Wakefield

Wakefield
City
Wakefield skyline, the Bull Ring square, Town Hall, Cathedral, and Pugneys Country Park (with the town hall and cathedral spire visible)
Coat of arms
Wakefield Location within West Yorkshire
Area	11.3 sq mi (29 km2)
Population	109,766 (2021)
• Density	9,714/sq mi (3,751/km2)
OS grid reference	SE335205
• London	160 mi
Metropolitan borough	City of Wakefield
Metropolitan county	West Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Areas of the city	List Agbrigg Alverthorpe Belle Vue Carr Gate Eastmoor Flanshaw Lupset Newmillerdam Outwood Sandal Magna
Post town	WAKEFIELD
Postcode district	WF1-WF4
Dialling code	01924
Police	West Yorkshire
Fire	West Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
UK Parliament	Wakefield Hemsworth Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford Morley and Outwood
List of places UK England Yorkshire 53°40′57″N 1°29′51″W / 53.68250°N 1.49750°W / 53.68250; -1.49750

Wakefield is a cathedral city^[a] in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census.^[1] The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield, which had a 2022 population of 357,729, the 26th most populous district in England. It is part of the West Yorkshire Built-up Area and the Yorkshire and The Humber region.

In 1888, it gained city status due to its cathedral. The city has a town hall and is home to the county hall, which was the former administrative centre of the city's county borough and metropolitan borough as well as county town for the West Riding of Yorkshire.

The Battle of Wakefield took place in the Wars of the Roses, and the city was a Royalist stronghold in the Civil War. Wakefield became an important market town and centre for wool, exploiting its position on the navigable River Calder to become an inland port. In the 18th century, Wakefield traded in corn, coal and textiles.

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