ACKWORTH, a parish in the upper division of the
wapentake of OSGOLDCROSS, West riding of the county of
YORK, 3 miles (S.S. W.) from Pontefract,containing 1575
inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry
and diocese of York, rated in the king's books at
£22. 1. 0., and in the patronage of the King, as Duke
of Lancaster. The church, dedicated to St. Cuthbert,
is a small neat building, exhibiting various portions of
ancient architecture. There is a place of worship for
Wesleyan Methodists. Here was a school, originally
an appendage to the Foundling Hospital. In 1777, the
premises, with eighty-five acres of land, were purchased
by the Society of Friends, and converted into a school
for the education of youth in their own religious principles.
Here is also a school, endowed with £20 a year,
for the education of twenty children, besides an hospital
for six women.