Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Ponsfractus 1258 YI

• apud Pontemfractum, ad Pontemfractum c.1160 Pont 1217 Pat 1231 FF 1412 SelbyOb

• ad Fracti-pontis aquam 1141 Ordericus

• villa Pontisfracti, castrum Pontisfracti p.1122,1159,1258 Pont 1166 RBE 1272 Ebor 1409 DiocV

• Pontefracti 1215 ChR 1428 FA

• (in) Pontefracto 1090 Pont 1120–2 YCh1418 1156 Nost l.12 YCh1429 Hy2 YCh186 1230 Bodl2 1194 Ch 1234 P 1243 FF 1452 Fees

• Pontefratch 1100–35 Selby

• Pontefrayth 1297 YI

• Pontefreyt 1375 FF

• Pontefret 1459 KirkstRent

• Pontefract(e) 1340 Ass1d 1342 Calv 1344 Bodl26 1817 M

• Pontefrack 1672 SelbyW

• Pumfrate c.1185–93 YCh1624

• Puntfreit 1226 FF

• Punfred 1234 FF

• Punfrayt 1295 YI

• Pontfreit, Pontfreyt 1303,1402 Pat

• Pontfrauit 1352–62 Kirkst

• Pontffrayt 1374 BM

• Pontfret(t) 1392 Brett 1495 Ipm 1611 PRDr

• Pountfreyt, Pountfrayt, Pountfreit 1323,1340 Ass 1388 Baild 1398 YDi 1399 Pat 1458 Pat

• Pountfret(t) 1410 Pat 1424 Baild 1436 Testii 1583 FF

• Pountfryt 1555 BM

• Pountifreit 1365 FF

• Pontifract(e) 1415 Fabr 1546 Testvi 1547 WillY

• Pountefrett 1544 Surv

• Pontyfrett 1614,1619 Comm246

• Pounfre(i)t 1409 YI 1497 FF

• Pownfrett 1454 Testii

• Powmfrett 1475 Linds

• Pomfracch 1443 YDvi

• Pomfret(e), Pomfrett(e) 1472 Testiii 1524 NCWills 1529 TestLds 1535 FF 1638 PRLds

• Pomfrit(t) 1500 YDiii 1695 Pryme

Etymology

The name of Pontefract arose on the foundation of the Priory of Cluniac monks and the establishment of the vill as the seat and castle of Ilbert de Lacy, a great Norman landowner in the district, whose estates formed the Honour of Pontefract. At the time of the DB survey the manor was known as Tateshale , Tateshalla (v. Tanshelf 83infra ), and Symeon of Durham records that 'Taddenesscylf erat tunc villa regia quae nunc vocatur Puntfraite Romane , Anglice vero Kirkebi '.A place having two or three names is analogous to the case of Whitby (YN 126–7), which was variously known as Streoneshalh , Prestebi and Witebi ; Prestebi was certainly a name for that part of the manor where Whitby Abbey was situated. Similarly Kirkebi (v. Kirkby 79 infra ), which gave place to Pontefract by the twelfth century, doubtless bore reference to the Cluniac monastery, and Tanshelf remained the name of the more westerly part of the manor.

The name Pontefract means 'broken bridge' (Lat  pons fractus , OFr  pont freit ); Holmes, Pontefract , its Name , Lords and Castle , identifies the site of the bridge as that of the present Bubwith Bridge (80infra ) which carries the road from Pontefract to Ferrybridge across a small stream called Wash Dike. This bridge, though providing an important communication with the Great North Road, is some distance from the centre of Pontefract.

The various forms of the name reflect both Latin and French origins. Pontefract is a survival of the documentary Latin form pontem fractum , etc., and the current StdE  pronunciation [ˈpɔntifrækt] is a spelling pronunciation; a few spellings like Pontifract (e ), etc. carry this usage back to the fifteenth century. Other early spellings Puntfreit , Pontfreit , Pountfreit , etc., are from OFr , AN  pont (e )freit , which was doubtless the regular form in the vernacular in early times. The later spellings Pom -, Pown -, Powmfret , as well as more recent local pronunciations [ˈpɔm-, ˈpɔumfrət] are developments of this, with assimilation of the dental -n - to -m - before the labiodental -f -.