Mapplewell is a village 2.5 miles NNW of Barnsley town centre.
Mapplewell, once famous for nail making and then coal mining; the village retains an individual character and a good range of shops and services.
Four Lane Ends, Mapplewell
In Mapplewell there is very little recorded early history of the village in Barnsley. A Roman altar dedicated to the god Mars was found on Staincross Common in 1782. It has since been lost but points to the presence of a rural shrine in the vicinity. Neighbouring Staincross also had a significant role in the administration of the Danelaw during the 9th and 10th centuries. The Viking invaders divided Yorkshire into thridings (thirds) which later became the ridings. Each riding was subdivided into wapentakes – equivalent to Anglo-Saxon hundreds. A wapentake was an assembly or meeting place, usually at a crossroads or by a river where decisions were taken. The Staincross Wapentake was one of 14 subdivisions of the West Riding and is thought to have been located somewhere between Staincross Common and New Road; possibly by a Saxon stane or stone cross giving us Staincross. However, I couldn’t verify that Mapplewell derives from the seemingly obvious ‘well by a maple tree’.
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Penistone Town Centre
Penistone is a small market town 8 miles west of Barnsley
Penistone, 750 feet up in the Pennines beside the River Don. Penistone town has over a thousand years of recorded history encompassing agriculture, weaving, steel making and the railways. It even has a type of cloth and breed of sheep named after it!
Penistone probably derives from the Old English words penn meaning hill and tun meaning village or farm; so ‘hill village’ would seem an appropriate description. The district has probably been occupied since before Roman times, but is first mentioned after the Norman Conquest. It seems to have been razed to the ground in 1069-70 during William I’s scorched earth subjugation of Yorkshire known as The Harrying of the North. The settlement appears as Pengeston and Pangeston in the Domesday Book of 1086 where it is recorded that it was a waste of very little taxable value.
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Thurgoland Village
Thurgoland is a rural village near Barnsley with farming traditions stretching back over a millennium
Thurgoland at the beginning in the early 17th century was a thriving metalworking industry prospered along the banks of the nearby River Don for over 350 years.
Thurgoland village straddles the A629 Rotherham to Huddersfield Road, almost 800 feet above sea level and five miles south-west of Barnsley. There are commanding views to the south and west across the Upper Don Valley towards the Pennines. The 2001 national census recorded a population of 1801.
The name Turgesland appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 but different sources suggest different origins for the name: either from the Old Norse meaning Thorgeirr’s or Thurgar’s cultivated land; or from the Saxon ‘The fee farm in the Ga of Thor’ – meaning the rented farm on the land named in honour of the god Thor, or simply the land belonging to Turge. However it originated, it took 500 years until the 16th century before it evolved into the name that we recognise today.
Penistone Village, near Barnsley
As the autumn issue of Around Barnsley showed, there is much about the history of Penistone that explains the character of the old town and perhaps the local people.
The physical character of Penistone in Barnsley can of course be traced to those early days of church, school and market followed by the impact of the local steel and engineering industry and the associated importance of the railway links. As for the people of Penistone, this is less easy to argue especially in these days of greatly increased mobility. Penistone is a great mix of long-established families and family businesses and so called “newcomers” and in fairness to the latter it is probably fair to say that nowadays they far outweigh the former. It all depends of course on what your definition of a “newcomer” might be. It is not unknown for a whole generation to pass by before a newcomer comes to be regarded as a genuine Penistone “local”.
Whilst this no doubt applies to some extent to Penistone with its well-marked and much valued old traditions, there are clear signs of change. Change that is important to maintaining and developing the vitality of the town based on Penistone local initiatives. New people moving into the Penistone area – even those who appear at first or even second glance to have mainly “dormitory linkages” nevertheless bring new interests, abilities, skills and of course, expectations to the town.
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Darfield Village
Darfield in Barnsley… A Village to be Proud of
‘Darfield is a proud village and a village of which to be proud’ – is one statement recently seen about this South Yorkshire village.
Looking back into the history of Darfield, situated in the centre of Barnsley, Sheffield and Rotherham, it is easy to see why this statement is so true. Long classified as a coal mining village, Darfield and its people have seen their share of traumas and troubles over the years but have lived to tell the tale.
There is believed to have been a settlement of some kind in Darfield for hundreds of years and indeed dating back to Roman times. Many Roman coins have been found in Darfield – records show that in 1691 a farm labourer unearthed a pot containing nearly 500 gold Roman coins while he was in the middle of ploughing a field.
Worsbrough Village and Worsbrough Mill Country Park in Barnsley
Worsbrough Mill and Country Park near Barnsley, you can watch flour being stone ground and then buy a bag in the mill shop to take home with you.
At Worsbrough Mill near Barnsley there’s something special about watching a mill produce flour almost 400 years after it was first built. With every turn of the seven-tonne cast-iron water wheel, tradition and history seem to come alive.
Worsbrough Mill, open seven days a week from dawn till dusk, the Country Park covers 240 acres with the Mill Museum as its centrepiece (open Sat-Wed, 11am-4pm). Behind the Mill, the 60-acre fishing reservoir built in 1804 has Local Nature Reserve status and is a haven for wildlife and rare species such as the greater crested newt and chimney sweeper moth.
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The Village of Wentworth
Wentworth Village near Barnsley
In Wentworth, there is a sign at the back of the car park on Main Street has the legend that Wentworth was the Rural Community Council’s Best Kept Village in South Yorkshire in 1997.
The intervening twelve years have not appeared to diminish that claim.
Wentworth is a beautifully kept village which has retained all its charm despite becoming ever more popular with visitors. Residents’ cottages live side by side with attractions such as the Wentworth Tearooms, the 13th Century Old Church and the heterogeneous Garden Centre.
Wentworth can trace its existence and origins, although a little murkily, back to at least 1066 when lands around there were given to allies and friends of Duke William, the Conqueror. The name Wentworth comes from a family who lived and owned lands in the area in the late 11th Century. It’s not known how they came to acquire it, but around 1300 one of their number married a Woodhouse, a family which lived outside the village, hence the name of the great house, variously known as ‘England’s biggest end-terrace house,’ or ‘England’s biggest semi,’ Wentworth Woodhouse.
Wentworth Village Sign
Wentworth in Barnsley is such a beautiful place to visit whatever the season.
Wentworth at Christmas time there is a magical feel to this delightful village.
Wentworth with its wonderful shops packed with lots of Christmas treats it is a must on your festive shopping list. There’s so much to discover from stunning decorations for the home to gift ideas for all the family.
Wentworth Garden Centre near Barnsley is perhaps the best known attraction set in sixteen acres the complex includes a number of craft shops, a butchers shop and a children’s farm.
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Hoylandswaine
Hoylandswaine Village on the way out of Barnsley
Hoylandswaine village is an interesting place in a number of respects and expresses the spirit of many other villages of the Pennine foothills of South Yorkshire very well.
Hoylandswaine is surrounded by attractive countryside, it clings to a hillside close to 900 feet above sea level and is steeped in family and early agricultural and industrial history.
Recognised as an attractive place to live with good access to local places of employment and schools it has also seen a quite dramatic increase in housing in recent years. Barnsley and the M1 motorway can be reached very easily along the Silkstone by-pass and the old market town of Penistone is not far away down the hill to the West of the village. Huddersfield and Sheffield can be reached relatively easily either way on the A629.
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Monk Bretton Village
Monk Bretton sits on the top of Barnsley
In Monk Bretton, stand at the top of Burton Bank, a short distance from the centre of old Monk Bretton and, on a clear day, you will see one of the best views of Barnsley, the Dearne valley and distant moorland.
Monk Bretton today, has become an almost imperceptible part of its urban neighbour but not too long ago the river and the rising high ground contributed to making ‘Bretton’, ‘Burton’ Monkbretton or Monk Bretton (or even ‘Monk Burton’) into one of the most distinctive communities of our area.
Wortley in Barnsley, A place of beauty, character and especially history
Many people know Wortley as the place where the traffic on the busy A629 weaves its way between the church and the even older pub.
Older readers who live locally to Wortley may remember the former Wortley Rural District Council that prior to local government reform, covered almost 50,000 acres from the wild moorlands of the Peak District in the west to the fringe of the once mighty South Yorkshire coalfield in the east. To the south the district skirted the urban sprawl of Sheffield with Wortley village almost at its northerly edge. But that is recent history. Wortley, both village and parish have a much longer history as well as great beauty and character. Wortley has a great deal to attract today; those of us who are fortunate enough to live here have much to be thankful for. Those who visit us have much to enjoy.
The Villages of Silkstone & Silkstone Common in Barnsley
The Huskar tragedy at Silkstone sent shock through young Queen Victoria, members of parliament and peers of the realm; and was reported in detail in the newspapers of the day.
Silkstone today is a pleasant place to live and attracts many visitors. Silkstone village rests in one of the most beautiful valleys of Barnsley in South Yorkshire. Pause for a moment on a clear day and look from the main road, by the Huskar monument, towards the medieval church and Pot House Hamlet, and you can’t help but appreciate the magnificent setting of wooded hills and attractive countryside. To explore the area in detail there is a network of footpaths and tracks. A leisurely stroll along the Trans Pennine Trail from Silkstone Common to Silkstone and Barnby (Cawthorne) via the historic waggonway is highly recommended. Families with young children can pause at Pot House and feed the ducks by the beck. For residents, there are good schools and easy access to places of work via the M1 motorway.
Elsecar the Historic Village in Barnsley
Elsecar attracts visitors from a wide area throughout the year. For many it is the Heritage and Craft Centre that is the focus of attention.
Elsecar for the more adventurous come to enjoy the benefit of walking or cycling in the superb countryside, along, for example, the Greenway by the old Dearne & Dove Canal to Broomhill and Old Moor Wetland Centre; and on the Timberland Trail (itself part of the coast-to-coast Trans-Pennine Trail), a 14 km recreational route linking Elsecar and Wortley. A gentle cross-country ramble to Wentworth is also highly recommended, perhaps pausing at the popular garden centre and exploring the famous estate village. A shorter stroll through Elsecar’s public park is also well worth a small amount of effort. You may want to try the mini-golf and walk by the reservoir nature reserve – and why not call at the little cafe where you can be assured of a warm welcome, excellent refreshments and enjoy the view from the hill-top location. The cafe is run by Jean Clarke, with help from her daughter, Donna. Jean’s partner, Gary, keeps a responsible eye on the park and gardens. Thankfully, vandalism is minimal, so there are delightful flower beds and enjoyable vistas.
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Mapplewell Village
Mapplewell Village in Barnsley, South Yorkshire
I arrived in Mapplewell just as the fog was clearing, on a very cold but soon to be sunny February afternoon
I am fond of Mapplewell. Perhaps it is because the place has such a long and distinctive history, a small but bustling former nailmaking and coalmining community which in many ways stands out from other Barnsley area settlements.
Mapplewells ancient place-name is a little different, meaning ‘Well near the maple tree’. I’m proud to say that my mother was a Mappellwellian for some of her childhood years, attending the village school on Blacker Road. A history of the school was published by headmaster David Peckett in 1990. It includes interesting extracts from the log books. The following is from an entry dated 28 November 1916: ‘Only 225 children present this morning. The serious decrease is caused by many of the pupils being up in the night on account of a Zepplin raid in the district.’ Modern properties now stand on the old school site.
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Royston in Barnsley
Royston in Barnsley on a damp and dismal mid-November day.
Never mind, Royston always provides me with positive memories, and it will be interesting to see what changes there have been since my last visit several years ago.
Royston is where I was born, in my maternal grandparents’ house on Newtown Avenue, a neat, inter-war council semi which backed on to a pleasant playing field. After a few months my parents managed to rent a terrace house in nearby Carlton – near Wharncliffe Woodmoor 1, 2 & 3 colliery where my father worked. But visiting Royston to see my grandparents during the fifties and sixties was of course a regular routine. Grandad Charlie Stone worked at the Monckton Coke and Chemical Works.
Cawthorne is a village in rolling farmland 3½ miles west of Barnsley along the A635.
Cannon Hall, Cawthrone
Day trippers to Cawthorne enjoying Cannon Hall’s parklands near Barnsley and some newer residents may be unaware the attractive village has a diverse industrial past and that 60% of the parish was once opencast for coal.
The district of Barnsley around Cawthrone and Cannon Hall would originally have been densely forested. The first settlement clearing was probably Anglo-Saxon named from cal (cold) and dern (house or building) which had become Caltorne by 1086 when it appears in William I’s Domesday Book. Other sources interpret this as ‘bare thorn bush.’ Whatever its derivation The Conqueror’s survey records that Cawthorne in early Norman times had plough lands, woodlands, pasture, a church and a priest but only a handful of inhabitants.
In 1067 Alric the Saxon landowner was dispossessed becoming a tenant of the Norman lord Ilbert de Laci who was granted Caltorne along with 63 other manors in the north of England. Ownership of Cawthorne passed through many families during the next 600 years until it came into the possession of the Spencer’s in the mid 17th century. The Spencers and Spencer-Stanhopes were largely responsible, over the ensuing 300 years, for creating the estate village which is so appealing today.
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Dodworth Village
Dodwoth Village, the Honest Village in Barnsley
Dodworth in early June, waiting for the early morning mist to clear on probably the warmest day of the year so far.
From the construction of the M1 motorway to the new £6m bypass and Capital Park, Dodworth has changed a great deal over the last 50 years. It’s hard to think of the place as a village, more like a small town according to local resident Horace Price, an old Dodworther and former miner who lives in Silver Street (anyone remember Hufton’s shop).
Dodworth became an Urban District Council in the 1890s. The original council office building is still on High Street. Unfortunately the Mechanics’ Institute & Working Men’s Club which played an important role in Dodworth life for several generations was demolished in the early 1990s.
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Barugh Green in Barnsley
Dearne Hall Road, Barugh Green, Barnsley
Barugh Green is a village on the A635 two miles north west of Barnsley town centre.
Barugh Green was transformed from a farming hamlet to an important mining, then manufacturing locality, following the Industrial Revolution.
Historically Barugh Green was part of the Township of Barugh that also included the adjacent hamlets of Higham to the south, Gawber and Redbrook to the east and Barugh to the north. Settlement in the district probably began in the Anglo-Saxon period as Barugh derives from the old Anglian word berg meaning hill – which is still used in modern German.
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Barnsley, the Changing Face…
Barnsley, in the Heart of Yorkshire
Barnsley people have a great deal of respect for their old market town. Of that there can be no doubt.
Barnsley is a place with a history crafted by hard-working people. It is a place that stands no nonsense, with a style that like its people, says loud and clear – here I am take me for what I am. Barnsley’s very structure and architecture is as frank and straightforward as its populace.
Outside Barnsley the town has an image that has until very recently, emphasised the negative rather than the positive. Relatively high levels of unemployment, unsatisfactory educational performance levels and pockets of deprivation. Old fashioned buildings and unsatisfactory 70’s era “improvements”. Hit by the virtual disappearance of a mining industry on which much of Barnsley’s 19th and 20th century development was founded, and prominent on the borough’s coat of arms, it has taken time for structural change to take place. The closure of local pits one after another and the knock-on effect on suppliers and shop-keepers was a massive psychological blow to communities built on hard graft and local solidarity.
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Lundwood in Barnsley
Lundwood is a busy suburb of Barnsley three miles north east of the town centre.
Before the 1920’s Lundwood was a predominantly rural locality and site of the ruins of Monk Bretton Priory.
Lundwood probably derives from a combination of the Old Norse and Icelandic words lundr meaning ‘sacred woodland grove’ or ‘thickly wooded’ and wud meaning ‘to bury’ or ‘soil’. Indeed when Cluniac monks first came to build their monastery near the north bank of the River Dearne in 1153 the whole area was probably densely forested. Lund Wood, a half mile square remnant of this primeval forest, was still standing east of the present day suburb until felled for timber during World War I.
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Grimethorpe
Grimethorpe in Barnsley, made famous by the film Brassed Off
‘Grimthorpe’s seen nowt like this since pit’s shut…’
Grimethorpe on a lovely early June day. It’s a place where, despite tremendous social and economic problems in the wake of the miners’ strike and pit closures, residents and supporters are rightly proud of what is now being achieved. And, as we shall see, it is not just structural regeneration and redevelopment that has put a smile on a place of well over 5,000 residents, about the same population size as existed in the days of when Coal from Grimethorpe Pit was King and Carlton Main Colliery Company the main landowner. Over three or four generations coal was Grimethorpe, and vice versa. It provided work, wages, houses, amenities and culture, the very life and soul of the community. It is no surprise that when coal production at Grimethorpe Pit suddenly went a great vacuum could not be collier-like filled.
Let me confess, I like Grimethorpe and its people. Perhaps it is because I was brought up in a nearby coal mining community which experienced hard times but I also had family connections here too. When my father’s pit closed at Carlton in the mid 1960s he got a job as a fitter, working at the power station right next to the colliery. Many of you will remember the large complex next to the pit, including the coal preparation plant. I seem to recall Grimethorpe developing innovatory clean coal technology. What an asset it would be in today’s near critical energy situation. I went down the pit at Grimethorpe a couple of times during the 1970s, accompanied by some of my pupils from Royston Comp. The girls had to be content with a tour of the surface buildings but the lads had more direct underground experience. After only an hour or two some of them appeared at the surface so blackened that it looked as though they had worked a double shift at the coal face at Grimethorpe Pit.
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The Town of Penistone
Penistone was little more than a village near Barnsley until the early part of the 18th Century.
Penistone, from a wider perspective the ancient parish of Penistone with St John the Baptist’s Church dominating the local skyline, was comprised of the eight ancient townships of Gunthwaite, Langsett, Denby, Hunshelf, Ingbirchworth, Oxspring, Thurlstone and Penistone itself. The last six were mentioned in the Domesday Book.
By the 1890’s the Penistone parish extended to almost 23,000 acres and 9,500 people and the same local government structure had existed from Norman times until 1894 when the urban and rural district councils were created. At the beginning of the 20th century Penistone town near Barnsley was still very small with a population of around 3,000. Thurlstone with its early textile industry had long been a more populous place than Penistone (even though Millhouse Green was of relatively late development) and was still the larger “town” in 1891.
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Thurlstone Village
Thrlstone Village, just outside of Barnsley
Thurlstone may hardly be noticeable to the driver in a hurry seeking to leave Penistone for the Woodhead Road over to Lancashire.
Thurlstone, despite the roadside signs making it clear that you are entering a distinct community, it is all too easy to see it as an extension of Penistone – especially if you think that all there is to Thurlstone is what is directly visible from the main road. But there is much more to Thurlstone and it most certainly deserves to be recognised as a place in its own right.
11
Hoyland
Hoyland is an Historic village in Barnsley, South Yorkshire
I visited Hoyland in the company of the well known local historian and author Geoffrey Howse who was not only kind enough to provide detailed historical information but also an overview of recent developments.
Hoyland historic township has formed an important part of Barnsley MBC since the reorganisation of local government in 1974. Previously, for 80 years, Hoyland functioned as an Urban District Council in its own right, also serving the neighbouring villages of Elsecar, Jump and Hemingfield. Hoyland’s former Town Hall, erected just before absorption into Barnsley, is still viewed with some affection by many residents. Earlier still, Hoyland formed the most distant part of the ancient parish of Wath-upon-Dearne.
Hoyland, in recent years, particularly in the wake of pit closures, much work has been done and is ongoing to revive and improve the quality of life, the built environment, community services and the general appearance of Hoyland. New proposals which appear to be the harbinger of Hoyland’s renaissance could be very exciting indeed. One word of caution though. Hoyland, like other similar local places, has lost important groups of Georgian and Victorian shops, chapels and cottages, even its old town hall in the name of progress. One would hope that notable surviving buildings will be an integral part of anynew development.
9
Cudworth Old and New
Cudworth, just past Monk Bretton and Lundwood in Barnsley
Cudworth on an August Bank Holiday Saturday morning. It was a warm sunny day, for a change, so perhaps even busier than usual.
Cudworth, by mid-morning was nice to enjoy a coffee, sat outside Poppy’s cafe. There were plenty of shoppers and people going about their business along the main thoroughfare, Barnsley Road, and loads of traffic passing by. On the pavement individuals stopped for a chat and greetings were exchanged between pedestrians and passing motorists. There’s a good range of shops and services, even a couple of furniture stores (Roberts’) and it soon became clear that a lot of hard work has been done in recent years by community volunteers, councillors and professionals in key social and economic areas, part of the regeneration of the Borough as a whole, bringing Cudworth out of the doldrums following the 1984/85 miners’ strike.
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Wombwell Town
Wombwell, come discover the town on the outskirts of Barnsley
The advent of Valley Way and Mitchells Way, the new by-pass, in recent years has taken its toll on the centre of Wombwell. But this small town has risen to the challenge.
Wombwell town centres paved plaza area on High Street is a credit to regeneration. It is good to see such an ancient town still growing and thriving. Wombwell dates back to pre-Norman times and is named in the Domesday Book as a small agricultural village, Wambella – the place of the well.
Following the Norman Conquest the whole area of land around Barnsley, which was also only a small village at the time, was granted to Ilbert de Laci. Among many of WIlliam’s compatriots who had taken up arms with him, Ilbert came to England with hopes of accruing plunder and riches. He gained more than that and started a Dynasty with some conscientious heirs. His son, Robert, founded the Cluniac monastery at Pontefract while a John de Laci became Earl of Lincoln. John was also responsible for building several churches in the Barnsley area of which Wombwell’s was possibly one. At the west end of the present church can be seen the preserved stones from the original building which date from 1170.
Ingbirchworth and Gunthwaite, the Ancient Village Settlements in Barnsley
Memories flooded back to me when I visited the old village of Ingbirchworth on a bright September morning.
On the way I paused at what I will always call Scout Dike Camp, now Kingswood Peak Venture, opposite Scout Dike Reservoir. As a boy I spent a week there, as part of a school trip, in the days when the old army Nissen huts formed the frugal accommodation. I remember taking part in a number of organised sporting activities, including dips in an extremely cold outdoor swimming pool by the ‘res’ and guided expeditions on foot, to Penistone, Thurlstone and Gunthwaite. I guess my interest in the countryside and local history began then, though I did not realise that I had family connections in the area. The camp was started in 1935 by the former Barnsley Borough Council who purchased the huts which had been erected to house the workmen who were employed in the construction of the reservoir. A US Army transit camp was established across the road during the war years. Scout Dike Reservoir, with its filter house and associated buildings was constructed between 1923-28 and covers 38 acres. It is a popular beauty spot and well known for its trout fishing.
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Cawthorne and Cannon Hall
Cawthorne, a village coping with change and looking to the future
Cawthorne has, over the years, answered to many descriptions and names starting with the Saxon ‘Caldern’, which in the Domesday Survey of 1086 became ‘Caltorne’ (the cold house), before acquiring its present spelling in Medieval times.
Cawthorne has also had a variety of leading citizens or landowners from the Saxon Ailric, through the Norman family of De Laci, to the Barnbys of Barnby Hall, on to the three main families inhabiting Cannon Hall, the Hartleys, the Spencers and the Spencer-Stanhopes. With the sale in the early 1950’s of Cannon Hall and its parkland to Barnsley Council, the village acquired a new role as a place of recreation, ‘the lungs of Barnsley’ as some local politicians described it. Since the sale of land by the Cannon Hall Estate for property development began in the 1960’s, the descriptions of the village have come mainly from the pens of estate agents seeking to sell houses in what they refer to as ‘this much sought-after award winning village’. This completely overlooks the fact that the Cawthorne now so beloved by those involved in the property market is a creation of the last fifty years, but, for those willing to look and use their imagination, there is sufficient evidence of the old Cawthorne going back over 1,000 years.
Wentworth, the picturesque estate village in Barnsley has been a popular day trip destination for generations of South Yorkshire folk.
Wentworth, according to local historian and resident Martyn Johnson interest in the village has mushroomed since the publication of Black Diamonds by Catherine Bailey in 2007.
The book which chronicles the rise and fall of the wealthy, aristocratic Fitzwilliam family; owners of Wentworth Woodhouse, has changed Wentworth from a local into an international tourist destination.
Martyn, who assisted and advised on the research for Black Diamonds, felt that visitors to Wentworth village often wanted a souvenir to remind them of what they had seen. Having inherited some old postcards from his family and avidly added to their collection over many years Martyn and his wife Christine thought that compiling the postcard images in a book would make a suitable memento. Wentworth – Postcard Views & Memories was published last December. The book contains 84 reproductions of black and white postcards dating back to 1902 which illustrate many of the places and faces that readers of Black Diamonds will be familiar with.
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Darton
Darton is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley on the border with West Yorkshire.
According to the 2001 UK census, Darton has a population of approximately 14,927, and since 2005 has been part of the Barnsley Central borough constituency.
Darton lies on the River Dearne, directly to the east of Kexbrough, and 5 miles north of Barnsley. The name Darton is believed to be an amalgamation of “Dearne” and the Anglo-Saxon word “ton” meaning town. Hence, in ancient times it was known as the town on the Dearne. However, Darton appears in the Doomsday Book as Dentune which could mean that the name originates from a description given to a deer enclosure or something similar. Its sister townships of Barugh and Kexbrough are also in the Doomsday Book as Berg and Chizeburg. Berg means hill in German, but the ‘brough’ in Kexbrough is of Viking origin meaning a fort. The area has a real mixed ancestry.
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Barnsley Villages
- Barnsley (3)
- Barnsley Town Centre (1)
- Barnsley's Villages (29)
- Barugh Green (1)
- Cawthorne Village (2)
- Cudworth Village (1)
- Darfield Village (1)
- Darton (1)
- Dodworth Village (1)
- Elsecar Village (1)
- Grimethorpe Village (1)
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- Inbirchworth Village (1)
- Lundwood (1)
- Mapplewell Village (2)
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- Silkstone Village (1)
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- Wentwort (1)
- Wentworth Village (2)
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- Worsbrough Mill (1)
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