Etymology thumb|Pontefract Market Place At the end of the 11th century, the modern township of Pontefract consisted of two distinct localities, Tanshelf and Kirkby.Eric Houlder, Ancient Roots North: When Pontefract Stood on the Great North Road, (Pontefract: Pontefract Groups Together, 2012) p.7. The 11th-century historian Orderic Vitalis recorded that, in 1069, William the Conqueror travelled across Yorkshire to put down an uprising which had sacked York.
Etymology thumb|Pontefract Market Place At the end of the 11,th century, the modern township of Pontefract consisted of two distinct localities, Tanshelf and Kirkby.Eric Houlder, Ancient Roots North: When Pontefract Stood on the Great North Road (Pontefract: Pontefract Groups Together, 2012) p.7. The 11th-century historian Orderic Vitalis recorded that, in 1069, William the Conqueror travelled across Yorkshire to put down an uprising which had sacked York.