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Thurnscoe is a village in the
Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley The Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley is a metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England; the main settlement is Barnsley and other notable towns include Wombwell, Worsbrough, Penistone and Hoyland. The borough is bisected by the M1 mo ...
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 West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...
, England. The village falls within the Dearne North ward of the Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, and along with Goldthorpe and
Bolton upon Dearne Bolton upon Dearne is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, in the part of the Dearne Valley through which the River Dearne passes. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of York ...
is part of the Dearne Towns.
Historically History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...
within the
West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...
, the village is approximately from
Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
and from
Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...
. It is served by Thurnscoe railway station with bus links provided by
Stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
. In 2011, it had a population of 8,687.


History

Set in the heart of the Dearne Valley, historically, Thurnscoe was a farming village and in
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
times it was situated on the
Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...
Ryknild Street, which ran down a track, (known locally as "the cow track" as it was the route for the dairy herds until the farm closed in recent years), to the east of what is now Rectory Lane. It continues up Southfield Lane by the side of the cemetery and over fields to the south of the village, and up Clayton Lane to the north. Thurnscoe was known in early times as Turnesc, this becoming Terunsc by the time of its mention 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 ...
, with the name Thurnscoe is derived from Old Norse for Thorn Tree Wood. Parts of the village were owned by Roche Abbey, who dug Magnesian Limestone in an area known locally as "Cave Wood" which is a craggy geography between the overlying Cadeby Formation and underlying Yellow Sands Formation, both late Permian. Cadeby limestone from Thurnscoe was a moderately significant export in medieval times. Thurnscoe's oldest building is the Church of St. Helen on High Street, built in 812 by the Angles and rebuilt in 1087 by the
Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...
though only the tower of the original structure remains. Excavations during renovation work (under the former Rector, John Hall) on the church revealed
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
remains, including a skeleton, indicating that it was used as a sacred site before the Christian church was established here. The western side of the village has more history to it, including Thurnscoe Hall (now a nursing home) and the 1715 Blacksmith's Cottage near St Helen's Church. Red House Cottage on High Street is the oldest building in the village dating back to the 16th century. Before the mines opened, Thurnscoe was once a wealthy farming community, famous in the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
for the quality of its cheese. There were a number of historic farms and arable and livestock fields all around the village, but most of the farms have now gone and most of the fields have been covered by modern housing. In 1931, the
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 ...
had a population of 10,548. Thurnscoe became an urban district in 1908 which contained the parish. On 1 April 1937 the parish and urban district were abolished and merged with Dearne.


Mining years and after

Mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...
began in the 17th century from small surface mines (Benson and Neville 1976) but exploded along with the population after Hickleton Main Colliery found the Barnsley seam in 1894. Almost the entire of the village east of the railway was built to accommodate the coal miners, including St. Hilda's Church in 1935 (deconsecrated 2017). In 1980 mining accounted for 81% of all male employment in the area. It was one of many mining villages in the Yorkshire coalfield that suffered high levels of unemployment when the British coal mining industry was restructured in the 1980s. Hickleton Colliery was merged with Goldthorpe in 1986 before that too was closed in 1994. From 1983 to 1986, Thurnscoe was one of four areas 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 West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...
where the Probation Service ran a victim/offender mediation project (one of the first of its kind in the country). The main pit waste tip has been landscaped and converted, with the aid of the environmental body ''Groundwork'', into "Phoenix Park" which contains a climbing wall, picnic areas and many pieces of art which were developed by and in conjunction with the local community. Poems by local resident Desiree Chipp are carved into three at the entrances to the site. There is a small car park accessible off Lidget Lane. Towards the end of the 20th century many of the historic buildings have been demolished, including the Victorian primary and infant schools, the Station Hotel (which had an inn sign which was featured on a
Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...
postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...
) and Broadway Buildings Ballroom. The village once also had a swimming baths, cinema and an active market, the former site of the market eventually was replaced with a car park for the village's
Home Bargains T.J. Morris Limited (trading as Home Bargains) is a British variety store and garden centre chain founded in 1976 by Tom Morris in Liverpool, England, as Home and Bargain. History The retailer was founded by owner Tom Morris in 1976 as a sing ...
store, which opened in 2017. A series of character areas are being created, defined by housing type and form, and set within an overall master planning strategy to ensure the development of an integrated neighbourhood. The project started on site in early 2010. Some new social housing was built on the redeveloped site of the old colliery buildings adjacent to the former colliery officers' club. The total investment for the scheme is £2.1 million which also includes environmental works to improve the boundary wall to the social club and to upgrade the access to the public open space adjacent to the site. A brook which runs through the western extent, travelling under the village in a culvert, flooded during the gales and heavy rain of 1987, briefly threatening the local primary school, Gooseacre, and flooding several homes along Merrill Road. Litter from the school was stated to be the cause of the flood, and a grille was installed on the brook's culvert entrance. Council records show that the water table is very close to the surface in Thurnscoe, as little as 18 inches below the surface in parts. This has led to local concerns about the building of new houses over the green areas of the village and resulted in a petition against this in 2007. Another flood on 26 June 2007 flooded Houghton Road outside the Thurnscoe Hotel and burst the banks of all the dykes in Thurnscoe. Merrill Road was once again flooded and it flooded as far as Westfield Crescent. In parts of Thurnscoe the water was up to waist level. Also the road between Thurnscoe and Great Houghton was flooded severely. Dearnlea Old People's home on Welfare Road had to be evacuated.


Geography and environment

Thurnscoe's geography is characteristic of glacial moraine, with gentle inclines, good arable clay/loam soil and no irregular boulders. The village was once known for its numerous springs and dykes. High Street (which is not the main road) is a meandering residential street which was once a river. Many of the dykes were enclosed into pipelines during the 1960s and 1970s as flooding had traditionally been a problem in the lower part of the village. The village is bisected, east/west, by a railway, originally laid to serve the colliery, into Thurnscoe and Thurnscoe East. The residents do not consider the two to be separate villages. Locals refer to Thurnscoe East as "the top end". The eastern half is characterised by low cost terraced housing (built to serve the former colliery) and a small business park on the site of the former colliery. The western side of the village is also known as "Old Thurnscoe", or "the bottom end" by locals from the "top end".


Sports

Thurnscoe Park Avenue F.C. competed in the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
from 1919 to 1921, and Thurnscoe Victoria F.C. competed in the same competition during the 1930s and 1940s. Thurnscoe is also home to Thurnscoe Institute Cricket Club, and a sports ground near the village's
Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...
supermarket.


Notable people

* Billy Whitehurst, former Hull City and
Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...
striker, was born in the village. * Leonard Parkin (1929–1993), Journalist and newscaster on
ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York City, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washin ...
’s News at One and News at 5:45. Originally with the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
.


See also

* Listed buildings in Dearne North


References


External links


History according to a Rotherham website
(Archived) {{authority control Villages in South Yorkshire Anglo-Saxon sites in England Former civil parishes in South Yorkshire Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley