Families of former miners were at the National Coal Mining Museum for a special ceremony.
They were there to see sculptor Stephen Broadbent unveil his “Lives Lived, Lives Lost” memorial in the grounds of the museum.
The garden will commemorate the many miners who worked at local pits.
Special glass tokens inscribed with their names will be added to the steel sculpture.
Among those present for the ceremony was former Wakefield MP David Hinchliffe, who is chairman of the trustees at the museum.
Once the glass tokens are added the sculpture is intended to look like a stained glass window.
It stands nearly three metres high, and curves round into a sweeping arc.
