Thurcroft
| Thurcroft | |
| Yorkshire West Riding | |
|---|---|
| |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SK495889 |
| Location: | 53°23’42"N, 1°15’21"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 6,900 (2011, wth Morthen) |
| Post town: | Rotherham |
| Postcode: | S66 |
| Dialling code: | 01709 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Rotherham |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Rother Valley |
Thurcroft is a village in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the south-east of Rotherham. From 1902 until 1991, it was a mining community.
The population of Thurcroft and Morthen together was recorded as 6,900 at the 2011 census.
History
The name Thurcroft has Norse roots, though the first mention of Thurcroft is in 1319. The name is believed to mean 'Thorir's Enclosure', using the Old English word 'croft'.[1]
Until the 20th century, Thurcroft consisted of Thurcroft Hall, the longtime holding of the Mirfin family, and three other farms. Thurcroft Hall was held by the Mirfins (sometimes spelled Mirfield) until 1644 when Robert Mirfin, the lord of the manor, died childless. The property then was carried into the Beckwith family by his widow, who was also his stepsister. The Mirfields and the Levetts of nearby High Melton were interrelated, Thomas Levett having married Robert Mirfin's sister Elizabeth.
In more recent times Thurcroft became home to the United Kingdom's largest battery "The Thurcroft battery".[2]
Coal mining
The land on which the village would eventually stand was bought in the 1800s (along with the Hall) by a Sheffield brewer (Thomas Marrian), whose son, Thomas Marrian Jr, leased the coal mining rights to Rother Vale Collieries in 1902. The economic development of Thurcroft effectively dates from the sinking of the coal mine in around 1909. Many of the terraced houses on the area showed characteristics of coal mining in the last quarter of the 19th century and first quarter of the 20th century. The population grew from next to nothing in 1900 to around 2,000 in 1923: Shortly after which the village saw hard times in the 1926 United Kingdom general strike, when 250,000 free meals were given out between May and September. By 1947, the mine employed over 2,000 men, and in the 1984/85 miners' strike the pit was again involved in industrial action.
The coal mine was closed in 1991 despite attempts by the workforce to buy it out.
Church and parish
Before 1995, Thurcroft was within the parish of Laughton-en-le-Morthen and a permanent stone church was only built in 1937, making it one of the newest on this site (although there was a Methodist chapel built in 1917, and a village cemetery was established in the 1920s). Thurcroft parish became separate from Laughton in 1995.
Big Local
Residents have created a Big Local partnership made up of local residents and people from organizations involved in the area which will then create a local plan using the ideas of local people. Once the plan is agreed with the Big Local Trust, the partnership can start to spend the money on the plan's priorities.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Thurcroft) |
References
- ↑ Mills, Anthony David: 'A Dictionary of British Place-Names' (Oxford University Press, 2003) ISBN 978-0-19-852758-9
- ↑ "Britain's biggest battery project so far goes live in grid-balancing markets". 4 November 2020. https://www.energy-storage.news/britains-biggest-battery-project-so-far-goes-live-in-grid-balancing-markets/. Retrieved 30 November 2021.