Ulley is a village 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 ...

of the

Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham The Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham is a metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. It is named after its main settlement of Rotherham. The wider borough spans a larger area and covers the outlying towns of Maltby, Swinton, Wath-upo ...

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 population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 172. It is located about south of the town of Rotherham and east of

Sheffield City Centre Sheffield City Centre (referred to locally as simply Town) is a district of the Sheffield, City of Sheffield and is covered partly by the City ward, Sheffield, City ward of the City of Sheffield. It includes the area that is within a radius of ...

History

Excavations in Ulley have revealed the course of a probable Roman road running north–south through the village. Other Roman finds in the village include coins and a fragment of Samarian ware. The earliest written record of Ulley is 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 ...

of 1086, where it is referred to as ''Ollei''. The name is

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

in origin but of uncertain meaning. It may derive from ''wulf'' (wolf) or ''Ulla'' (a Saxon personal name) and ''lēah'', meaning a meadow. Alternatively, it may mean 'woodland clearing frequented by owls'. Following the

Norman conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

in 1066, Ulley was among the lands given to the Earl of Mortain. Later, the village passed into the hands of the

Priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

Worksop Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located south of Doncaster, south-east of Sheffield and north of Nottingham. Located close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbys ...

. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

starfish site Starfish sites were large-scale night-time decoys created during the Blitz to simulate burning British cities. The aim was to divert German night bombers from their intended targets so they would drop their Aircraft ordnance, ordnance over the co ...

, designed to act as a decoy and attract German bombers bound for Sheffield,

Templeborough Templeborough (historically Templebrough) is a suburb of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The suburb falls within the Brinsworth and Catcliffe ward of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. The area takes its name from the remains of the ...

steel works and marshalling yards at Rotherham, was built near to Ulley. During the Second World War, a German

bombing raid Strategic bombing is a systematically organized and executed military attack from the air which can utilize strategic bombers, long- or medium-range missiles, or nuclear-armed fighter-bomber aircraft to attack targets deemed vital to the enemy' ...

for Sheffield dropped bombs on a set of cottages situated on Main Street where houses 5–7 are now. The bombs hit the cottages but failed to detonate. When the army arrived to deal with the unexploded bombs, they retired to the pub to decide what to do, and while they were there the bombs exploded, demolishing the cottages.

Governance

Ulley is a civil parish and local issues are governed by a Parish Council, one of 29 such councils in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham. It is in the Rother Vale Ward of the Borough, which is represented on the Borough Council by Georgina Boyes, Gerald Nightingale, and John Swift, all members of the Labour Party. This ward is part of the Rother Valley parliamentary constituency, and was represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

by MP

Kevin Barron Sir Kevin John Barron (born 26 October 1946) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and former coal industry worker. He was the Member of Parliament (UK), Member of Parliament (MP) for Rother Valley (UK Parliament constituency) ...

of the Labour Party who held the seat from 1983 until he retired in 2019.The seat for the first time in history was secured by the Conservatives in the general election in 2019 to an MP who lives in London.

Demography

At the time of the

United Kingdom 2001 Census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

the population of Ulley civil parish was 183 people. Below is a table outlining population change of the parish since 1881.

Landmarks

Holy Trinity Church is a

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

in the village that was built in 1851. It is now run as a

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

with All Saints Church, Aston cum Aughton and Christ Church,

Swallownest Swallownest is a village located in the civil parish of Aston cum Aughton within the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The village lies south of Rotherham and from Sheffield. Swallownest borders the Sheffield subu ...

Winter scene in Ulley Country Park - geograph

Ulley Country Park is a park a few hundred yards to the west, downhill of the village. The park incorporates

Ulley reservoir Ulley Reservoir is a reservoir a few hundred yards to the west and downhill of the village of Ulley, south of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. It is away from junction 33 of the M1 motorway. History The reservoir was built in 1871 ...

, which was built in 1871 and used to provide approximately 180 million gallons of water per year to Rotherham. By the 1980s, the reservoir was not needed for water supply and was on standby only. It was sold to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council for the token sum of £1 and the reservoir and surrounding land were designated a country park. On 25 June 2007, during the

2007 United Kingdom floods A series of large floods occurred in parts of the United Kingdom during the summer of 2007. The worst of the flooding occurred across parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland on 14 June; East Riding of Yorkshire, East Yorkshire and English Midlan ...

, cracks in the reservoir walls were found after heavy rains in the area, causing concerns that the reservoir might burst.

Transport

Ulley is located just off the A618 and close to the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the count ...

. Bus services provided by Powells Bus Co. link the village with Rotherham Town Centre and Maltby. The closest mainline railway stations are at

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, Rotherham Central and Meadowhall.

References and notes

External links

* * {{authority control Villages in South Yorkshire Civil parishes in South Yorkshire Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham