Beighton is a village 6½ miles south-east of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

's city centre, now classed as a historic township of the city. Due to much expansion, the village became a part of Sheffield city in 1967, and was transferred from

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

to the newly created

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

, England. During much of the late 17th to 19th centuries the village was noted for its edge tool manufacturing, with

Thomas Staniforth & Co Thomas Staniforth & Co. was a sickle, scythe and tool smiths based in Hackenthorpe, Sheffield, England. The company was founded by Thomas Staniforth in 1743 and operated out of workshops located on Main Street, Hackenthorpe until it was closed dur ...

Sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting or reaping grain crops, or cutting Succulent plant, succulent forage chiefly for feedi ...

works being based at nearby

Hackenthorpe Hackenthorpe is a village 5 miles south east of Sheffield’s city centre, now classed as a historic township of the city. Due to much expansion, the village became a part of Sheffield city during the 1950s. During much of the late 19th and 20t ...

. The former village has a number of schools, including Beighton Nursery and Infant School and Brook House Junior School. Today, there has been a lot of development of housing; however, due to its location on the outskirts of Sheffield, it maintains a rural setting alongside villages including Eckington,

Mosborough Mosborough is a village in the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. Historically part of Derbyshire, its name being a linguistic blend of 'moor' and 'borough'. During the late 19th century and 20th century, the village was noted for ...

, Ridgeway, and

Dronfield Dronfield is a town in North East Derbyshire, England, which includes Dronfield Woodhouse and Coal Aston. It lies in the valley of the River Drone between Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield and Sheffield. The Peak District National Park i ...

History

The first mention of the village comes from 9th century

Anglo Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to Ge ...

records of

land owners. The village was then known as Bectune.The then hamlet stood on the edges of the 'Great Forest' which stood in the area where the

Rother Valley Country Park The Rother Valley Country Park is a country park in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, close to Rotherham's border with Sheffield and Derbyshire. It covers 3 square kilometres (750 acres) and has four artifici ...

stands today and extended to areas of

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

and

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

. Today the only remnants of the 'Great Forest' is

Sherwood Forest Sherwood Forest is the remnants of an ancient royal forest, Royal Forest in Nottinghamshire, within the East Midlands region in England. It has association with the legend of Robin Hood. The forest was proclaimed by William the Conqueror and ...

. The area was settled by the British invaders known as the

Angles Angles most commonly refers to: *Angles (tribe), a Germanic-speaking people that took their name from the Angeln cultural region in Germany *Angle, a geometric figure formed by two rays meeting at a common point Angles may also refer to: Places ...

. The invasions took place at the end of the Romanic period around 500 AD. Prior to these invasions the area was part of the

Kingdom of Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...

, the local

Shire Brook Shire Brook is a small stream in the south eastern part of the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It rises in the suburb of Gleadless Townend and flows in a general easterly direction for to its confluence with the River Rother, Sou ...

formed the border with the neighbouring kingdom of

Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

. Being so close to the border meant the hamlet was prone to invasions. The Sheffield Museum contains a number of bones and flint tools unearthed in the area during the 19th century, dating back to the

Neolithic period The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wid ...

, this shows the area was inhabited long before the Angles settled. The village was noted as having 15 households in the

Domesday book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

in 1086, with the land being owned by

Roger the Poitevin Roger the Poitevin or Roger de Poitou (mid-1060s – before 1140) was an Anglo-Norman aristocrat possessing large holdings both in England and through his marriage in France during the early 12th century. He was the third son of Roger of Montg ...

. A moated castle was said to be evident in the village, with a reference from the 13th century describing 'the tower of the former castle ' being evident in a field named Castle Mead, however no evidence remains. The parish church of St. Mary's dates back to c1150. The first documented mention of the church is in an undated deed written during the reign of

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

(1272–1307). Prior to the 20th century,

farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and

smithing A metalsmith or simply smith is a craftsperson fashioning useful items (for example, tools, kitchenware, tableware, jewelry, armor and weapons) out of various metals. Smithing is one of the oldest metalworking occupations. Shaping metal with a ...

were the primary forms of employment, however this shifted towards

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

towards the end of the 19th century, with numerous mines being opened in the area, most notably

Brookhouse Colliery Brookhouse Colliery was a coal mine within the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. It was operational between 1929 and 1985. To develop coal seams in the area, the Sheffield Coal Company opened a new colliery between ...

and

Birley Collieries The Birley Collieries were a group of coal mines set in the Shire Brook Valley in south-east Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They were connected to the railway system by a branch line from the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway ...

. The Ochre Dyke stream was used to power grinding and water wheels during this time period. The village was served by

Beighton railway station Beighton railway station is a former train station, railway station near the village of Beighton, Sheffield, Beighton on the border between Derbyshire and South Yorkshire, England. Three stations Beighton station existed on three sites at di ...

until its closure in 1954. Due to the villages location close to the River Rother, a number of major

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

ing events have occurred, notably in 1940, 1954 and 1960. In 1961 the civil parish had a population of 23,056. On 1 April 1967 the parish was abolished and merged with Sheffield, Eckington, "

Aston cum Aughton Aston cum Aughton is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England, with a population of 13,961 according to the 2001 census. It consists of the villages of Aston and Aughton, along with Swallownest. To t ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and

Killamarsh Killamarsh is a village and civil parish in North East Derbyshire, England, close to Derbyshire’s border with South Yorkshire. It forms part of the Sheffield urban area and lies about 8 miles south-east of the centre of Sheffield. Killamars ...

. It is now in the

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparis ...

of Sheffield.

Sport

The village has produced a number of sports teams, notably the Beighton Miners Welfare F.C. which reached the First Round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

in 1953. Cricket has also had a major presence in the village, with the Miners' Welfare Cricket Club being formed in 1928 after merging with the nearby Hackenthorpe Cricket Club.

Present day

Beighton, along with a number of local villages, became part of Sheffield city in 1967, being officially recognized as

Beighton (ward) Beighton ()—which includes the districts of Beighton, Hackenthorpe, Owlthorpe, and Sothall—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the eastern part of the city, on the border with Rotherham ...

. The

Crystal Peaks Crystal Peaks is a shopping centre and retail park in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Established in 1988, the centre attracts around 11 million visitors a year. Facilities Crystal Peaks Shopping centre has approximately of retail space ...

shopping centre A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...

was opened in 1988, which features regular bus routes to

Sheffield city centre Sheffield City Centre (referred to locally as simply Town) is a district of the Sheffield, City of Sheffield and is covered partly by the City ward, Sheffield, City ward of the City of Sheffield. It includes the area that is within a radius of ...

. Many of the local residents are now employed in Sheffield,

Worksop Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located south of Doncaster, south-east of Sheffield and north of Nottingham. Located close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbys ...

and other large cities.

was opened in 1983, providing a site for recreational activities.

Gulliver's Valley Gulliver's Valley is a theme park and resort located in Rotherham, England. Construction began in 2018 at a planned cost of £37 million. The first phase, costing £7.5 million, was due to open in spring 2020 but the opening was de ...

, a theme park was opened to the north of the village in 2020. Although the village once featured a number of

public houses A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

including The Railway Inn, only The Cumberland, Fox Inn and the Miners Welfare remain.

References

{{Sheffield Villages of the metropolitan borough of Sheffield Former civil parishes in South Yorkshire