Catcliffe is a village and civil parish on the north-west bank of the River Rother in South Yorkshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,108. It is in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, approximately south of the town of Rotherham and east of Sheffield City Centre.

History

Catcliffe is mentioned in the '' Domesday book'', its name is presumed to mean either ''the cliff where the cats live'', or ''steep river bank''. In 1740 William Fenney established a glassworks here. The site was chosen, among other reasons, for being away from Fenney's glassworks in

Bolsterstone Bolsterstone is a village in South Yorkshire, England, south of Stocksbridge, and 8.5 miles to the northwest of the City of Sheffield and within the city borough. It lies on the border of the Peak District national park. Bolsterstone had a pop ...

, formerly owned by his mother-in-law—the terms of her will prevented him from setting up a glassworks within 10 miles of the town. One of the cones of this glassworks still exists and is the oldest surviving structure of its type in Western Europe. It is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. On 25 June 2007 the village was evacuated because of fears that cracks in the dam at Ulley reservoir could lead to widespread flooding in the valley.

Catcliffe railway station Catcliffe railway station is a former Train station, railway station in the Catcliffe area of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. History The station was located on the Sheffield District Railway, just over north of its junction with the N ...

opened on 30 April 1900 and closed on 11 September 1939.

Governance

Catcliffe is a civil parish and local issues are governed by a parish council, one of 29 such councils in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham. It is in the Brinsworth and Catcliffe Ward which is represented on the borough council (as of 2018) by three councillors, one each from the Labour Party, UKIP and Liberal Democrats. This ward is part of the Rotherham parliamentary constituency, no longer a Labour Party safe seat, and is presently represented in the House of Commons by Sarah Champion MP who has held the seat since a by-election in 2012 when the previous incumbent Denis MacShane resigned over an expenses scandal.

Geography

Catcliffe is on the west side of the River Rother, about south of the town of Rotherham and east of Sheffield City Centre. The village sits on the floor of the Rother Valley, ranging from about to above mean sea level. The village is susceptible to flooding and was badly affected by the floods of June 2007.

Demography

At the time of the United Kingdom 2001 Census the population of Catcliffe civil parish was 1,766 people. The ethnic mix was 98.9% white ( White British, White Irish, or

White Other The term Other White is a classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom and has been used in documents such as the 2011 UK Census to describe people who self-identify as white (chiefly European) persons who are not of the English, Welsh, ...

), 0.3%

Black British Black British people are a multi-ethnic group of British citizens of either African or Afro-Caribbean descent.Gadsby, Meredith (2006), ''Sucking Salt: Caribbean Women Writers, Migration, and Survival'', University of Missouri Press, pp. 76–7 ...

, 0.2%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, and 0.6% mixed race. Below is a table outlining population change of the parish since 1801.

Landmarks

The

Catcliffe Glass Cone The Catcliffe Glass Cone is a glass cone in the village of Catcliffe in South Yorkshire, England. It is the oldest surviving structure of its type in Western Europe, and it is a Grade I listed building and Scheduled Ancient Monument. Only three ...

, part of the previous William Fenney's glassworks, is on Main Street. The centre of the village is dominated by a nine-arch viaduct that was built in 1901 to carry the

Sheffield District Railway The Sheffield District Railway was a railway line in South Yorkshire, England. It was built to give the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway access to Sheffield, primarily for goods traffic, for which a large goods depot at Attercliffe ...

across the River Rother. Catcliffe Flash, to the south of the village, is a local nature reserve that is made up of a lake and marshland formed as the elevation of the land beside the River Rother dropped due to coal mining

subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope move ...

Transport

Catcliffe is bisected by the

A630 The A630 is an A road in the United Kingdom. It runs between Sheffield city centre and junction 4 of the M18 motorway passing through Rotherham and Doncaster on the way. The road is entirely in South Yorkshire. Route The road starts at th ...

Sheffield Parkway The Sheffield Parkway is a major dual carriageway which runs between the City of Sheffield and junction 33 of the M1 in South Yorkshire, England. The road was opened in 1974. Route The route runs east of the City, connecting Park Square in t ...

, close to junction 33 of the M1 motorway. Bus services provided by First South Yorkshire and TM Travel link the village with Rotherham Town Centre, Sheffield City Centre, and the

Meadowhall Centre Meadowhall is an indoor shopping centre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It lies north-east of Sheffield city centre, and from Rotherham town centre. It is the largest shopping centre in Yorkshire, and currently the eleventh-largest i ...

, as well as the surrounding villages. The closest mainline railway stations are at Sheffield, Rotherham, and Meadowhall. The Sheffield District Railway ran through the village, and there was a passenger station at

from 1900 to 1939.

Sports

The village had its own football team, Catcliffe F.C., which played in the FA Cup during the 1900s.

Notable people

Former English footballer Gordon Banks was born in Catcliffe. His nephew Nick Banks, drummer for the band Pulp, now runs a pottery in the village. Pulp used to rehearse in Catcliffe and wrote the song ''Catcliffe Shakedown'', which portrays the village in a negative light.

References and notes

External links

* {{authority control Civil parishes in South Yorkshire Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham Villages in South Yorkshire