Thorpe Hesley is a village in the

Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham The Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham is a metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. It is named after its largest town, Rotherham, but also spans the outlying towns of Maltby, Swinton, Wath-upon-Dearne, Dinnington and also the vill ...

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, lying east of 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 35. The village has been included within the boundaries of

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

town since 1894, having previously been divided between the townships of

Kimberworth Kimberworth is a suburb of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. It is located in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, about 2.2 miles (3.5 km) north-west of Rotherham town centre and 4.7 miles (7.6 km) north-east of the City of Sh ...

and

Wentworth Wentworth may refer to: People * Wentworth (surname) * Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), Lady Wentworth, notable Arabian horse breeder * S. Wentworth Horton (1885–1960), New York state senator * Wentworth Miller (born 1 ...

. Historically the village was known for coal mining and nail making. It has an

Anglican church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

, Holy Trinity, built in 1839 chiefly at the cost of

Earl Fitzwilliam Earl Fitzwilliam (or FitzWilliam) was a title in both the Peerage of Ireland and the Peerage of Great Britain held by the head of the Fitzwilliam family (later Wentworth-Fitzwilliam). History The Fitzwilliams acquired extensive holdings in th ...

and the

Earl of Effingham Earl of Effingham, in the County of Surrey, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837 for Kenneth Howard, 11th Baron Howard of Effingham, named after the village of Effingham, Surrey, where heads of thf family owne ...

. There is no post office, one petrol station and four public houses. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 4,427. Horse and Tiger Thorpe Hesley

Claim to fame

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

spent some time in the village where he preached. He lodged at Barley Hall (now demolished). In 1975, there was filming in the village for the Walt Disney film ''

Escape from the Dark ''Escape from the Dark'' (American title: ''The Littlest Horse Thieves'') is a 1976 family drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions, directed by Charles Jarrott and starring Alastair Sim (in his final film role), Peter Barkworth and Mauric ...

''. The film was re-titled ''The Littlest Horse Thieves'' for its release in the USA. The BBC TV Series ''

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

'' had a two part story titled ''

The Price of Coal ''The Price of Coal'' is a two-part television drama written by Barry Hines and directed by Ken Loach first broadcast as part of the ''Play for Today'' series in 1977. Set at the fictional Milton Colliery, near Barnsley in South Yorkshire, the e ...

'' filmed at the colliery on Wentworth Road; this mine has now been closed and the colliery demolished.

Coal mines

Coal has been mined in and around the area of Thorpe Hesley for at least 800 years. Monks from the Cistercian Abbey of Kirkstead, in Lincolnshire, had forges and other property in this part of the country and mined coal and ironstone locally. Thorpe Hesley had the distinction of having three modern-day coal mines. Which were closed in the 1970s and 1980s and have been completely demolished. The land surrounding the area of the Barley Hall site has been landscaped and is now a small nature reserve. In January 2013 permission was given for the Hesley Wood colliery spoil heap to be processed to recover fuel, and to restore woodland on the site.

References

External links

Thorpe Hesley Village website
* Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham Villages in South Yorkshire {{SouthYorkshire-geo-stub

Claim to fame

Coal mines

See also

References

External links