Man with a Van Newmillerdam

Newmillerdam: what to know before moving day

The village was once Thurstonhaugh. A corn mill is recorded in 1306, and by 1469 the manor rolls called the place the new mill on the dam, after the lake made by damming Bleakley Dyke and Bushcliff Beck. The dam covers about 25 acres. The mill building still stands, Grade II listed, and so does the Pilkingtons' boathouse of 1820. Chevet Hall, east of the lake, was pulled down in the 1960s after mining subsidence, and Wakefield Council bought the estate in 1954 and opened it to the public; the park is now a local nature reserve.

The A61 Barnsley Road passes the lake, and The Dam Inn, the Fox and Hounds and the Pledwick Well Inn are mapped close to it, with cafes by the water. Homes are on School Hill, Hill Top Road, Hill Top Court, Slack Lane and Lake View, and on a group of roads named after birds: Heron Drive, Swift Way, Mallard Avenue, Kestrel Drive and Wren Garth near Pledwick Lane. A house facing the A61 means loading on a main road, so a side-road or drive stop is worth arranging.

How the van gets to Newmillerdam

The A61 between Wakefield and Barnsley is the road through, and School Hill and Hill Top Road leave it for the village. From Bradford, take the M62 east from junction 26 to the M1 and come off at junction 39 at Durkar; Hollin Lane up to Crigglestone, then Painthorpe Lane, Stoney Lane and Wood Lane through Hall Green, bring you out on the A61 just south of the village.

The drive from Bradford is roughly 35 to 50 minutes. That is an estimate from route data, not a timed run, and traffic changes it.

Also covered around Newmillerdam

Hill Top.

Services for Newmillerdam

Each service below links to its Wakefield page, which covers how the job works in and around Wakefield.

Newmillerdam: questions before you book

Where the local details on this page come from

Checked on 28 September 2026 against:

• Postcode lookup (postcodes.io, ONS data): WF2 7SY is in Wakefield Rural ward, Wakefield district, parish of Crigglestone
• Newmillerdam (Wikipedia): village and suburb of Wakefield on the A61, 4 miles south; in Crigglestone parish; formerly Thurstonhaugh; corn mill recorded 1306, 'New Mill on the dam' in 1469; Bleakley Dyke and Bushcliff Beck; dam 10 hectares (25 acres); mill Grade II; boathouse 1820, Grade II; Chevet Hall demolished in the 1960s after subsidence; estate bought by Wakefield Council in 1954; local nature reserve
• A61 road (Wikipedia): between Wakefield and Barnsley
• A636 road (Wikipedia): connects Wakefield with the M1 at junction 39
• 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): Barnsley Road (A61), School Hill, Hill Top Road, Hill Top Court, Hill Top, Slack Lane, Lake View, Heron Drive, Swift Way, Mallard Avenue, Kestrel Drive, Wren Garth, Pledwick Lane, The Dam Inn, Fox and Hounds, Pledwick Well Inn, The Boathouse cafe, Newmillerdam Country Park