FERRYBRIDGE, a village in Frystone-Ferry parish, W. R. Yorkshire; on the river Aire, adjacent to the Great Northern railway, near the junction of other railways with that, 2 miles NE by N of Pontefract. It is a neat, well-built place; and has a post office under Normanton. It was the scene of a skirmish in 1461, previous to the battle of Towton Field; it figures frequently in history, in consequence of its occupying an important pass over the Aire; it has yielded pieces of ancient armour and other relics, indicating warlike contests at it; and it was long an important stage, with a number of excellent inns, on the great coach road from Berwick and York to London; but, since the railway period, it has sunk into quietude and neglect. It is included within the parliamentary borough of Pontefract.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))