URPoint Details
The name Sandal derives from the Early Scandinavian sandr meaning sand or gravel and healh, a meadow.
It is an ancient settlement and is the site of Sandal Castle and a parish church that predates the Domesday Book.
In the Domesday Book of 1086 Sandal is recorded as a berewic (a village where barley was grown) in Wachefeld (Wakefield) where there was a church with a priest. The church was on the site of the present church of St Helen
William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey (1081–1138) was granted the Sandal estates in 1107 and began the building of Sandal Castle which became the baronial seat of the lords of the manor of Wakefield
In 1460, during the Wars of the Roses, the Duke of York was killed on 30 December in the Battle of Wakefield between Sandal Castle and St Helens Church. The Battle of Wakefield was fought here in the 15th century during the Wars of the Roses.
Location: 2 miles (3 km) south from Wakefield, 8 miles (13 km) north of Barnsley, 9 miles west from Pontefract and 30 miles from York.
- Type:
- Landmark