CASTLEFORD, a parish in the upper division of
the wapentake of OSGOLDCROSS, West riding of the
county of YORK, comprising the townships of Castleford
and Glass-Houghton, and containing 1434 inhabitants,
of which number, 1022 are in the township of
Castleford, 3 miles (N.W.) from Pontefract. The living
is.a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of York,
rated in the king's books at £20. 13.1%., and in the
patronage of the King, as Duke of Lancaster. The
church, dedicated to All Saints, is supposed to occupy
the site of a Roman camp, as this place was anciently
a station belonging to that people, antiquaries identifying
it with Legiolium, or Lagetium, described in Antoninus'
Itinerary as being situated on the river Aire, where
it was crossed by a ford on the line of the ancient Herman-
street, which passed between Doncaster and York;
coins and other remains of'the Romans have been frequently
discovered. There is a place of worship for
Wesleyan Methodists. Castleford is a thriving village,
haying an extensive pottery and a mill for grinding flint:
it is situated at a short distance from the junction of
the Aire and the Calder, the latter of which, in. 1698,
was made navigable to Wakefield. There is a peculiar
regulation for the payment of tithes in this parish,
sanctioned by an act of parliament; the rector receives
twenty-eight quarts of wheat for every pound sterling
paid by the tenant to his landlord on arable land, and
t\yenty quarts for every two pounds on grazing land.
It .is related that the citizens of York being pursued
by Ethelred's army, in 750, turned at this place, and
committed great slaughter on their pursuers.