Sprotbrough and Cusworth is a
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
in the
City of Doncaster
The City of Doncaster is a metropolitan borough with city status in South Yorkshire, England. It is named after its principal settlement, Doncaster, and includes the surrounding suburbs of Doncaster as well as numerous towns and villages. The di ...
in
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and metropolitan county, metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of City of Doncaster, Doncaster and City of Sh ...
,
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 ...
, with most of its settlements on the western edge of the
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 ...
built-up area.
It lies between and to the west of Doncaster and is split by the
A1(M) motorway. It had a population of 12,166 in 2001 and 12,134 at the 2011 Census. The parish covers most of Doncasters outlying suburbs including the villages of
Sprotbrough
Sprotbrough is a village in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England, west of the centre. With Cusworth to the north, it forms the civil parish of Sprotbrough and Cusworth. Sprotbrough village had a population of 3,321 at the 2011 c ...
,
Cusworth
Cusworth is a village and suburb of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England, located to its north-west within the civil parish of Sprotbrough and Cusworth and the City of Doncaster, with a population of 4,728. It is home to Cusworth Hall, an 18t ...
, and a small part of
Scawsby
Scawsby is a suburb of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately 2 miles north-west of the city centre on the A635 road to Barnsley close to its terminus with the A638.
Geography
Scawthorpe, Sunnyfields, Marr, Cuswo ...
, in addition to several rural
hamlets
A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...
and
farmsteads
A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...
.
Numerous other parishes border it, among them
Warmsworth
Warmsworth is a village, Civil parish and suburb of Doncaster in the City of Doncaster district in South Yorkshire, England. Its population was estimated at 3,908 in 2019. The village lies along the A1(M) Doncaster Bypass and the A630. The Riv ...
,
Balby
Balby is a civil parish and suburb of Doncaster in the City of Doncaster district in South Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Balby is within the Doncaster Central constituency and contains the electoral wards ...
,
Brodsworth
Brodsworth is a village, civil parish and suburb of Doncaster in the City of Doncaster district in South Yorkshire, England. situated about five miles north-west of Doncaster. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 2,875, increasi ...
and
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 ''Mar ...
.
Origins and history
The name Sprotbrough originates from the Old English ''sprote'' ('shoot', 'twig') and ''burh'' ('fortification'), as suggested by the Domesday Book entry ''Sproteburg''; the name may reflect the hasty manner in which the fortification was constructed and / or may be a reference to the building material used.
The early parish contained six settlements:
*
Sprotbrough
Sprotbrough is a village in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England, west of the centre. With Cusworth to the north, it forms the civil parish of Sprotbrough and Cusworth. Sprotbrough village had a population of 3,321 at the 2011 c ...
(Sproteburg)
*
Cadeby (Catebi)
*
Wildthorpe (Widentorp)
*
Cusworth
Cusworth is a village and suburb of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England, located to its north-west within the civil parish of Sprotbrough and Cusworth and the City of Doncaster, with a population of 4,728. It is home to Cusworth Hall, an 18t ...
(Cuzenworde)
*
Skinthorpe (Scinestorp)
*
Newton, first mentioned in 1379 when it was called New Farmstead
Those early
hamlets
A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...
were ringed by vast areas of
agricultural land and many of the open fields still present today have names that can be traced back to early maps of the area.
The area, and almost all of the land around it, was owned by the
FitzWilliam family for many years. Sir John Fitzwilliam erected a cross next to th
churchduring the reign of
Henry V of England. Into the cross were carved these lines: "Whoso is hungry and lists to eat, Let him come to Sprotburgh for his meat, And for a night and for a day, His horse shall have both corne and hay, And no man shall ask him when he goeth away."
There are also a number of statues and memorials to the Fitzwilliams and Copleys in the Grade I listed
Church of St Mary the Virgin.
Sprotbrough Hall
Part of the village was built on the site of Sprotbrough Hall, a large home built for the
Copley family in 1670. The Copley family had married a FitzWilliam heiress and inherited the extensive holdings of the FitzWilliam lords of Sprotborough (older spelling). The family lost three sons in the First World War and the Hall was demolished in the 1920s. Doncaster archives hold a copy of the catalogue of the house contents. Little evidence of the Hall remains except for the old 18th century stable yard, now apartments, and some of the street names. The wrought-iron gate opposite the village shop is from the "Lady's Walk" which was part of the gardens. This has been resited to its present position. Looking up from the towpath by the river, the balustraded viewing area which was directly in front of the Hall can still be seen. Copley Junior School in Sprotbrough village is named after the Copley family.
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 opposi ...
hero
Sir Douglas Bader grew up at the
Rectory in the village when his step-father was
Rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of St Mary's. Th
Old Rectory previously a guest house, bears a plaque commemorating Bader's residence.
Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...
set
Ivanhoe in and around the village, which is remembered in the name of the village's pub and a small housing estate off ''Sprotbrough Road''.
Cusworth Hall
Cusworth Hall
Cusworth Hall is an 18th-century Grade I listed country house in Cusworth, near Doncaster, South Yorkshire in the north of England. Set in the landscaped parklands of Cusworth Park, Cusworth Hall is a good example of a Georgian country house. ...
, which overlooks the parish to the north, was built by
William Wrightson between 1740 and 1755 and was the home of the Battie-Wrightson family until 1952. It is now owned by the
Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster
The City of Doncaster is a metropolitan borough with city status in South Yorkshire, England. It is named after its principal settlement, Doncaster, and includes the surrounding suburbs of Doncaster as well as numerous towns and villages. The ...
and houses the
Museum of South Yorkshire Life. To the South East of the Hall is Richmond Hill.
Town End
The eastern part of Sprotbrough, from where Sprotbrough Road meets the
A638 and
A19 to the bridge over the A1(M) is known as Lower Sprotbrough, and is more suburban. Town End is located at St Mary's Roundabout near
Bentley. It was developed from farm land in around 1926 and was part of
Bentley with Arksey
Bentley with Arksey is an unparished area that was a civil parish and urban district adjacent to the town of Doncaster in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1866 to 1974.
Civil parish
The parish included the villages of Bentley, Arksey, Scawtho ...
Urban District until the formation of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster under the
Local Government Act 1972. The church of
St Edmund on Anchorage Lane was built in a converted barn on the former farm land when the area was being developed. Close to the church is the scout hut and Area51 Skate and BMX park, the most popular skatepark in the Doncaster Borough, which is currently looking to extend its facilities.
Town End was formerly the home of the Sprotbrough Foundry, opened by the Ministry of Supply in 1943, which among other things provided parts for tanks and other military vehicles. The works closed in the early 1980s and the site is occupied by a housing estate whose roads bear the names of some of the machines that were built there.
Names
From this town of Sprotborough the surname Spreadborough was formed.
Politics
Sprotbrough and Cusworth Parish Council meet at the Goldsmith Centre on Sprotbrough Road and at the Scawsby Community Centre. The parish council consists of:
*4
Conservative Party councillors
*4
Labour Party councillors
*4
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
councillors
*4
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
councillors
*1 councillor with the description ''I Always Put Sprotbrough First''
Two
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
councillors represent the Sprotbrough ward on
Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council
Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England, based at the Doncaster Civic Office in Waterdale, central Doncaster. It is one of four local authories in South ...
. The ward also includes surrounding rural villages outside the parish. Cusworth forms part of the Roman Ridge ward, represented by two
Labour councillors. The ward also includes some northwestern suburbs of Doncaster.
The parish falls under the parliamentary constituency of
Doncaster North
Doncaster North is a constituency in South Yorkshire, England, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Ed Miliband of the Labour Party. From 2010 until 2015, he was Leader of the Opposition before he lost the 20 ...
, represented by
Ed Miliband MP.
Geography
Amenities
A key focal point of Sprotbrough i
St Mary's Church founded in 1176, with a clock tower that has commanding views of the Don Valley.
Schools in the parish includ
Copley Junior SchoolOrchard Infant SchoolSaltersgate Junioran
InfantsSchools, and Richmond Hill Primary School. The nearest secondary schools is
Ridgewood School
Ridgewood School is a coeducational secondary school with academy status in Scawsby, Doncaster, England. The school gained academy status in October 2011, and was a specialist Engineering College prior to September 2015.
Catchment area
The S ...
in Scawsby.
Transport
Public transport is available in both Sprotbrough and Cusworth. Sprotbrough is served by bus 219 which is operated by
Stagecoach Yorkshire
Stagecoach Yorkshire is an operating division of Stagecoach Group.
It was formed in 2005 to take over the former Traction Group fleets in Yorkshire by Stagecoach Group, which took over Traction from Frank Carter on 14 December 2005; Yorkshire ...
.
Cusworth is served by the 41 and 41a service operated by
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
, which runs through Cusworth every 20 minutes.
River
The village is on the
River Don and
weirwhich is bypassed b
Sprotbrough Lock allowing boats to pass safely. It i
closeto the A1(M
bridgeover the Don. The
Trans Pennine Trail
The Trans Pennine Trail is a long-distance path running from coast to coast across Northern England entirely on surfaced paths and using only gentle gradients (it runs largely along disused railway lines and canal towpaths). It forms part of ...
follows the river at this point.
Extending to the south-west the River Don flows through Sprotbrough Gorge, a
site of special scientific interest (SSSI). The gorge is an important site for rare plants, invertebrates and breeding site for birds. Overall the SSSI covers 76.9 hectares (190.1 acres) and was notified in 1988.
Thorne Crowle and Goole Moors
''Natural England
Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...
''. Retrieved 15 February 2009 Enclosed in this area is Sprotborough Flash Nature Reserve.
Public houses
Cadeby has one public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...
:
* The Cadeby Inn - in the centre of the village
Cusworth:
* The Mallard - off Cusworth Lane
Scawsby:
* The Sun - at the Barnsley Road/York Road junction
* The Millhouse (formerly Scawsby Mill) - on Barnsley Road near Scawsby Lane
* York Bar Working Mens Club - on York Road near Cusworth Lane
Sprotbrough:
* The Boat Inn - a gastro-pub
A gastropub or gastro pub is a pub that serves gourmet comfort food. The term was coined in the 1990s, though similar brewpubs existed during the 1980s.
Etymology
The term ''gastropub'' (derived from gastronomy) was coined in 1991, when David E ...
situated on ''Nursery Lane'' by the river
* The Ivanhoe - a medium-sized pub adjoining a cricket pitch
* The Newton Arms - situated on Sprotbrough Road
* Sprotbrough Country Club - a private members' club in the village area of Sprotbrough
* OTTO's wine bar - Situated in the central shopping parade
Town End:
* Three Horse Shoes - on banks of river Don - North Bridge - Traditional British pub
Parks
Sprotbrough has three parks, Anchorage Lane, Sprotbrough Road and New Lane (village). The 'village' (the western part of the parish) has a park which has recently been doubled in size consisting of a football pitch and a children's play area. In June each year, it hosts a gala
Gala may refer to:
Music
* ''Gala'' (album), a 1990 album by the English alternative rock band Lush
*'' Gala – The Collection'', a 2016 album by Sarah Brightman
*GALA Choruses, an association of LGBT choral groups
*''Gala'', a 1986 album by T ...
organised by the local Scout group. The main event in this is the 6.5 km fun run starting and finishing in the park and going through High Melton and Cadeby.
See also
*Listed buildings in Sprotbrough and Cusworth
Sprotbrough and Cusworth is a civil parish in the metropolitan borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The parish contains 21 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, two are listed at G ...
References
External links
{{Commons category-inline, Sprotbrough and Cusworth
Parish council website
Health statistics for Sprotbrough
Methodist church
Boy drowns in 2002
Sprotbrough music society
Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster
Civil parishes in South Yorkshire