ROTHERHAM

'Rotherham' is a town in South Yorkshire, England.
It is built upon the River Don, near the confluence of the Don and the Rother. Rotherham lies in the Don Valley between Sheffield and Doncaster. The town is six miles from Sheffield city centre.
It is the main town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham. The population of the Borough of Rotherham is 248,175, and that of the Rotherham urban sub-area 117,262.^[2]

Contents

History

Industry

Iron and Steel

Other Industries

Buildings

Town centre

Rotherham Renaissance

Culture

Sport

Politics

June 2007 Floods

Twin towns

References

Notable people from Rotherham

External links

History

While there were Iron Age and Roman settlements in the area now covered by the town, Rotherham itself was not founded until the Early Middle Ages. It soon established itself as a key Saxon market town, lying, as it does, on a Roman road near a forded part of the Don.
In the 1480s the Rotherham-born Archbishop of York, Thomas Rotherham, instigated the building of a college (''The College of Jesus'') to rival the colleges of Cambridge and Oxford. This and the stylish new parish church of All Saints made Rotherham an enviable and modern town at the turn of the 16th century. But the college was dissolved under the reign of Edward VI, its assets stripped for the crown. By the end of the 16th century, Rotherham had fallen from a fashionable college town to a notorious haven of gambling and vice. Nevertheless, the history of Thomas Rotherham and education in the town continues to be remembered in the name of Thomas Rotherham College.

Industry

The region had been exploited for iron since Roman times, but it was coal that first brought the industrial revolution to Rotherham. The seams were the driving force behind the improvements to navigation along the Don, the various cuttings eventually forming the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation.

Iron and Steel

Rotherham iron was very highly regarded for its strength. Iron, and later steel, became the principal industry in Rotherham, surviving well into the 20th century. Walker family built up something of an iron and steel empire in Rotherham. Throughout the 18th century, the Walker foundries produced high quality cannon, in addition to several early cast iron bridges, one of which was commissioned by Tom Paine.[1]
The 1800s saw a massive expansion of Rotherham's cast iron industry, starting with the opening of the Effingham Ironworks in 1820, later becoming Yates Haywood & Co. Other major ironfounders included William Corbitt and Co.; George Wright and Co. of Burton Weir; Owen and Co., of Wheathill Foundry; Morgan Macauley and Waide, of the Baths Foundry; the Masbro’ Stove Grate Co., belonging to Messrs. Perrot; W. H. Micklethwait, and John and Richard Corker, of the Ferham Works.
The Parkgate Ironworks was first established in 1823 by Sanderson and Watson, and changed ownership several times. In 1854 Samuel Beal & Co produced the cast iron armour plating for Isambard Kingdom Brunel's famous steamship the SS Great Eastern[2] In 1864 the ironworks was taken over by the Parkgate Iron Co. Ltd, becoming the Park Gate Iron and Steel Company in 1888. The company was purchased by Tube Investments Ltd in 1956 and finally closed in 1974.
Steel, Peech and Tozer's massive Templeborough steelworks (now the Magna Science Adventure Centre) was, at its peak, over a mile long, employing 10,000 workers, and housing six electric arc furnaces producing 1.8 million tonnes of steel a year. The operation finally closed down in 1993.
Joseph Foljambe established a factory to produce his Rotherham plough, the first commercially successful iron plough.
Rotherham continues to be amongst the leaders in advanced manufacturing in the UK. The Corus Engineering Steels (CES) plant in Rotherham continues to produce steel for a number of products worldwide, including Renault Formula 1 cars and the new Airbus A380 "super jumbo" aeroplane. It currently produces approximately 1.1 million tonnes of engineering steels each year.

Other Industries

The first Rotherham glassworks was set up in 1751, and went on to become Beatson Clark & Co., one of the town's largest manufacturers, exporting glass medicine bottles worldwide. Beatson Clark & Co. was a family business until 1961, when it became a public company. The glassworks is still operating on the same site, although the family connection has ceased and the company is now owned by TT Group plc. Its main activities are still the manufacture and sale of glass containers for the pharmaceutical, food and drinks industries.
In the 19th century other successful industries included pottery, brass making and the manufacture of cast iron fireplaces.
Other precision manufacturing companies in the town include; AESSEAL, Newburgh Engineering, Precision Magnetics and Orkot Composites. Rotherham is also the location for the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP).

Buildings

Despite its history, Rotherham is rather short on old (secular) buildings. The only surviving timber-framed structure is the empty, dilapidated, and much altered former Three Cranes pub (16th century). In fact much of Rotherham's town centre was knocked down and modernised during the course of the 20th century.
The town centre does, however, contain one of only four surviving bridge chapels in the country: the 15th century Chapel of Our Lady of Rotherham Bridge (or "Chapel on the Bridge") on Chantry Bridge. The chapel was restored in 1923, having spent a good period of time as the town jail and a tobacconist's shop.
Other buildings of note include the 15th century Minster (formerly All Saints parish church), and the 18th century Clifton House, which now houses Clifton Park Museum.
Boston Castle, which stands in the grounds of Boston Park, was originally constructed as a hunting lodge in 1776 by Thomas, 3rd Earl of Effingham to mark his opposition to British attempts to crush the American War Of Independence. It is named after Boston, Massachusetts, the scene of the Boston Tea Party.[3]
On the outskirts of Rotherham, a brick glassmaking furnace, the Catcliffe Glass Cone, is the oldest surviving structure of its type in Western Europe and one of only four remaining in the United Kingdom. Threatened with demolition in the 1960s, it has now been preserved as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and stands as a focal point in a sheltered housing complex
Beyond the town centre and away from the Don Valley, the Rotherham district is largely rural, containing a mixture of farming and mining communities as well as the large Wentworth Woodhouse estate, where the last surviving kiln of the Rockingham Pottery may still be seen.
At Maltby near Rotherham, the medieval ruins of the Cistercian Roche Abbey are a popular tourist destination.

Town centre

The town centre is currently undergoing a major transformation called the Rotherham Renaissance (see below) which currently town centre waterfront apartment and shopping complexes are being built and will be completed next year. A large shopping building starts later this month and it will start with the demolition of the all saints building which it will replace.
Currently, as well as all the developments, the town has some high street names like Primark, JJB, Burtons etc. Also a large Tesco supermarket is based in the town centre. The town has quite a few pubs and restaurants as well. The town square (All Saints Square) has a big screen which shows major events and sport events, e.g. World Cup, FA Cup.
For a large town, Rotherham has a small catchment area, lying close to Sheffield, Doncaster and Barnsley. The large Meadowhall shopping centre lies a couple of miles from the town centre, just over the border in Sheffield in the Lower Don Valley, also the Valley Centertainment which includes a cinema and other entertainment facilities is based here. As a result, Rotherham town centre is smaller and less busy than the centre of many other towns its size. Also just outside the town centre is Parkgate Shopping Park which is one of the country's largest shopping parks and has over 34 units which include shops and food outlets.

Rotherham Renaissance

The town centre is undergoing a transformation known as the "Rotherham Renaissance": the aim is regeneration - including apartments, major high-street stores, outdoor cafes, and a new theatre. This project has already started, with apartments being built on the waterfront in the heart of the town centre. The Guest and Chrimes factory site will also be a vital part with a large library, council offices as well as a theatre to be built on the site: the green light is set to be given in April 2007. It will be a landmark building - changing the skyline of the town. A giant dome is in the original plans.
It will take 25 years to complete but it is well underway with two buildings currently under construction. In June 2007, a new shopping building will replace All Saints building, which is one of the largest town-centre commercial spaces.
In June 2007 plans were announced to rebuild the bus station with a new one and a shopping centre of the current one with the new station on the side of that.
In August a Leisure centre with pools and indoor sports will be built in the town centre on the St Annes car park.

Culture

The Hallam FM Arena is very nearby and hosts world famous artists and acts. The arena is one of the country's largest.
The comedian Sandy Powell was born in Rotherham and the town has produced several entertainers who started on the Working men's club scene, such as Duggie Brown, brother of Coronation Street actress Lynne Perrie, Zulu 440, Paul Shane, Christopher Wolstenholme of Muse, the Chuckle Brothers, and footballer David Seaman also originated from Rotherham.
It is also a thriving haven of Classic and Progressive Rock, helped by the Classic Rock Society, and has spawned many bands, such as Deadline, Saxon, Jive Bunny, Bring Me the Horizon and This Girl. The poet and author A. R. Monday was also born in Rotherham.
Professor John Lee, known for the television shows ''Anatomy for Beginners'' and '' is a consultant histopathologist at Rotherham General Hospital.
The Arctic Monkeys grew up in nearby Sheffield with the lead singer's father, David Turner, now teaching music at Rawmarsh School, Rawmarsh, Rotherham.
Since the late 1990s Rotherham has consolidated its reputation as a popular and exciting clubbing destination. The principal clubbing area runs from the "Synergy" nightclub on Ship Hill down to "Liquid". Interestingly, the local police station is situated between these two locations.
Rotherham is also home of Snafu Rock bar, a prime location for the Rock and Metal Community within the area.
The town also has a Civic Theatre and an Arts Centre. Sean Bean made his stage debut at Rotherham Civic Theatre whilst still a student at Rotherham College of Arts and Technology.
Jarvis Cocker and Pulp played their first gig at Rotherham Arts Centre in 1980.
Rob McVeigh, a contestant on the BBC's 2007 show Any Dream Will Do, hails from Rotherham, and is now moving into show business.

Sport

Rotherham's football team is Rotherham United who play in Football League Two. Rotherham United have the largest fan base for sport in the town with attendances averaging of over 4-6,000 per home game despite having other teams nearby like Sheffield United, and Sheffield Wednesday with larger fan bases. They play at Millmoor Stadium. Rugby union team, Rotherham Titans, who climbed through the leagues and reached the Premiership in 1999 and 2003 before getting relegated. They play at the Clifton Lane Sports Ground. Hurdler Chris Rawlinson, Olympic silver medallist Peter Elliott and former England goalkeeper David Seaman are from Rotherham. ChampCar and ex-Formula 1 driver Justin Wilson is from Woodall, which is in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham.[4]

Politics

Denis MacShane is the current Member of Parliament for Rotherham. The politician William Hague is also from Rotherham.

June 2007 Floods

A large part of Rotherham was hit by the floods in the summer of 2007. The floods brought huge disruption to the town, closing many of the roads, local schools, and the local transport system, as well as damaging personal and commercial property. Rotherham's neighbouring town and cities Barnsley, Doncaster, and Sheffield were also badly flooded. Rotherham's Parkgate shopping centre was badly damaged, with most of the shops suffering damage, and some losing a large amount of stock to the flood water. The Meadowhall shopping centre on the border of Rotherham and Sheffield was also affected.
The nearby Ulley reservoir caused major concern for the town as the front centre section of the dam collapsed, threatening to break and release the water into nearby areas of Treeton, Whiston, Catcliffe, and Canklow, as well as a power station serving the city of Sheffield. The local radio station, Rother FM, also had to evacuate from their studios based in the danger area leaving the local area without a source of information. Therefore, its sister station, Trax FM, was broadcast on the Rother FM frequency (96.1fm) along with the usual Trax FM frequencies providing information for the Rotherham area as well as Bassetlaw (107.9fm) and Doncaster (107.1fm), the normal target areas. Rotherham's fire brigade worked for hours with thirteen high-powered pumps to remove some of the water and lessen the pressure on the dam wall. Eventually they were able to lower the water level by several feet and reduce the immediate danger. The dam, however, remains damaged, and with heavy rainfall expected on the 30th June 2007, the stability of the dam remains in question, and the valley below under threat.

Twin towns

Rotherham is twinned with, among others:

★ Saint-Quentin

★ Kaiserslautern

References

1. http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=3&b=276793&c=Rotherham&d=13&e=16&g=364445&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&enc=1
2. ONS


★ Rotherham Timeline

★ Rotherham Greats

Notable people from Rotherham

★ Nazir Ahmed, politician

★ David Artell, footballer

★ Donald Bailey, civil engineer

★ Nick Banks, musician

★ Ian Breckin, footballer

★ Chuckle Brothers, comedians

★ Brian Chapple, radio broadcaster

★ Frank Brown, footballer

★ Jo Callis, musician

★ Lucy Clarkson, model

★ Ebenezer Elliott, poet

★ Peter Elliott, athlete

★ Scott Flinders, footballer

★ Charles Sydney Gibbes, tutor and monk

★ Dave Godin, anarchist and musicologist

★ Justine Greening, politician

★ Simon Guy, cricketer

★ William Hague, former leader of the Conservative Party

★ Matt Hamshaw, footballer

★ Joe Hunter, cricketer

★ Daisy Makeig-Jones, sculptor

★ Laurie Millsom, footballer

★ Lynne Perrie, actress

★ Gervase Phinn, author

★ Frederick Brian Pickering, metallurgist

★ Sandy Powell, comedian

★ Chris Rawlinson, athlete

★ Frazer Richardson, footballer

★ Archbishop Thomas Rotherham, cleric and minister

★ Bishop Robert Sanderson, minister and logician

★ David Seaman, former England national football team goalkeeper

★ Paul Shane, comedian

★ Raymond Unwin, town planner

★ Colin Walker, footballer

★ Michael Walsh, footballer

★ Howard Webb, football referee

★ Liz White (actress), actress

★ Chris Wolstenholme, musician

★ Ian John McKay, posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross

★ Stephen Brogan, footballer

External links

★ Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council

★ Rotherham Renaissance Website

★ Rotherham's quickmap bus map

★ Know Rotherham local directory