Birdwell is a village 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 and is located approximately south of

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

, north-east of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, and west of

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

. The village falls within the Rockingham Ward of the Barnsley Metropolitan Council. Neighbouring villages include

Worsbrough Worsbrough is an area about two miles south of Barnsley in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. Before 1974, Worsbrough had its own urban district council in the West Riding of the historic county of Yorkshire and it ...

, Tankersley and

Hoyland Common Hoyland is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. The town developed from the hamlets of Upper Hoyland, Hoyland and Hoyland Common. The town has also been known as ''Nether Hoyland''. That name was given t ...

. The A61 (Sheffield Road) passes north–south through the length of Birdwell, and at the southern end is Birdwell Roundabout which is the junction between the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which lat ...

at Junction 36 and the A61. The roundabout also marks the start of the

Dearne Valley The Dearne Valley is an area of South Yorkshire, England, along the River Dearne. It encompasses the towns of Wombwell, Wath-upon-Dearne, Swinton, Conisbrough and Mexborough, the large villages of Ardsley, Bolton on Dearne, Goldthorpe, Thu ...

Parkway, a relatively new dual carriageway which links the M1 at Junction 36 to the A1 at

Marr Marr (Scottish Gaelic: ''Màrr'') is one of six committee areas in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It has a population of 34,038 (2001 Census). Someone from Marr is called a ''Màrnach'' in Scottish Gaelic. Etymology The genesis of the name ''Marr ...

(near

). Birdwell is run under the auspices of

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of four in South Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of ...

History

The origins of the village of Birdwell date back to the time of the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

, around 1642, when the village name is first mentioned. In the years following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

open cast mining Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...

took place on much of the land to the northern end of Birdwell, and in some areas the remains of the quarries can still be found. Much of the land was subsequently restored to agriculture, mainly pasture with a little low key arable production and since the 1970s was owned by a local farming company. A small pocket of woodland called ''Parkinson Spring'' survived the mining activity and whilst little is known of its history, the name 'spring' could infer it was

coppiced Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeate ...

for the production of spring wood. The predominantly ancient woodlands of Miller Hill and Wigfield Wood are thought to be remnants of the once extensive woodland of the Wortley Park estate, an area through which the M1 motorway was subsequently built. Hangmanstone Depot was the site of Allan Finlay's diesel engine export company Hartwood Exports, where a great number of UK buses and other commercial vehicles ended their lives. Birdwell & Hoyland Common railway station, was a railway station on the

South Yorkshire Railway The South Yorkshire Railway was a railway company with lines in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Initially promoted as the South Yorkshire Coal Railway in 1845, the railway was enabled by an act of 1847 as the South Yorkshire Doncaster and ...

's Blackburn Valley Line between Westwood and High Royds. The station was intended to serve Birdwell, Pilley and Hoyland Common, although the original chosen site was moved half a mile nearer towards Barnsley to serve the purposes of the

Earl of Wharncliffe Earl of Wharncliffe, in the West Riding of the County of York, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The earldom was created in 1876 for Edward Montagu-Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, 3rd Baron Wharncliffe. He was a descendan ...

who was, at that time, sinking Wharncliffe Silkstone Colliery nearby. This move away made the station less convenient for most of the population. The station was opened in February 1855, the building having an ornate canopy over its entrance and containing a private waiting room for use by the Earl of Wharncliffe. The station was closed on 7 December 1953.

Landmarks

* Birdwell Club is a former

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 ...

located on Sheffield Road. In 2005 it played host to a highly rated gig by local band the

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, back ...

, which was voted 9th best gig of the year by the

Observer Music Monthly ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

, notably surpassing

Live8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 2005 ...

. * The Take 2 centre at the south end of Birdwell houses the Academy Theatre - a full theatre facility with a varied programme of live entertainment, licensed bar and a bistro * Birdwell Lodge Craft and Antique Centre *

Worsbrough Mill Worsbrough Mill, also known as Worsbrough Corn Mill and Worsbrough Mill Farm is a complex of buildings including a seventeenth-century water-powered mill and a nineteenth-century steam-powered mill in Worsbrough, Barnsley, England. The mill is ...

Museum and Country Park * Travellers Inn * Cock Inn public house *The Obelisk. Towards the southern end of Birdwell stands a large

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

which was constructed in 1775 (according to the plaque) to mark the distance (3 miles) to

Wentworth Castle Wentworth Castle is a grade-I listed country house, the former seat of the Earls of Strafford, at Stainborough, near Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It is now home to the Northern College for Residential and Community Education. An ...

(at nearby

Stainborough Stainborough is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. At the 2001 census it had a population of 399, reducing slightly to 390 at the 2011 Census. See also *Listed buildings in Stainborough St ...

) built by

William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford (1722–1791) William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford (17 March 1722 – 10 March 1791), styled Viscount Wentworth until 1739 was a British peer and member of the House of Lords of Great Britain. Ancestry and career Strafford was the only son of Thomas Went ...

. The obelisk was struck by

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...

on 6 June 1906.

Education

Birdwell has its own primary school and private day-nursery called ''Chatterbox''.

Sport

Two football teams from the village have played in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

: Birdwell F.C. and Birdwell Primitive Methodists F.C. Birdwell played in 11 FA Cup competitions between 1907 and 1928 whereas Birdwell Primitive Methodists played in just the one FA Cup competition, losing their one and only FA Cup game. The game on 11 September 1909 was against Atlas and Norfolk Works. The Sheffield side had originally been drawn at home but the game was played at Birdwell. The 'Primitives', as they were often known, took the lead and were level with the visitors at half-time but the latter proved too strong and ran out 4-1 winners, Nuttall scoring all four goals. ''Barnsley Chronicle'' 11 & 18 September 1909

Notable people

The Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

footballer, Harry Ruddlesdin was born in Birdwell in 1876 and started his football career with Birdwell F.C. * Charlie Williams (OBE) lived in Birdwell until his death, in September 2006. * Keith Matthewman was born here in 1936. * Nick Crowe artist was born in Birdwell in 1968. *

Sylvia Young Sylvia Young (born 1939 in Hackney, London, England) is the founder and principal of Sylvia Young Theatre School in London, England. Sylvia Young Theatre School Young founded her theatre school in 1981 in Drury Lane, London, before moving to i ...

(founder and Principal of the famous

Sylvia Young Theatre School Sylvia Young Theatre School is an independent school in Marble Arch, London, England. It is a specialist performing arts school named after its founder and principal, Sylvia Young OBE. Outline The Sylvia Young Theatre School was founded in 19 ...

in London) lived in Birdwell as a child evacuee from the capital during the Second World War. *

Andrew Raynes Andrew Raynes (born 7 April 1973), commonly known as "Stumpy", is an English former strongman, powerlifter, and bodybuilder. He was a multiple time finalist in Britain's Strongest Man and a finalist of ...

World Strongman Competitor.

References

External links

*
Barnsley MBC

Birdwell Woods (the Woodland trust)

Birdwell community forum

Birdwell Methodist church

Birdwell Primary School
{{authority control Villages in South Yorkshire Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley