A distinctive sculpture marking the centenary of the Featherstone Massacre stands in the shopping precinct and a large mural depicting the town's heritage can be seen at the town's main crossroads. Ackton Hall Colliery was the first pit to close following the end of the miners' strike and this could not be contested as geological difficulties had made it impossible for the pit to continue production. Featherstone is the subject of a study, Coal is Our Life, by the sociologist Norman Dennis, published in 1956. 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. Featherstone 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. The "Pit Houses", the houses constituting a council estate which formerly belonged to the National Coal Board, have been demolished to make room for further developments. Memorials In 2018, a sculpture was erected called War Horse - A Place of Peace to be Together, to commemorate the soldiers from the town who died in the First World War. It was designed by model makers and artists Cod Steaks, and funded by a grant from FCC Communities Foundation (formerly known as WREN). Toponymy Like many place-names in the area, 'Featherstone' derives from Old English. The name is formed of two elements: , meaning 'four', and stān, meaning 'stone'. Therefore, the names means "(place at) the four stones". These 'four stones' are likely to have been some waymarker or monument by a road or other well-used route through the town. The settlement was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Fredestan. Governance Featherstone village historically formed a township within the much larger (ecclesiastical) parish of Featherstone; the parish also included Purston Jaglin, Whitwood and Ackton. In 1894, Featherstone urban district (UD) was formed from the civil parishes of Featherstone, Purston Jaglin, Ackton and Snydale. In 1974 the town became part of the metropolitan borough of Wakefield; currently the borough's Featherstone ward