Clayton, West Yorkshire

and Black Bull pub at Clayton in 1972.]] Evidence of presence of prehistoric people in Clayton was found in 1951 when a Neolithic stone axe was found in Thornlea Grove, the axe is now in the Cartwright Hall Museum. Clayton was established prior to the Norman Conquest in 1066 as it is listed in the Domesday Book in 1086 as the Manor Claitone when William the Conqueror granted it to Ilbert de Lacy. Claitone probably derives from claeg meaning clay and tun, meaning farmstead, and so meant farmstead on clay. The village was privately owned from 1160 to 1866, when a local board was formed to manage the village. During the 1870s "the wells", on the central village roundabout, was used as a site…