgian new church also has a crypt. This book provides a fascinating portrait of subterranean Wakefield, and the often strange stories associated with these hidden areas will interest all those who know the city.

Weight: 304g
Dimension: 164 x 233 x 10 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781398118973