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(M) motorway. It had a population of 162 at the 2001 Census,Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : Leeds retrieved 10 September 2009 increasing to 181 at the 2011 Census.
History Ledsham is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Ledesha, as belonging to Ilbert of Lacy and having six villagers, three ploughlands, and of meadow. However, it was recorded in a charter from 1030 as Ledesham. Like nearby Ledston, the name seems to refer to Leeds (or the Old English precursor of this name, Loidis, which denoted a region rather than a town); the second element is the Old English word hām ('homestead, farm'). The name thus meant 'the farm belonging to the region of Loidis'.Victor Watts (ed.), The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), s.v. LEDSHAM WYorks.
Ledsham was an ancient parish in the wapentake of Barkston Ash in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The parish included the townships of Fairburn and Ledston, which became separate civil parishes in 1866.
Geography To the east is Selby Fork junction, which is also partly in South Milford, in North Yorkshire, but previously in the West Riding; in the early 1960s, the M62 motorway was planned to have its eastern terminus at Ledsham, possibly at the Selby Fork junction.Liverpool Echo Thursday 13 July 1961, page 18Parliament June 1 1960Parliament March 22 1961
Notable buildings The late seventh-century Anglo-Saxon All Saints church is the oldest church and the oldest building standing in West Yorkshire,1987 publication by West Yorkshire Archaeology Service: HC/2/SW, CP "Historic Churches of West Yorkshire - Ledsham Church" and includes memorials to Lady Elizabeth Hastings and her family.
Education The village school, like schools in Collingham and Thorp Arch, was named after Lady Elizabeth Hastings. The school is now located in the nearby village of Ledston, which was rated as good by OFSTED in 2018.
Sports Ledsham has a cricket team, which currently plays in the York league.
Governance Since 1974 Ledsham has been a part of the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, in the county of West Yorkshire. It is its own civil parish, and is in the Kippax and Methley ward for local affairs, and is in the Elmet and Rothwell Constituency for national level politics.
See also Listed buildings in Ledsham, West Yorkshire
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