The area around Ackworth was also a hotbed for dissent against the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII . A rebellion led by Robert Aske and styled the Pilgrimage of Grace was thought to have marched through Ackworth on the way to capturing Pontefract Castle in 1536 . They were eventually defeated by an army sent by Henry with the leaders hanged at Tyburn . amongst the hanged included a Sir Nicholas Tempest of Ackworth . The nearby Priory of St. Oswald at Nostell would later be dissolved in 1540 with the land being bought by Rowland Winn . During the English Civil War , the area around Ackworth was seen as being strongly Royalist with four divisions of volunteers being raised from Pontefract and the surrounding villages to garrison the castle . In 1645 , Ackworth was occupied by Roundhead soldiers who caused some damage to the church and who were also responsible for replacing the cross at the top of the medieval cross in the centre of the village with the present ' ball ' shape which now sits there
Pilgrimage of Grace
Pilgrimage of Grace
Ackworth, West Yorkshire