Athersley

Athersley, Barnsley
Yorkshire West Riding
Roundhouse Medical Centre, Athersley
Location
Grid reference:	SE345093
Location:	53°34’47"N, 1°28’49"W
Data
Population:	3,000  (2001)
Post town:	Barnsley
Postcode:	S71
Dialling code:	01226
Local Government
Council:	Barnsley
Parliamentary constituency:	Barnsley Central

Athersley is a village now swallowed up as a housing estate in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in the swollen townscape of Barnsley.

History

The site now occupied by the estate was once farmland and woodland. A large area from Lee Lane was known as Athersley Wood, which stretched nearly to Carlton Hill. The name was first recorded in 1379 as 'Hattirslay', probably meaning 'Aethred's forest glade' from the Old English 'Aethe[l]red' and 'leah'.

Construction began in post war Britain, near the end of the 1940s, under the direction of the then Building Administrator. The land, originally dense woodland populated by a variety of wildlife, proved difficult to prepare, yet the need for more housing gave rise to an influx of labourers, many of whom stayed on in the houses they helped to build. This undertaking was instrumental in the decision to build more homes around the region, including 'Phase 2' of Athersley, which was later to become known as Athersley North. North and South are separated by a main B road, Laithes Lane. The adjoining estate of New Lodge is separated by Wakefield Road from Athersley North yet other estates surrounding the area have no noticeable separation, most notably Smithies and Monk Bretton.

Although woodland was cleared to make way for construction, remnants remain throughout the surrounding area, home to diverse wildlife, and ponds and creeks. Some of these areas are sanctuaries for the local wildlife, most recently Carlton Marshes, a lake or pond preserving water creatures and birds. This area was where Wharncliffe Woodmoor Colliery once operated.