Upper Cumberworth is a small village 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, within 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 ...

Denby Dale Denby Dale is a village and civil parish in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is 8 miles north-west of Barnsley and 10 miles south-east of Huddersfield. The village is the main village in the Denby Dale civ ...

and the

Diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

. It is between the villages of Denby Dale and Shepley, above the village of Lower Cumberworth. It occupies a rural location, surrounded by fields and woodland but close to

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 ...

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

and

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 ...

by public transport or road. The 2001 Census gave the population of Upper Cumberworth and Lower Cumberworth combined as 1,222.

Geography

The local woodlands are managed by the Upper Dearne Woodlands Conservation Group, who undertake tasks such as

habitat conservation Habitat conservation is a management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore habitats and prevent species extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterized in ter ...

, access management, education and information. Many

public footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide va ...

s run through the woodlands with information boards about plants and animals. The woodland runs into Birdsedge and contains more than 75 Hairy Northern Wood Ant (

Formica lugubris ''Formica lugubris'', also known as the hairy wood ant is commonly found in wooded upland areas across northern Eurasia. Colonies construct large thatched mound nests occupied by thousands of workers, and one or more queens. Workers look similar ...

) nests.

Education

The village has a small

first school Three-tier education refers to those structures of schooling, which exist in some parts of England, where pupils are taught in three distinct school types as they progress through the education system. Terminology In a three-tier local educa ...

, Cumberworth CE (VA) First School.

Religious sites

The local

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

' church is

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

. The churchyard has a set of

stocks Stocks are feet and hand restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law de ...

by the entrance and some sculptural gravestones.

Sport

Upper Cumberworth and Lower Cumberworth have joint football and cricket teams. There is a small children's playground and a larger field which contains

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

facilities.

Notable people

John Hodgson, drummer/ percussionist with

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist and composer best known as a member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his prolific solo career. AllMusic describes Wakema ...

English Rock Ensemble Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist and composer best known as a member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his prolific solo career. AllMusic describes Wakem ...

and Violinski, an ELO offshoot.

References

External links

"Cumberworth: The Village"
Ckcricketheritage.org.uk, Pdf download required. Retrieved 7 January 2012 {{authority control Villages in West Yorkshire Denby Dale