South Elmsall
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South Elmsall ( ) is a town and
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in the
City of Wakefield Wakefield, also known as the City of Wakefield, is a Local government in England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status and a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. Wakefield, the largest settl ...
in
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...
, England. South Elmsall lies to the east of
Hemsworth Hemsworth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire and had a population of 13,311 at the 2001 census, ...
. The town had a population in 2001 of 6,107, increasing to 6,519 at the 2011 Census.


History

The town was largely a small farming settlement until the industrial revolution and the sinking of collieries caused a boom in population and a need for modern housing for the workforce. This has left a town with a mixture of stone and brick buildings. The town and its neighbours were mentioned in the ''
Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
''. Other industries such as quarrying for stone, agriculture and brick manufacture were also known at different periods of the town's history, with many of the former buildings and sites associated with them still existing.


Former quarry site

The former South Elmsall quarry was deemed a site of national importance, by Defra, due to the visible section of an unusually complete patch coral reef.


Coal mining

The town is most famous for its coal-mining past; it was the site of
Frickley Colliery Frickley & South Elmsall Colliery was opened by the Carlton Main Colliery Company Ltd in 1903 in South Elmsall, in Yorkshire, England. Frickley & South Elmsall Colliery The first sod was cut on 23 April 1903 of shafts No.1 and No.2 and the ...
, which was one of the largest deep coal mines in the United Kingdom. The colliery invested in several improvements that were of benefit to the area, including the building of the Warde Aldam Hospital, as well as swimming baths and sports facilities. The colliery became a key source of union radicalism. During the
UK miners' strike of 1984–1985 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, there were numerous disturbances in the area. It was one of the last pits to return to work after the strike, seeing as it was picketed by a group of hardliners from
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
who continued to picket Frickley after the NUM had called off the strike. The Frickley miners refused to cross the hardliners' picket. The colliery was closed on 26 November 1993 following closures of nearby pits like Ferrymoor-Riddings (1985), Kinsley (1986), South Kirkby (1988) and
Grimethorpe Grimethorpe is a village in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and W ...
(1992). In 1998 the UK Governments "Social Exclusion Unit" published a series of "Policy Action Team" reports looking at issues of
social exclusion Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. In the EU context, the Euro ...
. The Skills report used South Elmsall and surrounding towns as a case study and stated "The local communities still suffer from serious environmental, social and economic problems - and a crisis of morale - as a result of the loss of jobs in the mining industry".


Warde-Aldam Hospital

The Warde-Aldam Hospital was a hospital situated in South Elmsall, Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1911 by Carlton Main Colliery Ltd and was used as a general, voluntary hospital until 1948. It was then taken over by the NHS and provided acute hospital care until 1978.


Music

The town is home to Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Band, a successful brass band who have been British and European champions.


Frickley Country Park

Frickley Country Park officially opened in September 2009, after a long period of land reclamation, environmental cleaning and landscaping of the former
Frickley Colliery Frickley & South Elmsall Colliery was opened by the Carlton Main Colliery Company Ltd in 1903 in South Elmsall, in Yorkshire, England. Frickley & South Elmsall Colliery The first sod was cut on 23 April 1903 of shafts No.1 and No.2 and the ...
site was finished. The site offers walks and play areas as well as space for new housing development as part of the wider regeneration scheme. Nearby is located the Frickley Off-road Centre, a specialist facility for motorsports.


Local economy

The large, traditional market is a central feature of the shopping area of the town, with approximately 105 trading stalls. On the main high street there are shops featuring many household names such as
The Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
,
Hallmark Cards Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a Privately held company, privately held, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of greeting cards in the United ...
,
Specsavers Specsavers Optical Group Limited is a Guernsey-based multinational optical retail chain, which operates mainly in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the Nordic countries. The chain offers optometry and optician services for ey ...
,
Boots Group Boots UK Limited (formerly Boots the Chemists Limited) is a British health and beauty retailer and pharmacy chain that operates in the United Kingdom. It also operates internationally, including Ireland, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Thailand ...
and
Greggs Greggs plc is a British bakery chain. It specialises in savoury products such as baked goods, sausage rolls, sandwiches and sweet items including doughnuts and vanilla slices. It is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is lis ...
alongside many other independent shops offering a range of goods and services such as travel, boutique fashion, wedding dress hire, sportswear, a flooring and furniture store and much more. On the outskirts of the town is the Dale Lane Industrial Estate which is home to a number of large, internationally recognised companies. For example, there are a number of Next Distribution warehouses. The estate itself reflects the change in industry of the area, being one of the key expansion areas since the closure of the local collieries.


Education

Carlton, Moorthorpe, Northfield and Ash Grove Academy are the primary education schools in South Elmsall. The main source of secondary and further education in the town is Minsthorpe Community College, which also provides places to residents of South Kirkby and Upton. In 2008 Minsthorpe Community College gained its best ever results at all levels – KS3/GCSE/A-Level, the college GCSE results are higher than the local and national averages. The school also hosts a number of other facilities such as a sports and fitness suite, all weather floodlit sports pitches, a gym and an upcoming public swimming pool. The school and its science and sporting facilities were upgraded as one of the host training facilities for the London 2012
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
. Among a number of well known people who have an association with Minsthorpe include playwright
John Godber John Harry Godber (born 18 May 1956) is an English playwright, known mainly for observational comedy, observational comedies. The ''Plays and Players Yearbook'' of 1993 rated him the third most performed playwright in the UK after William Shak ...
, actors Adrian Hood and Chris Walker and footballers
Jamie Jamie is a unisex name. Traditionally a masculine name, it can be diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names and is of Scottish English origin. It is also given as a name in its own right. Since the mid-20th century it has been used a ...
and
John McCombe John Paul McCombe (born 7 May 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He made 473 league and cup appearances in a 19-year professional and semi-professional career, scoring 29 goals. His brother, Jamie, pl ...
.


Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by
BBC Yorkshire BBC Yorkshire is one of the English regions of the BBC. It was formed from the division of the former BBC North region into BBC Yorkshire and BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, based in Kingston upon Hull. Serving West, North and South Yorkshir ...
and
ITV Yorkshire ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
. Television signals are received from the
Emley Moor The Emley Moor transmitting station is a telecommunications and broadcasting facility on Emley Moor, west of the village centre of Emley, in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It is made up of a concrete tower and apparatus that began ...
TV transmitter. Local radio stations are
BBC Radio Leeds BBC Radio Leeds is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of West Yorkshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at St Peter's Square in Leeds. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audienc ...
,
Heart Yorkshire Heart Yorkshire (previously Real Radio Yorkshire) was a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts to South and West Yorkshire.Capital Yorkshire Capital Yorkshire was a regional radio station owned by Global as part of the Capital network. It broadcast to South Yorkshire & North Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire. Capi ...
,
Hits Radio West Yorkshire Hits Radio West Yorkshire, formerly Pulse 1, is an Independent Local Radio station based in Leeds, England, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to West Yorkshire. As of September 2024, t ...
,
Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire Greatest Hits Radio (GHR) is a classic hits radio network in the United Kingdom, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK. It currently includes 18 local and regional radio stations operating over 50 FM and DAB licences in England, Scotl ...
, and 5 Towns FM, a community online radio station that broadcasts from
Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...
. The town is served by local newspaper, ''
Wakefield Express The ''Wakefield Express'' is the newspaper serving the City of Wakefield district in West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1852 and was the subject of a centenary film directed by Lindsay Anderson in 1952. The newspaper is owned by Nati ...
''. In March 2025, the Netflix show '' Adolesence'' took place in this town, and neighbouring areas.


Transport

South Elmsall is served by rail, the nearest station being
South Elmsall railway station South Elmsall railway station serves the town of South Elmsall in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the Wakefield Line operated by Northern northwest of Doncaster and was opened in 1866. Facilities The station is unstaffed and has had its ...
. The main bus station is also situated beside the railway station.


Churches

The principal places of Christian worship include: *The Oasis Church (Charismatic) *St Luke's Church (Evangelical) (formerly Barnsley Road Methodist Church, Aire and Calder Circuit/Leeds District) *Trinity Methodist Church* (Aire and Calder Circuit/Leeds District), *St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church* (Diocese of Leeds) *South Elmsall Parish Church of St Mary-the-Virgin* (Church of England) (Diocese of Leeds), *New Jerusalem Christian fellowship (Independent Christian Fellowship). **Member of SESKUB Churches Together (SESKUB = South Elmsall, South Kirkby, Upton and Badsworth) Non-Christian places of religious/spiritual interest: *South Elmsall Spiritualist Church


Sports

Frickley Athletic Frickley Athletic Football Club is a football club based in South Elmsall, West Yorkshire, England. They are members of the and play at Westfield Lane. History The club was formed on 30 July 1908, and became a member of the South Yorkshire Lea ...
are based in South Elmsall. Frickley play their home games at Westfield Lane Stadium. Other sports clubs include The South Elmsall Social Cycling Club, which was officially founded in 1934.The club was relaunched in 2015 as Elmsall road club and has 90 members. Minsthorpe Marlins were based at South Elmsall, but were left homeless when the public swimming baths were closed. A new facility has now opened.


Notable residents

* Actor Chris Walker was born in South Elmsall; he is best known for his role as
Rob Hollins Rob Hollins is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''Doctors'', portrayed by Chris Walker. Rob was introduced as a police sergeant at Letherbridge police station and made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 24 July ...
in the
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
-based soap opera ''
Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...
''. He won an award at the British Soap Awards in 2010 for his role, with on-screen wife, actress
Jan Pearson Jan Pearson (born 12 April 1959) is an English actress. Pearson grew up in Wollaston, West Midlands, and began her career in various stage productions. She yearned to work in television and was soon cast as Kath Fox in the BBC medical drama '' ...
. * Boxer Thomas (aka Tom) Nicholls was born at South Elmsall and lived there before his family moved to
Wellington, Shropshire Wellington is a market town and a civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. It is situated northwest of Telford and east of Shrewsbury, near the western terminus of the M54 motorway. The summit of The Wrekin lie ...
. He competed in the Olympics in 1952 and 1956, winning silver medal in the latter. * Footballer Peter Swan, winner of 19 England caps, was born in South Elmsall. * Footballer George Gibson played for South Elmsall-based
Frickley Athletic Frickley Athletic Football Club is a football club based in South Elmsall, West Yorkshire, England. They are members of the and play at Westfield Lane. History The club was formed on 30 July 1908, and became a member of the South Yorkshire Lea ...
before becoming one of the early English footballers to play abroad. * Footballer
Ronnie Radford Ronald Radford (12 July 1943 – 2 November 2022) was an English footballer who was known for scoring "one of the most iconic goals in FA Cup history", in the 1971–72 FA Cup for Hereford United during their shock 2–1 giant-killing of Newc ...
, scorer of the famous long-range goal for non-League Hereford United against First-Division Newcastle United in 1972, in one of the F.A.Cup's greatest giant-killing acts, was born in South Elmsall. * Environmental activist Gail Bradbrook, a co-founder of the environmental social movement
Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is a UK-founded global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and ...
, was born here, the daughter of a coal miner from Frickley Colliery. * English professional pool, snooker and English billiards player
Kelly Fisher Kelly Teresa Fisher (born 25 August 1978) is an English professional pool, snooker and English billiards player, and has won world championships in all three disciplines. Career Fisher grew up in South Elmsall, near Pontefract, West Yorkshire ...
was born in South Elmsall.


Twinning

South Elmsall is twinned with
Wetter (Ruhr) Wetter (Ruhr) () is a town in western Germany, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the district of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis. The river Ruhr (river), Ruhr flows through the urban area, separating the district of Alt-Wetter from the district ...
, Germany.


See also

* Listed buildings in South Elmsall


References


External links


South Elmsall Town CouncilThe Story of South Elmsall, local history group
{{authority control Towns in West Yorkshire Geography of the City of Wakefield Civil parishes in West Yorkshire