About the area

St Wilfrid’s is located in the town of Featherstone, situated to the east of Wakefield, close to Castleford and the medieval town of Pontefract. The town has a population of 14,175 and is undergoing continual change and as part of this a new, state-of-the-art £2.5-million community centre has been built in Station Lane. Opened in the 1950s, Purston Park takes up a large area of space and offers a lake and a children's play area. There was also previously a bowling green, until being changed to a rose garden in 2004. It has been made out of the grounds of what was originally a private residence and a country estate, with the stately home formerly acting as the town hall. This building was sold to developers in 2007 and has since been converted into luxury flats.

The district’s location at the heart of England and at the centre of the UK's communications network offers unsurpassed transport links, providing fast connections by road, rail, and air. At the intersection between the M1 and M62 and with the A1 at its eastern boundary, the district is well placed to access other regional centres such as Leeds, Sheffield and York.

Ease of commuting extends beyond the region with Wakefield Westgate, the city's mainline station situated on the high speed east coast mainline, offering excellent connections to key UK destinations. Direct half-hourly services operate to London throughout the day with the quickest journey taking under 2 hours. Sheffield, York, Manchester, Liverpool, and Newcastle are also within easy reach.

Several airports offering domestic and international flights are nearby, including Leeds Bradford, Robin Hood Airport, Manchester and East Midlands. Leeds Bradford, Manchester and East Midlands all provide direct flights to London and Brussels.

Europe's largest shopping village, the Junction 32 Outlet Village (formerly Freeport) at Castleford, offers a wide selection of shops including many designer names. Adjoining Junction 32 is the new Xscape development, housing one of the largest indoor real snow ski slopes in Europe. The complex, incorporating an ice climbing wall, multiplex cinema, bowling alley, shops and restaurants under one roof, attracts visitors from all over the country.

The surrounding areas are a stronghold of sport including; rugby league where Castleford Tigers and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats share a long tradition with teams like Featherstone Rovers; and horse racing. Pontefract is well known for its historical market place and castle dating from the Norman Conquest, and its racecourse which is the longest continuous circuit in Europe at 2 miles and 125 yards.

There is an abundance of walking and cycle paths throughout the district with country parks, nature trails, waterways and lakes all waiting to be explored. The lake at Pugneys Country Park is a haven for sailing enthusiasts and canoeists.

Less than half an hour away by car, Leeds is the only English city outside London with its own repertory theatre, opera house and ballet companies. Leeds Art Gallery has one of the UK’s best collections of contemporary British art (The Times) and the city is home to the Royal Armouries, the national collection of arms and armour. There are more listed buildings in Leeds than in any English city outside London, with highlights including the Victoria Quarter, Leeds Corn Exchange and Harewood House, home of the Queen’s cousin.

The Rough Guide to Britain named shopping in Leeds as one of the top thirty things to do in the UK, and with five miles of shopping streets and one of the country’s largest pedestrianised zones it’s easy to see why. Leeds also has an excellent nightlife scene, with numerous restaurants and independent bars, and is one of the UK’s best cities for dining out according to the Which? Good Food Guide.

Wakefield city is a historic seat of regional government in Yorkshire and for two centuries provided the county headquarters of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Today the city retains its strong tradition of public service employment with the headquarters of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council, the Yorkshire and Humber regional assembly and the West Yorkshire Police located at its heart within the civic quarter. Public sector presence extends to the health service including the headquarters of the West Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

The North West includes Horbury, Ossett, Wrenthorpe, Stanley and Altofts, while Normanton, Castleford, Pontefract, Knottingley, Featherstone and a host of smaller settlements make up the five towns. In the south east, there are the towns of Hemsworth, South Kirkby and South Elmsall, as well as other communities.

Some 70 per cent of the rural communities of the district is designated as green belt. Dotted about the rolling countryside are villages like Middlestown, Crigglestone, Crofton, Woolley and Ackworth.

Wakefield and the surrounding region offer one of the best value environments in which to live. This means your income goes further, giving you a higher standard of living than you’d have in many other parts of the country.

The average cost of a home is £144,266