Ulley
- Not to be confused with Uley
| Ulley | |
| Yorkshire West Riding | |
|---|---|
 The Royal Oak, Ulley | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SK462873 |
| Location: | 53°22’50"N, 1°18’25"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 182 (2001) |
| Post town: | Sheffield |
| Postcode: | S26 |
| Dialling code: | 0114 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Rotherham |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Rother Valley |
| Website: | http://www.ulleyweb.co.uk/ |
Ulley is a village in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 172. It is to be found about three and a half miles south of Rotherham and seven miles east of Sheffield City Centre.
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 of 1086, where it is referred to as Ollei. The name is Old English in origin but of uncertain meaning. It may derive from wulf (wolf) or Ulla (a Saxon personal name) and leah, meaning a meadow.[1] Alternatively, it may mean 'woodland clearing frequented by owls'.[2] Following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, Ulley was among the lands given to the Earl of Mortain. Later, the village passed into the hands of the Priory of Worksop.[3]
In the Second World War a starfish site, designed to act as a decoy and attract German bombers bound for Sheffield, Templeborough steel works and marshalling yards at Rotherham, was built near to Ulley.
During the Second World War, a German bombing raid 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.
About the village
Holy Trinity Church is a Church of England parish church in the village that was built in 1851.[4] It is now run as a benefice with All Saints Church, Aston cum Aughton and Christ Church, Swallownest.
Ulley Country Park is a park of 47 acres, a few hundred yards to the west, downhill of the village. The park incorporates Ulley reservoir, 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.[5] On 25 June 2007, during the 2007 United Kingdom floods, cracks in the reservoir walls were found after heavy rains in the area, causing concerns that the reservoir might burst.[6]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Ulley) |
- Ulley in the Domesday Book
References
- ↑ Goodall, Armitage (1914). "Ulley". Place-Names of South-West Yorkshire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 289. OCLC 5809268. https://archive.org/details/cu31924028042988.
- ↑ Mills, Anthony David: 'A Dictionary of British Place-Names' (Oxford University Press, 2003) ISBN 978-0-19-852758-9, page Ulley
- ↑ Rotherham The Unofficial Website
- ↑ "Holy Trinity Church Ulley". Ulleyweb. Ulley Parish Council. http://www.ulleyweb.co.uk/history/pc.htm.
- ↑ "Ulley Country Park". Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council website. Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. http://www.rotherham.gov.uk/graphics/Leisure/Parks/Country+Parks/EDSUlleyCP.htm.
- ↑ "Floods force thousands from homes". BBC News (BBC). 26 June 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6239828.stm.