Kilnhurst

Kilnhurst
Kilnhurst
	St Thomas's church
	Kilnhurst Location within South Yorkshire
Population	2,775
OS grid reference	SK468976
Metropolitan borough	Rotherham ;
Metropolitan county	South Yorkshire ;
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber ;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Mexborough
Postcode district	S64
Dialling code	01709
Police	South Yorkshire
Fire	South Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
UK Parliament	Wentworth and Dearne ;
	List of places UK England Yorkshire 53°28′13″N1°18′21″W / 53.470339°N 1.305744°W

Last updated June 06, 2023

Kilnhurst is a village in South Yorkshire, England, on the banks of the River Don and the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation. It grew up around the coal mining, ceramics, glass, brick-making and locomotive industries; none of these industries remain in the village.

Residents

The sculptor Charles Sargeant Jagger was born in the village in 1885, followed by his painter brother David in 1891. They were the sons of a colliery manager. Charles was famous for a number of war memorials commemorating the First World War, such as the Royal Artillery Memorial (1925) which stands at Hyde Park Corner in London, while David was famous for his portrait of Robert Baden-Powell.

Railways

Until the 1960s the village had two railway stations, Kilnhurst Central built by the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway on the line from Sheffield Victoria to Doncaster, and Kilnhurst West built by the Midland Railway, on the line from Sheffield Midland to Cudworth and Leeds. Both have since closed, though the lines still operate, allowing for hopes that a station may one day be reopened.

Residents now rely on Stagecoach Yorkshire buses to go to Rotherham Interchange, Mexborough, Barnsley Interchange, or Swinton railway station for journeys to Sheffield, Meadowhall Interchange or Doncaster.

Kilnhurst tip

To the south of the village, on an area sandwiched between the two railway lines that served the village, the Sheffield City sewage department ran a tip between 1892 and 1959, which was used to dump sewage sludge from the Blackburn Meadows sewage treatment works at Tinsley. Sheffield council negotiated with the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway Company, who built a junction close to Kilnhurst Hall farm, together with signals and locking gear to ensure its safe operation. The council paid £600 to the railway company for this work, on the basis that any difference between this and the actual cost would be paid or refunded as appropriate. The railway company also agreed that they would maintain the tracks, but would invoice the cost of such maintenance to Sheffield. The agreement was made on 13 May 1892, and the tip was operational later that year. 22.75 acres (9.21 ha) of land were initially rented, half from Mr. J. Fullerton, and the other half from Bentley's farm. Fullerton's land was bought for £175 per acre in 1900, and the farm's land was later bought for £150 per acre.^[1] Sewage trains, consisting of wooden wagons owned by the Blackburn Meadows works, would arrive at the tip, and be reversed into a siding. Wagons would run along a length of temporary track by gravity, until they arrived at the tipping point, where they would be emptied. The empty wagons would then be pulled back to the siding by a horse. The temporary tracks were moved as required so that they remained near the edge of the tip. In 1906, horses were costed at £130, wages for the men operating the tip came to £748 15s 2d (£748.76) and £89 2s 6d (£89.13) was paid in sidings charges. The fleet of 75 wagons delivered 50,622 tons of sludge to the tip. Mr. A. Bentley of Thrybergh Farm, Kilnhurst, was responsible for supplying the horses in 1910 but received a letter from Sheffield Corporation asking that he supply a more suitable horse than the brown one then in use, as it appeared too weak for the work. They also pointed out that its coat was not in a very clean condition, as they suspected that Bentley would not have noticed this.^[1]

There were complaints from councillors in the Kilnhurst area about the smell and the dangers to health. John Haworth, who was the works manager at Blackburn Meadows in 1905, pointed out that the Rawmarsh sewage treatment works was a significant contributor to bad smells. Councillor Spick from Rawmarsh led a vigorous campaign against the tip in 1906 and attempted to inspect the tip on 5 September 1906 with a group of representatives from Swinton. However, Haworth refused them admission, as they had not made any arrangements in advance, and the Mexborough and Swinton Times reported the events but generally found in favour of Sheffield Corporation. Legal action was considered in 1907, but Spick was advised that there was no real case. The matter was laid to rest after a series of jovial exchanges in the council. Sheffield worked hard to ensure that the tip was not a nuisance, and exchanges between Rawmarsh and Sheffield councils became much more amiable.^[1]

One train of empty wagons left the tip each day, and another of full wagons arrived, according to the Great Central Railway's 1922 timetable. By 1939, three railway lines left the sidings and ran across the tip. However, the tip was becoming full, and Sheffield Council bought land at Thrybergh in 1946 to create a new tip. That opened in January 1948, after which regular tipping at Kilnhurst stopped, by which time 2,917,480 tons of sewage sludge had been tipped at the site. It continued to be used irregularly until 1959, when the railway siding was removed, and the land was sold to the National Coal Board in 1961.^[1]

Kilnhurst Ings Nature Reserve

Kilnhurst Ings is a post industual washland adjacent to the River Don. The Wildlife Trust for Sheffield and Rotherham has created a series of ditches and shallow ponds in order to encourage aquatic insects, voles, waterfowl and wading birds. This has improved the biodiversity of the area, with meadow and aquatic plants now established. Black-tailed skimmer dragonfly and snipe have been sighted in the reserve. Seasonal grazing takes place from April to October.^[2] Over 90 species of birds have been seen on the ings.

Related Research Articles

The Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham is a metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. It is named after its largest town, Rotherham, but also spans the outlying towns of Maltby, Swinton, Wath-upon-Dearne, Dinnington and also the villages of Rawmarsh and Laughton. A large valley also spans the entire borough. Locally known as the Rother Valley.

Swinton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England on the west bank of the River Don. It has a population of 15,559 (2011). The town is five miles north-northeast of the larger town of Rotherham and directly west-southwest of Mexborough. The original junior and infant school building built in 1852 on Church Street still exists, and is being converted into residential apartments called Fitzwilliam Lodge.

Swinton railway station is a railway station in Swinton, South Yorkshire, England. It has three platforms and a small bus station, and lies at the junction of the former North Midland Railway main line between Rotherham Masborough and Leeds via Cudworth and the former South Yorkshire Railway line to Doncaster.

Travel South Yorkshire (TSY) is the passenger information brand used by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) in England. It was originally formed in 1974 as South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE), which was the passenger transport executive for South Yorkshire. SYPTE used the Travel South Yorkshire brand from 2006 until is dissolution in 2023, when it was transferred to the SYMCA along with all its assets and duties. SYMCA is the integrated transport authority responsible for making and delivering transport policies in South Yorkshire.

Kilnhurst Central was a railway station in Kilnhurst, South Yorkshire, England, one of two railway stations serving the village, the other being Kilnhurst West, situated on the North Midland Railway line. Kilnhurst Central was on the former Great Central Railway's (GCR) Sheffield Victoria - Doncaster line, between Parkgate and Aldwarke and Swinton Central.

Parkgate and Aldwarke railway station was a railway station situated in Parkgate a district of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England on the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway company's line between Rotherham Road and Kilnhurst Central. The station, opened in July 1873, was originally known as "Aldwarke", taking its name from the local manor house nearby which it served along with 8 or 9 servants cottages and a small farmstead. The principal reason for the building of the station, however, was its close proximity to two local collieries, Aldwarke Main and Roundwood. The stopping passenger service fitted in with the requirements of the shift workers at collieries and with many workers living in Rotherham it was recorded that over 100 men would arrive at the station for the early shift alone.

The Greasbrough Canal was a private canal built by the Marquess of Rockingham to serve his coal mining interests in and around the village of Greasbrough, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1780, and the Newbiggin branch was built some time later. The main line to Greasbrough closed in 1840 with the coming of the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway, and the canal ceased to carry commercial traffic during the First World War. Most of it has been filled in, but a small section near the River Don Navigation remains in water.

John Brown's railway was a line constructed in the Rotherham area of South Yorkshire, England, in order to link Silverwood Colliery to staithes situated alongside the River Don. The line, along with the collieries, became the sole property of John Brown & Company of Sheffield, in 1910, giving the line its local name.

The Mexborough and Swinton Traction Company was the name adopted by the Mexborough & Swinton Tramways Company in 1929 following the introduction of trolleybuses on all its routes. It operated in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, over routes serving Manvers Main Colliery, Wath upon Dearne and the towns of Rotherham, Rawmarsh, Swinton, Mexborough, Conisbrough and the estate at Conanby.

Warren Vale Colliery was a coal mine, also known as Piccadilly Colliery, situated alongside Warren Vale Road, between Rawmarsh and Swinton, South Yorkshire, England, in the valley of the Collier Brook, which runs east, for about two miles towards Kilnhurst.

Thrybergh is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) from Rotherham. It had a population of 4,327 in 2001, reducing to 4,058 at the 2011 Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Don Navigation</span> Waterway navigation in South Yorkshire, England

The River Don Navigation was the result of early efforts to make the River Don in South Yorkshire, England, navigable between Fishlake and Sheffield. The Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden had re-routed the mouth of the river in 1626, to improve drainage, and the new works included provision for navigation, but the scheme did not solve the problem of flooding, and the Dutch River was cut in 1635 to link the new channel to Goole. The first Act of Parliament to improve navigation on the river was obtained in 1726, by a group of Cutlers based in Sheffield; the Corporation of Doncaster obtained an Act in the following year for improvements to the lower river. Locks and lock cuts were built and by 1751 the river was navigable to Tinsley.

Aldwarke Main Colliery was a coal mine sunk in the Don Valley, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England.

Rawmarsh is a large village in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is 2 miles (3 km) north-northeast from Rotherham town centre and 3 miles (5 km) south-southwest of Swinton. The village also forms part of the Sheffield Urban Area. The Rawmarsh ward of Rotherham MBC had a population of 13,389 at the 2011 Census. Rawmarsh also contains other output areas from neighbouring wards giving it a population of 18,498 in 2011 and 18,535 in 2014.

Blackburn Meadows is an area of land just inside the Sheffield city border at Tinsley, England. It became the location of the main sewage treatment works for the city in 1884, and is now one of the largest treatment works in Britain. The treatment process was rudimentary, with sludge being removed to ponds and then to drying beds, after which it was used as manure or transferred by rail to a tip at Kilnhurst. The works progressively expanded to improve the quality of effluent discharged to the River Don and was a pioneer in the use of bio-aeration, following experiments by the works manager during the First World War. This process became known as the "Sheffield System", and was demonstrated to visitors from Great Britain and abroad. Despite these improvements, ammonia levels in the river below the works were high, and fish populations did not survive.

The Rotherham trolleybus system once served the town of Rotherham, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Opened on 3 October 1912, it was the fourth trolleybus system to be established in the United Kingdom, after the systems in nearby Bradford and Leeds, which had opened simultaneously in 1911, and Dundee earlier in 1912. Between 1912 and 1949, the Rotherham system gradually replaced the Rotherham Tramway.

Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust is a charitable non-governmental organisation, covering Sheffield and Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. It owns or manages 15 nature reserves with its base in Sheffield.

53.4544°N 1.3272°WAldwarke Junction at Parkgate near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England is a major railway junction. It was constructed in 1965 as a part of the Sheffield district rail rationalisation plan.

References

1 2 3 4 Booth 1986 , pp. 22–25
↑ "Kilnhurst Ings | Reserves". Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 19 January 2019.

Bibliography

Booth, A. J. (1986). "Sheffield's Sewage Works Railways". Industrial Railway Record. Industrial Railway Society. ISSN 0537-5347.

External links

Media related to Kilnhurst at Wikimedia Commons

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[booth-1] 1 2 3 4 Booth 1986 , pp. 22–25

[2] "Kilnhurst Ings | Reserves". Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 19 January 2019.

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