What is "wakefield"

n. (context physics English) A small area of very strong potential gradient, in a laser beam or plasma stream, used to accelerate charged particles in a plasma wakefield accelerator

Wakefield is a city in West Yorkshire, England, on the River Calder and the eastern edge of the Pennines, which had a population of 76,886 in 2001, increasing slightly for the five Wakefield wards (East, North, Rural, South and West) to 77,512 at the 2011 Census.

Wakefield was dubbed the "Merrie City" in the Middle Ages and in 1538 John Leland described it as, "a very quick market town and meately large; well served of fish and flesh both from sea and by rivers ... so that all vitaile is very good and chepe there. A right honest man shall fare well for 2d. a meal. ... There be plenti of se coal in the quarters about Wakefield".

The Battle of Wakefield took place in the Wars of the Roses and it was a Royalist stronghold in the Civil War. Wakefield became an important market town and centre for wool, exploiting its position on the navigable River Calder to become an inland port.

In the 18th century, Wakefield traded in corn, coal mining and textiles and in 1888 its parish church acquired cathedral status. It became the county town and seat of the West Riding County Council in 1889 and the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Council from 1974 until it was dissolved in 1986.

Wakefield were a 4 piece rock band from Mechanicsville, Maryland. The band consists of singer Ryan Escolopio, his brother and former Good Charlotte drummer, Aaron Escolopio, their cousin and bass player Mike Schoolden (Pasadena, Md native), and guitarist J.D. Tennyson.

Wakefield is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Mary Creagh, a member of the Labour Party.

In England, Wakefield may refer to:

• The City of Wakefield, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England
  • Wakefield, West Yorkshire, or Wakefield proper, an urban settlement within the City of Wakefield
  • Wakefield Prison, located in this city
  • Wakefield (UK Parliament constituency), located in this city
  • Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, rugby league club located in city
  • Diocese of Wakefield, Church of England diocese based in the city

Wakefield may also refer to:

Wakefield is a historic mansion in Holly Springs, Mississippi, USA.

Wakefield is an upcoming American drama film directed and written by Robin Swicord, based on the short story of same name by E. L. Doctorow. The film stars Bryan Cranston, and Jennifer Garner. Principal photography began on November 30, 2015 in Pasadena, California.

The Wakefield (also known as Wakefield – East 241st Street) Metro-North Railroad station serves the residents of the Wakefield section of The Bronx via the Harlem Line, and it is the last station on the line before it crosses into Westchester County, New York. It is from Grand Central Terminal and is located on East 241st Street. Service at Wakefield is hourly.

This station is the first/last station in the Zone 2 Metro-North fare zone, and is the first/last station of the CityTicket intra-city ticket zone.

Though there is no direct connecting bus service at the station, five blocks east from the station is the Wakefield – 241st Street station ( train) on the IRT White Plains Road Line of the New York City Subway, the northernmost station in the system.

' Wakefield' is a station on the Haverhill Line commuter rail line of the MBTA. This station services nearby Wakefield Square. It is officially located at 225 North Avenue, according to the MBTA. However the actual location is across the tracks, which run parallel to North Avenue. The station is also described by some as being located at 27-29 Tuttle Street, which runs behind the station between Albion and Chestnut Streets. The station is not wheelchair accessible.

Wakefield Station was originally built in 1889 by the Boston and Maine Railroad, as Wakefield Upper Depot. Another former B&M station built in the 1950s is located to the north on the corner of Tuttle and Chestnut Streets, and a former freight house built by B&M sometime around 1845 can be found south of Wakefield Square along North Avenue. The 1950s station house is now a law office, and the station operates from sheltered platforms in front of the B&M Depot, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Wakefield is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include:

• Andrew Wakefield (born 1957), former British bowel surgeon known for fraudulent research
• Captain Arthur Wakefield (1799–1843), who died in the Wairau Affray, brother of Edward Gibbon Wakefield
• Charity Wakefield (born 1980), English actress
• Charles Wakefield, 1st Viscount Wakefield of Hythe, (1859-1941), British peer and founder of Castrol
• Daniel Wakefield (1776–1846), writer on political economy
• Daniel Bell Wakefield (1798–1858), son of Edward Wakefield
• Edward Wakefield (1774–1854), English philanthropist and statistician
• Edward Wakefield (New Zealand politician) (1845–1924), son of Felix Wakefield, New Zealand politician and journalist
• Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796–1862), influential theorist on colonization
• Edward Wakefield (British politician) (1903–1969), British civil servant and Conservative Member of Parliament
• Elsie Maud Wakefield, (1886-1972), English mycologist
• Felix Wakefield (1807–1875), brother of Edward Gibbon Wakefield
• Gilbert Wakefield (1756–1801), English scholar and controversialist
• Howard Wakefield, (1884-1941), American baseball player
• Humphry Wakefield, (born 1936), English baronet
• James Wakefield, (1825-1910), United States politician
• Jenn Wakefield, (born 1989), Canadian ice hockey player
• Jerningham Wakefield (1820–1879), son of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, New Zealand politician and author of Adventures in New Zealand
• John Allen Wakefield, (1797-1873), United States politician and military leader
• John Peter Wakefield (1915–1942), British racing car driver
• Norman Arthur Wakefield (1918–1972), Australian naturalist
• Priscilla Wakefield (nee Priscilla Bell, 1751–1832), author
• Rhys Wakefield, (born 1988), Australian actor
• Richard Wakefield American poet and literary critic
• Robert Wakefield (died 1537), English linguist and scholar
• H. Russell Wakefield, (1888-1964), English author
• Peter Wakefield (disambiguation)
• S. A. Wakefield (1927–2009), Australian author
• Tim Wakefield (born 1966), pitcher for the Boston Red Sox
• Wavell Wakefield, 1st Baron Wakefield of Kendal, (1898-1983), British politician
• Colonel William Wakefield (1801–1848), who founded Wellington, New Zealand, brother of Edward Gibbon Wakefield

In fiction:

• Elizabeth Wakefield and Jessica Wakefield twins from Sweet Valley High.