Ackworth Methodist Church's foundation was laid down in 1858, this church was gutted by fire in 1912. This wasn't the only Methodist Church, with Hillside being built in 1863, and Brackenhill in 1907.The latest development has been the community church.
So, back to the story of Ackworth, I've said already that the village is tied into the Honour of Pontefract. This came down the deLaceys until 1311, when it passed to Thomas, Earl of Lancaster who had married Henry de Lacey's daughter. When Thomas was beheaded by Edward II in 1322 the king seized all the lands. It came back into Lancastrian hands along with the crown in 1399 when Henry Bolingbroke usurped the crown from his cousin Richard II, whom had put to death at Pontefract. In 1603 the village was mortgaged to the City of London, and in 1628 the village was sold outright, except the church which remains crown property. The change that this brought about was that the whole village was no longer owned by one man, and could develop into a proper village, with different people buying and selling property, buying land, and establishing roots.
The village continued to grow until the separate villages of High and Low Ackworth became indistinguishable. Outside the village, on Moor Top Common a Workhouse was built, well outside the village, so that the poor were kept at a distance. In 1847 the Poor Law amendment act meant the workhouse was untenanted, and it was converted into the four cottages known as High Terrace.
The quarries in Ackworth had started yielding their stones, for local housing and for further away, and the quarrymen had started to build their own hoses, almost on site, leading to the establishment of Bell Lane. At this time the roundabout didn't exist, nor did the road from the Boot and Shoe to the Roundabout. You'll notice from the obelisk at the end of Bell Lane that the road towards Barnsley says Hemsworth and Sheffield. Where we would expect the sign to say Pontefract and Leeds it says Wakefield and Wragby. This is because these places were accessed by going up Bell Lane.
This brings us to another important aspect on the life of Ackworth. We've seen its beginnings in farming, and a development into stonework and quarrying. Ackworth's other industry lay in its provision as a stop off point for the coaches passing through. Ackworth lay among important routes. The Angel Inn on Wakefield Road was certainly around in 1587, and the Boot and Shoe is thought also to date back to the 16th Century. In 1822 stagecoaches called at these public houses en route to Scarborough, Sheffield Lincoln, Wakefield and Doncaster.
In spite of refusals to name Ackworth as a former coal mining area it has to be remembered that Ackworth had its own Colliery, and many of the houses built in Ackworth, prior to the more recent rash were built to house the workers in the local coal and stone industries. The Wakefield Road started to develop and take on a character of its own, to some extent leaving High and Low Ackworth behind. The Micklethwaites built Heaton House, with its considerable amount of ground behind it. William Nelstrop, a local corn factor had Cleveland Lodge, a very impressive bilding in its day, now converted to a number of houses. Rhyddings hose was once the home of Judge Cadman, who's memory is preserved on the walls of the library.
It was in part due to these changes indevelopment that the size and character of Ackworth changed, it would soon absorb Brackenhill as well, a local hamlet of stone workers, and once home to a witch.
We can see then, that Ackworth has grown from 2 communities based around 2 manors to a sprawling village encompassing High Ackworth, Low Ackworth, Moor Top, and Brackenhill. The four elements still keeping their identities still, but part of the bigger picture that is Ackworth.
Moor Top was home as well to the Flounders Institute. This was necessary because Quakers were barred from University education, so it became necessary for the quakers to establish their own training ground. Benjamin Flounder established the Institute by hi s will in 1845, when he left £40.000. The institute covered 5 acres,a nd the stone used to build the institution was quarried from its own grounds. It opened in 1848 and trained until 1894 when the students transferred to Leeds. It remained empty until 1900, in 1902 it was bought by Ackworth School and in 1903 became the North Midlands Inebriates Home. During WWI it was S.John's Army Hospital and in 1934 Mr & Mrs Dyson opened part of the building as a junior boy home. In 1946 it was converted into a residential block for staff of the School, and in 1971 was pulled down to make way for the development that now stands on the site
