In his day it appears that he was an important man, and lived in some interesting places. It is conjecture but a case could be made that he is responsible for the rumour that there was a tunnel between Saville Hall Farm and Stainborough Castle - or that the rumour was based on something that he did.
He was a senior member of the Wentworth staff, perhaps a land agent of some sort, who sometime lived at Saville Hall Farm then at Needlewood - the substantial house on the left as one ascends Keresforth Hill.
Apparently it was his habit to turn up unannounced in the gardens or grounds of the Castle - to the dismay of employees - to whom his manner and comments caused concern - it was said that he was inevitably on horseback when he made his surprise visitations.
Was he in the habit of travelling from Saville Hall Farm - perhaps during the time that he lived there -by horse - and entering the Castle grounds through the under road tunnel between Steeple Lodge and Steeple Cottage? The under road tunnel collapsed - possibly in the 1970's - and the opening to the Castle grounds was obscured by landscaping in the 1980's. But - the opening on the Lowe Wood side of the road - still existed recently. Was this the origin of the 'tunnel story'?
Was he the first to occupy Needlewood when it was first built? - and was it built as a replacement for Saville Hall Farm at the time the latter was reduced in size by the demolition of one of the, until then, two wings? When did the demolition occur and what necessitated it?
He was known to periodically engage in shooting in the rookery at the top of Pilley Hill, and to be in the company of Captain Bruce Wentworth at such times.
His name is known but has been withheld for reason of confidentiality.
Thursday, 14 December 2017
Wednesday, 13 December 2017
A hard life - in Dodworth Bottom
This is about Silver Street in Dodworth Bottom.
Incidentally my researches have shown that Dodworth Bottom was a separate community to the rest of Dodworth as far back as the 1600's - when it was 'given' as a wedding gift.
Amongst the many stories which I have gathered over the years is a recollection told me by my grandmother who lived in Silver Street - the story is regarding the purchase of meat.
In those far off days they were to say the least 'poor'. So poor in fact that on a Saturday night she and her husband; my grandfather, used to walk to Barnsley to buy the cheapest cuts of meat and bring them back home, to feed the enormous family they looked after. Their purchases would fill 4 shopping bags, and with 2 bags each they would walk back to Silver Street.
She said the butchers were selling the meat 'cheap' at that time as it would not keep well over the remainder of the weekend.
The butchers were on market stalls which at the time were at the upper end of 'Market Hill'.
The 'enormous' family that they looked after included 5 children; from 2 families, whom they had 'taken in' when their parents died or were killed - they had 3 children of their own.
For anyone interested - the events above took place in the 1920's
The Editor
Incidentally my researches have shown that Dodworth Bottom was a separate community to the rest of Dodworth as far back as the 1600's - when it was 'given' as a wedding gift.
Amongst the many stories which I have gathered over the years is a recollection told me by my grandmother who lived in Silver Street - the story is regarding the purchase of meat.
In those far off days they were to say the least 'poor'. So poor in fact that on a Saturday night she and her husband; my grandfather, used to walk to Barnsley to buy the cheapest cuts of meat and bring them back home, to feed the enormous family they looked after. Their purchases would fill 4 shopping bags, and with 2 bags each they would walk back to Silver Street.
She said the butchers were selling the meat 'cheap' at that time as it would not keep well over the remainder of the weekend.
The butchers were on market stalls which at the time were at the upper end of 'Market Hill'.
The 'enormous' family that they looked after included 5 children; from 2 families, whom they had 'taken in' when their parents died or were killed - they had 3 children of their own.
For anyone interested - the events above took place in the 1920's
The Editor
Steeple Lodge - a regular shopping trip - and a tragedy
The regular shopping trip was an event that took place at least once a week. In the 1920's - if not before and after - the lady of the house would walk there and back to Dodworth Bottom to buy vegetables, from the green grocers at the bottom of Pilley Hill - the shop is still standing but it is now a house. During her shopping trips the lady would visit my grandmother in the nearby Silver Street and during one visit she taught my mother how to bake bread - in a fire oven probably.
Names of each of the above parties are known and have been withheld in the interests of confidentiality - they could be made available - contact the Editor if interested.
The tragedy was the suicide many years ago of a seriously depressed lady whose self inflicted death was by hanging. To its immeasurable credit, the Barnsley Chronicle in an extensive report on the incident, treated the matter with compassion and dignity. We often think of days gone by as being 'rough and ready' times - but those privileged to read the account will I imagine be suitably impressed. Many years ago I knew the nephew of the unfortunate lady concerned and all his words about his aunt were warm and tender.
Names of each of the above parties are known and have been withheld in the interests of confidentiality - they will not be made available - except to provable family members
The Editor.
Names of each of the above parties are known and have been withheld in the interests of confidentiality - they could be made available - contact the Editor if interested.
The tragedy was the suicide many years ago of a seriously depressed lady whose self inflicted death was by hanging. To its immeasurable credit, the Barnsley Chronicle in an extensive report on the incident, treated the matter with compassion and dignity. We often think of days gone by as being 'rough and ready' times - but those privileged to read the account will I imagine be suitably impressed. Many years ago I knew the nephew of the unfortunate lady concerned and all his words about his aunt were warm and tender.
Names of each of the above parties are known and have been withheld in the interests of confidentiality - they will not be made available - except to provable family members
The Editor.
Steeple Lodge - a one time garden ornament
Adjacent to Steeple Lodge was - until WW2 - a gate controlling access to the Wentworth estate. The gate is long gone - but remnants of the gatepost are still in existence.
For a time until about 1995 a pyramidal carved stone was in use as a garden ornament - it had an earlier life as the stylish 'top' of the east gatepost.
The west gatepost; or rather remnants of it, were found in the nearby Lowe Wood - where they had been discarded after apparently being damaged.
Photographic evidence exists to support some of the above assertions.
The Editor
For a time until about 1995 a pyramidal carved stone was in use as a garden ornament - it had an earlier life as the stylish 'top' of the east gatepost.
The west gatepost; or rather remnants of it, were found in the nearby Lowe Wood - where they had been discarded after apparently being damaged.
Photographic evidence exists to support some of the above assertions.
The Editor
Thursday, 7 December 2017
The plank bridge over Bagger Wood Dike - located between the Water Pit and the Cattle-bridge.
Close by the bridge is a rare junction between 4 or 5 footpaths; the remains of a square structure; a stile over an animal proof fence; some concrete fence posts; and 2 or 3 of the mysterious and iconic 'B 1' stones. Here is what they each are.
The concrete fence posts were put there by contractors - who restored the field that they enclosed - after 'outcropping' work was done about 1940 to 1950. They are unique to the area.
The track / footpath leading from where the cattle-bridge once stood [it has been gone since soon after the nearby 'Levy Pit' closed down.] once led to a ford of the dyke used by tractors and cattle.
The overgrown square structure well above the level of the dyke is all that remains of a very simple cottage, vacated by the elderly female occupant around the time that the Gilroyd Old Peoples community was built [in the late 1960's]. The lady's name was Mrs Yates. There was no mains water to the property, so Mrs Yates collected her daily supply from a cold water tap that was located in the corner of a prominent field close to Lowe Wood. The site of her cottage is now protected by Hawthorne bushes.
The B1 stones are dealt with elsewhere in this blog.
The main footpath from Hood Green to Dodworth ran by the cottage, then over the Huskar Stream / River Dove via the footbridge [built when there was a reservoir in the area]. This is probably a very old footpath.
More information is available from the Editor for interested parties.
Saturday, 10 June 2017
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DODWORTH CHRONICLE BLOG
Hello fellow blog reader,
This blog has to date had nearly 12000 'hits' - but nearly all of the contributions are from The Editor - so - just in case you have something to contribute but have not done so...
HERE IS AN INVITATION!
Write something for others to read and maybe talk about.
The Editor
Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Cain and Abel Gates
These have been mentioned in many texts over the years. Here is recorded an interesting comment shared with me a week last Sunday during a walk around 'the castle' area. The commentator was a lady of considerable age [80+ years] who; accompanied by her husband of similar fine vintage, plied me with tales of the past at Stainborough - WAS it you? - I would like to know so that I can credit the tale to you.
She said that the gates or the statues on them or both, were 'down' and 'lying on the ground' for the whole of her childhood, and that as children they played on them climbing over them.
What she seemed to be describing is that they were in a state of disrepair, perhaps having been dismantled and abandoned, or maybe vandalised.
The available pictures of the gates - that I have seen - have all shown them in their closed and erect form. These images may not represent the truth.
It has been said that the gates were moved - and lost - when the work was undertaken to build the M1 motorway, and that the site where they were located is at present under the motorway - not far from Rockley Forge.
Some years ago - whilst travelling in the midlands with her husband - the lady saw what she thought were the very gates in some sort of place selling architectural fittings. Her husband, who also knew the gates from earlier years, thought that originally such items were made in multiples and that they had seen but another set of the same gates.
So here is a question or two for you readers, please try to answer them after asking around your contacts.
Is anything said above incorrect?
How do you know it is incorrect?
Do you have any information or theories as to what happened to the iconic gates?
The Editor
Sunday, 18 October 2015
Extract from Wentworth Chronicle
Stainborough Castle - a mystery, the original Stainborough Hall, and the Gun Room
On a recent visit to the gardens at Stainborough, I looked at the new signboard by the structure which is sometimes called Stainborough Castle. The board says that there has never been a castle on that site. Strictly speaking that may be correct, but there is evidence that a military structure of some sort was there - whether it was a castle or not.
Long before the Wentworth family took up residence in Stainborough there is an established record of two local men having played bowls within sight of the fortress ruins. The report was written in Elizabethan times as a court record, the men having been punished for their action. That they were punished suggests that the area on which they played bowls was held in some kind of regard. More on this later when the reference is to hand.
There is at least one maybe two formal archaeological study reports written by South Yorkshire archaeologists employed by local authorities which state that their has been a fortification of some sort on the hilltop in pre-Roman days. Those records are held in archives managed by the South Yorkshire archaeology services.
Humphries (1982) wrote what is held by some to be the definitive account of historical matters on the Stainborough-Wentworth estate, and states that the remains on top of the hill were of a fortress built by the Hallstadt people who originated in the area now known as southern Germany, in the time nowadays often called The Iron Age, and claims the site was afterwards occupied by a succession of parties including Romans and Anglo-Saxons. In her publication she labels the site 'Stainborough Camp' and 'The Danish Camp', the latter being a reference to 'Viking' occupation.
According to local documentary sources, during the English Civil War the site was used as a place to muster and train soldiers. A number of different prominent local leaders were involved in those activities.
Thomas Wentworth, the first of that name to reside at Stainborough, had built the structure now known as a 'folly' on the site. He was a distinguished soldier and I would suggest unlikely to radically alter the previous remains, but more likely to place his gothic castle folly on top of what was already there.
He and his son William left the line of the original public road to the site undisturbed and landscaped over part of it. In doing so he was greatly inconvenienced, which hardly seems commensurate with an inclination to destroy whatever was present on the hilltop at the time of his building work.
Humphries claims that the folly was the second gothic building of its type in the land, if not the first.
Last year I came across a written account of something that happened to the materials from which the fort was built. It said that a Mr Bower, stonemason to Lord Strafford, was building the castellated battlements around the area of the fort, and that fearing that he would 'run out of stone' sought the permission of Lord Strafford to use some stone from the ruins of the old fortress. It further said that the request was granted. If it is correct then the 'old castle' is perhaps still there, although in a different form to that which we might expect. Unfortunately I did not photocopy the document in which the entry was made - but I have now begun to search for it, and hope to find it once more.
Stainborough Hall
According to the Humphries the original hall is possibly plainly visible in illustrations of the estate made between 1708 and 1727. It is suggested as being located almost exactly where the teaching block 'on stilts' is now. Humphries suggests that an opportunity was missed to conduct an archaeological examination of the site at the time the teaching block was built. I have reason to doubt some of that. It seems likely that the building known as Stainborough Hall was there, but I imagine that the reason for putting the building 'on stilts' may have been to preserve the remains and that a 'dig' now might be profitable.
Part of my reason for doubting the suggestion by Humphries is that the nearby 'ice house' was said by her to have been filled with rubble when it was discovered accidentally in the 1960's. In contrast to that I have read an archaeologist's report of the ice house indicating that they were actually inside it after the accidental damage occurred. The archaeologist in question is no longer available to give testimony, but is an expert of high repute.
The Gun Room
Humphries also gives an opinion of the 'Gun Room' suggesting that it may at some time have been a bath house, claiming to have been inside a long time ago and seen what may have been a tiled tub area designed to deal with water. The name Gun Room was not used until the Victorian era and the building precedes that in age.
For my part, unless someone can show me otherwise I choose to think of it as a building used by the architect and master masons during the major building work of creating the first of the new wings attached to the old Cutler House, and would expect to dind inside it evidence of a 'masons floor' similar to the one at York Minster.
Finally on another matter - the artistic representations of the house and grounds referred to above, also include images of the original drive from the Cutler House to the edge of Stainborough Lowe Wood which is about where Steeple Lodge is now. Clearly the line of the road or avenue is not the same as the drive which is running from Steeple Lodge to the big house now, but is maybe 50 yards away. The current drive is however aligned with the Home Farm, the big house, and Steeple Lodge - which were all built long after the Cutler House. On the basis of the drawings the road would have been where the lower part of the field is now. Bruce Wentworth had his Curling Facility in the same location, and the Dutch Barn was also built on the line of the avenue. Did the builders of the latter two things know something not known now?
This post has also been put on the Stainborough Chronicle blog and the Dodworth Chronicle blog.
On a recent visit to the gardens at Stainborough, I looked at the new signboard by the structure which is sometimes called Stainborough Castle. The board says that there has never been a castle on that site. Strictly speaking that may be correct, but there is evidence that a military structure of some sort was there - whether it was a castle or not.
Long before the Wentworth family took up residence in Stainborough there is an established record of two local men having played bowls within sight of the fortress ruins. The report was written in Elizabethan times as a court record, the men having been punished for their action. That they were punished suggests that the area on which they played bowls was held in some kind of regard. More on this later when the reference is to hand.
There is at least one maybe two formal archaeological study reports written by South Yorkshire archaeologists employed by local authorities which state that their has been a fortification of some sort on the hilltop in pre-Roman days. Those records are held in archives managed by the South Yorkshire archaeology services.
Humphries (1982) wrote what is held by some to be the definitive account of historical matters on the Stainborough-Wentworth estate, and states that the remains on top of the hill were of a fortress built by the Hallstadt people who originated in the area now known as southern Germany, in the time nowadays often called The Iron Age, and claims the site was afterwards occupied by a succession of parties including Romans and Anglo-Saxons. In her publication she labels the site 'Stainborough Camp' and 'The Danish Camp', the latter being a reference to 'Viking' occupation.
According to local documentary sources, during the English Civil War the site was used as a place to muster and train soldiers. A number of different prominent local leaders were involved in those activities.
Thomas Wentworth, the first of that name to reside at Stainborough, had built the structure now known as a 'folly' on the site. He was a distinguished soldier and I would suggest unlikely to radically alter the previous remains, but more likely to place his gothic castle folly on top of what was already there.
He and his son William left the line of the original public road to the site undisturbed and landscaped over part of it. In doing so he was greatly inconvenienced, which hardly seems commensurate with an inclination to destroy whatever was present on the hilltop at the time of his building work.
Humphries claims that the folly was the second gothic building of its type in the land, if not the first.
Last year I came across a written account of something that happened to the materials from which the fort was built. It said that a Mr Bower, stonemason to Lord Strafford, was building the castellated battlements around the area of the fort, and that fearing that he would 'run out of stone' sought the permission of Lord Strafford to use some stone from the ruins of the old fortress. It further said that the request was granted. If it is correct then the 'old castle' is perhaps still there, although in a different form to that which we might expect. Unfortunately I did not photocopy the document in which the entry was made - but I have now begun to search for it, and hope to find it once more.
Stainborough Hall
According to the Humphries the original hall is possibly plainly visible in illustrations of the estate made between 1708 and 1727. It is suggested as being located almost exactly where the teaching block 'on stilts' is now. Humphries suggests that an opportunity was missed to conduct an archaeological examination of the site at the time the teaching block was built. I have reason to doubt some of that. It seems likely that the building known as Stainborough Hall was there, but I imagine that the reason for putting the building 'on stilts' may have been to preserve the remains and that a 'dig' now might be profitable.
Part of my reason for doubting the suggestion by Humphries is that the nearby 'ice house' was said by her to have been filled with rubble when it was discovered accidentally in the 1960's. In contrast to that I have read an archaeologist's report of the ice house indicating that they were actually inside it after the accidental damage occurred. The archaeologist in question is no longer available to give testimony, but is an expert of high repute.
The Gun Room
Humphries also gives an opinion of the 'Gun Room' suggesting that it may at some time have been a bath house, claiming to have been inside a long time ago and seen what may have been a tiled tub area designed to deal with water. The name Gun Room was not used until the Victorian era and the building precedes that in age.
For my part, unless someone can show me otherwise I choose to think of it as a building used by the architect and master masons during the major building work of creating the first of the new wings attached to the old Cutler House, and would expect to dind inside it evidence of a 'masons floor' similar to the one at York Minster.
Finally on another matter - the artistic representations of the house and grounds referred to above, also include images of the original drive from the Cutler House to the edge of Stainborough Lowe Wood which is about where Steeple Lodge is now. Clearly the line of the road or avenue is not the same as the drive which is running from Steeple Lodge to the big house now, but is maybe 50 yards away. The current drive is however aligned with the Home Farm, the big house, and Steeple Lodge - which were all built long after the Cutler House. On the basis of the drawings the road would have been where the lower part of the field is now. Bruce Wentworth had his Curling Facility in the same location, and the Dutch Barn was also built on the line of the avenue. Did the builders of the latter two things know something not known now?
This post has also been put on the Stainborough Chronicle blog and the Dodworth Chronicle blog.
Saturday, 17 October 2015
Stainborough Chronicle and Wentworthchronicle
This is by way of a reminder.
The above blogs are likely to be of interest to the reader of Dodworth Chronicle. It is therefore recommended that you keep track of them both in case something is said therein of relevance.
At present those looking at either blog - will be directed to the Dodworth Chronicle blog - as this is invariably nowadays the one most likely to be up to date.
Sunday, 17 May 2015
The sites of the Pheasant Inn and 'Beardshall's Pop Factory' etc. - what do you know?
This is a bit late I know BUT do you have anything to share about these sites on the High Street in the middle of the village?
I know that Sykes has something to say about them in his work in Dodworth Library (it is referenced elsewhere in this blog) including that in the vicinity was a place named Delf Garth which may have been the original site of the settlement that became the village. The site was apparently investigated by archaeologists soon after the Pheasant Inn was demolished but they found little of interest - their report was presented at the annual South Yorkshire Archaeology day (open to the public) the year following the investigation.
Delf Garth was long ago but perhaps you know something about more recent events at the Pop Factory that would interest others. Was it for instance associated with the impressive house adjacent, perhaps a stables or home farm of some sort?
I recall that as a small child I was on a bus that stopped at the scene of a fatal motorcycle crash just below the Pheasant Inn. I remember getting off the bus, seeing someone lying and not moving some distance away (probably covered up); that a local man who survived with serious injuries was involved; that adults stood talking asking each other what had happened and who were those involved; and that no (what we now call) emergency services had yet arrived.
There were cottages on the bend just above Pheasant Inn.
Opposite the Pheasant Inn was a farm - just above the footpath to the Keresforth area - and at some point a child was accidentally drowned there in a well. Also there was talk of a death possibly there due to a shotgun shooting - was this the incident involving a man from somewhere near the golf course shooting another in 'a dispute about a beast'?
The High Street was apparently at one time notable for the number of public houses on it. They included:
The Horse and Jockey; The Thornley Arms (Fortunes of War); Smiths Arms; The Sun; The Fountain; The Pheasant Inn. Were there others?
Opposite the Pop Factory was Pashley's Farm, and a little lower down the home of the village 'bookie' when such was legalised ...
And - there is an interesting house with the initials T.T.T. prominently displayed on it almost opposite the Pheasant Inn site and just below it.
The Editor
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