Middlestown: what to know before moving day
The name comes from Middle Shitlington, the middle part of the old township, recorded as Middles(c)hitelington in 1322. With Netherton, Overton and Midgley it overlooks the Coxley valley, and Coxley Woods lie below it. The built-up area includes two nature reserves managed by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, and Emroyd Common, on its edge, is where ironstone was got in medieval times and mined again from 1798.
The village centre is the meeting of Cross Road and Thornhill Road with New Road, the A642. The Little Bull, a chip shop, a deli and a restaurant are all mapped right at that junction, with the working men's club and Middlestown Primary Academy a short way back. Houses spread out along Back Lane, Low Lane, Sandy Lane, Stonecliffe Drive, Danesleigh Drive and Butts Lane. On the A642 itself the van loads beside moving traffic, so if your address faces the main road, mention it and we can plan where to stop.
How the van gets to Middlestown
The A642 was built as a turnpike in the 1830s and is still Middlestown's through road. From Bradford, take the M606 to the M62 at junction 26, the M62 east to the M1, and the M1 south to the Wakefield side of Horbury; the A642 then runs west through Horbury and across the Calder at Horbury Bridge to the village. Sandy Lane is a shorter link between Middlestown and the valley at Coxley.
The drive from Bradford is roughly 35 to 45 minutes. That is an estimate from route data, not a timed run, and traffic changes it.
Services for Middlestown
Each service below links to its Ossett page, which covers how the job works in and around Ossett.
Middlestown: questions before you book
Where does Middlestown stop and Overton start?
On the ground it is hard to tell: Overton is joined to Middlestown at its north-east edge, and both are in Sitlington parish with WF4 postcodes. The National Coal Mining Museum is in Overton. Giving the street name avoids any doubt.
Nearby areas
Where the local details on this page come from
Checked on 28 September 2026 against:
- Postcode lookup (postcodes.io, ONS data): WF4 4NR is in Wakefield Rural ward, Wakefield district, parish of Sitlington
- Middlestown (Wikipedia): Sitlington parish, halfway between Wakefield and Huddersfield, 3 miles south-east of Dewsbury; Middles(c)hitelington in 1322; the villages overlook the Coxley Valley; two Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserves; 2,366 people in 2011; the A642 turnpike of the 1830s
- Sitlington (Wikipedia): ironstone at Emroyd Common in Middlestown, mined from 1798; the A642 through Middlestown
- Overton, West Yorkshire (Wikipedia): conjoined at its north-east to Middlestown
- M62 motorway (Wikipedia): the M606 joins at junction 26 (Chain Bar); the M1 interchange is Lofthouse, junction 29; junction 30 serves Wakefield
- OpenStreetMap map view (checked 2026-09-28): New Road (A642), Cross Road, Thornhill Road, Back Lane, Low Lane, Sandy Lane, Stonecliffe Drive, Danesleigh Drive, Butts Lane, The Little Bull, working men's club, Middlestown Primary Academy, Coxley Woods, Emroyd Common