Athersley is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in the

metropolitan borough of Barnsley The Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley is a metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England; the main settlement is Barnsley and other notable towns include Penistone, Wombwell and Hoyland. The borough is bisected by the M1 motorway; it is rur ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

, England.

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 Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

'Aethe ed' and 'leah'.On Our Street: Life in Athersley, New Lodge and Smithies, Roundhouse Community Partnership, 2006, p7 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 Monk Bretton is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It lies approximately two miles north-east from Barnsley town centre. History Monk Bretton has been a settlement since medieval times and was origin ...

. 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 Carlton and Oulton Marshes is a 151 hectare nature reserve in Lowestoft in Suffolk. It is managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. Carlton Marshes is part of the Sprat's Water and Marshes, Carlton Colville Site of Special Scientific Interest, th ...

, a lake or pond preserving water creatures and birds. This area was once home to

Wharncliffe Woodmoor Colliery Wharncliffe Woodmoor 1, 2 and 3 colliery (part of Wharncliffe Woodmoor Colliery Company Ltd, the Wharncliffe Woodmoor Colliery Company was formed in 1873 when it purchased the New Willey Colliery, which had been sunk in 1871) was a coal mine tha ...

Community

The area is served by four primary schools,

Holy Trinity Catholic and Church of England School Holy Trinity Catholic and Church of England School is a coeducational all-through school for pupils aged from 3 to 16. The school is under the joint jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hallam and the Church of England Diocese of Le ...

(ages 3–16), Athersley North Primary School, Athersley South Primary School and Laithes Primary School. The local secondary schools are

(ages 3–16) and

Outwood Academy Carlton Outwood Academy Carlton (formerly Carlton Community College) is a secondary school with academy status located in Carlton, near Barnsley, England. It has a mixed intake of boys and girls ages 11–16 with a comprehensive admissions polic ...

, The area is served by a variety of shops, many of which are located at the top of Laithes Lane at its junction with Wakefield Road. Shops include

Poundstretcher Poundstretcher (previously styled as £-stretcher and also previously known as ...instore) is a chain of discount stores operating in the United Kingdom. It is based in Kirby Muxloe, England. History Poundstretcher was established in 1981 b ...

Cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

and

Fulton's Foods Fulton's Foods was a frozen food retailer chain, which is based in Darton, South Yorkshire, and operated throughout The Midlands and the North of England. It traded online as Star Bargains. History The company was founded by Jack Fulton in ...

stores, cafes, bakers, butchers, a pet store, an alcohol retailer, and a barbers. There is a social club and a

working men's club Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, Midlands, Scotland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class me ...

References

{{Reflist Housing estates in England Geography of Barnsley