Shafton lies to the north of Shafton Two Gates, on the road to Ryhill. It is located at approximately 53° 35' 10" North, 1° 24' West, at an elevation of around 262 feet (80 m) above sea level.
Sceptun in the Domesday Book of 1086 then later in c. 1160 Scaftona meaning a farmstead marked by a pole, or made with poles.
Shafton Two Gates takes its name from the two roads that enter Shafton at this point. The etymology derives from the Old Norse word gata, the equivalent of the modern English word road. The two roads in question are both ancient and locally important. The more southerly of the two is the road between Pontefract and Barnsley, this section of which was made into Turnpike in 1833,[3] with a turnpike gate which was sited slightly to the east of the modern roundabout serving the Cudworth Parkway and Engine Lane. The second more northerly road, is the old Salter's road that runs from Shafton Two Gates via the North Field of Cudworth (Weetshaw Lane) through to Carlton where it continued towards Smithies and eventually up through Penistone to the Salter's Brook Bridge which marked the ancient boundary between Yorkshire and Cheshire at Longdendale (these days the boundary is between the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and Derbyshire). This was an ancient packhorse route.
The parish contains one listed building that is recorded in the National Heritage List for England. It is a milepost on the south side of Brierley Road, dating from the mid to late 19th century. It is in stone with cast iron overlay, and has a triangular section and a rounded top. On the top is inscribed "BARNSLEY & PONTEFRACT ROAD" and "SHAFTON", and on the sides are the distances to Barnsley and Pontefract.[4]
