Editing Pontefract (section)

{{Short description|Market town in West Yorkshire, England}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country                  = England
| coordinates              = {{coord|53.691|-1.312|display=inline,title}}
| label_position           = bottom
| official_name            = Pontefract
| population               = 30,881
| population_ref           = (North+South Wards 2011)
| metropolitan_borough     = [[City of Wakefield]]
| metropolitan_county      = [[West Yorkshire]]
| region = Yorkshire and the Humber
| constituency_westminster = [[Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley (UK Parliament constituency)|Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley]]
| post_town                = PONTEFRACT
| postcode_district        = WF8
| postcode_area            = WF
| dial_code                = 01977
| os_grid_reference        = SE455215
| static_image_name        = Pontefract collage.png
| static_image_caption     = Top left, clockwise: [[Old Town Hall, Pontefract|Old Town Hall]], [[All Saints' Church, Pontefract|All Saints' Church]], [[Pontefract Castle]], Market Place, The Buttercross and [[St Giles' Church, Pontefract|St Giles' Church]] and [[Pontefract Racecourse]].
| static_image_width       = 260
| london_distance          = 
| london_distance_mi       = 257
| pushpin_map              = 
| type                     = Town
}}
'''Pontefract''' is a historic market town in the [[City of Wakefield]], a [[metropolitan district]] in [[West Yorkshire]], England. It lies to the east of [[Wakefield]] and south of [[Castleford]]. [[Historic counties of England|Historically]] part of the [[West Riding of Yorkshire]], it is one of the towns in the City of Wakefield district and had a population of 30,881 at the 2011 Census.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=13689956&c=Pontefract&d=14&e=62&g=6375159&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1456931390009&enc=1|title=Pontefract South Ward population 2011|access-date=2 March 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics|work=Neighbourhood Statistics}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=13689955&c=Pontefract+north&d=14&e=62&g=6375158&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1456931773212&enc=1|title=Pontefract North Ward population 2011|access-date=2 March 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics|work=Neighbourhood Statistics}}</ref> 

Pontefract's motto is {{lang|la|Post mortem patris pro filio}}, [[Latin]] for "After the death of the father, support the son", a reference to the town's Royalist sympathies in the [[English Civil War]].<ref>Padgett 170</ref> Small villages and settlements in the immediate area include [[Stapleton, Selby|Stapleton]].