Ledsham, West Yorkshire


Ledsham is a village and civil parish north of Castleford and east of Leeds in the county of West Yorkshire, England. The village is in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough and near to the A1 Great North Road. It has a population of 162, increasing to 181 at the 2011 Census.

Etymology

Ledsham is first mentioned in a charter of around 1030 in the form Ledesham. Like nearby Ledston, the name seems to refer to Leeds ; the second element is the Old English word hām. The name thus meant 'the farm belonging to the region of Loidis'.
Ledsham parish once also included the township of Fairburn, whose name is likewise first attested around 1030, as Faren-burne. This name comes from the Old English words fearn and burna, and thus meant 'spring characterised by ferns'.

Charactistics

There is a late seventh-century Anglo-Saxon church, and nearby Ledston Hall. The village school, like schools in Collingham and Thorp Arch, is named after Lady Elizabeth Hastings.
Ledsham have a cricket team, who currently play in the Wetherby League.