[3] The name Sandal derives from the Early Scandinavian sandr meaning sand or gravel and healh, a meadow.

[4] In the Domesday Book of 1086 Sandal is recorded as a berewic (a village where barley was grown) in Wachefeld (Wakefield) where there was a church with a priest.

[6][7] During the Wars of the Roses, the Duke of York was killed on 30 December 1460 in the Battle of Wakefield fought between Sandal Castle and St Helen's Church.

[9] Sandal, situated on the south side of the River Calder on the road from Wakefield to Barnsley, covers 1,700 acres (688 ha).

[15] The Sandal and Agbrigg railway station[16] on the Wakefield line (part of the West Yorkshire Metro) with services operated by Northern[17] is at the north-east side of the neighbourhood and serves Sandal and the adjacent suburb of Agbrigg.