Swinton
Swinton - pig farm, Old English: sw n + t n Source: A Dictionary of British Place-Names in Names & Places
History
Ancient Deed »
Partly in parish of Mexborough, and partly in Wath-upon-Dearne, in 1857 the population was 1252.
Described in the late 1800's as having a commodious railway station, and celebrated as the chief seat of the China and Earthenware manufacture in the north of England. It's township is a chapelry and comprises a scattered village, 1817 inhabitants and 1560 acres of land, including parts of Kilnhurst and the hamlet of Birdwell Flatts. The Church, St. Margarets, was rebuilt in 1816 at a cost of £6000 mostly given by Earl Fitzwilliam. The Midland Railway crosses the parish near the Dearne and Dove Canal and has stations at Wath and Swinton.
St. Mary Magdalenes Chapel
The Norman chapel was demolished in 1817 and replaced by the Church Hall. Remains of the chancel arch and south door have been re-erected North of the church.
An early 3rd century hoard
A hoard of 300-400 silver denarii was found in 1853 at Swinton when excavating the cellar of a new house. Coins included examples of Nero, Galba, Vespasian, Domitian, Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Sabina, Antoninus Pius, Faustine I, Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, Severus, Julia Domna, Geta, Caracalla, and Plautilla, (AD 54-217).
Rockingham Works
The first recorded owner is Joseph Flint, who in the 1740s paid rent to the first Marquis of Rockingham for digging clay and renting a brickworks. The works steadily expanded under subsequent owners, including William Malpass.
Various kinds of earthenware and stoneware were made, the principal output was that of chocolate brown tea and coffee services.
In 1785 the then partners Bingley Wood and Co. went into partnership with the Leeds Pottery. Trading as Greens, Bingley and Co, this partnership was dissolved in 1806 and the pottery was taken over by the Brameld family in 1807. The original works occupied by one of their former employees, Mr. Baguley.
Following bankruptcy in 1825, the pottery was rescued by the landlord, William Wentworth Fitzwilliam, second Earl Fitzwilliam, and was renamed The Rockingham Works in 1826, after his uncle, Charles Watson Wentworth. The works finally closed in 1842. Features surviving above ground from the later pottery works include: one bottle kiln, a gatehouse, Strawberry Cottage (originally part of the printshop range of work buildings). A series of ponds, which provided the large quantities of water required by the pottery, survive surrounded and contained by clay and earthen embankments. Earthworks indicate the sites of other buildings and features within the complex and serve to show the level of survival beneath the ground surface.
In 1823 the mark of a griffin was adopted, it being the Rockingham Crest. The word ROCKINGHAM is also found on the pottery.
They manufacured a dinner service for the King, designed by Thomas Brameld. A considerable quantity of the tableware was made for Messrs. Mortlock of Oxford Street, and stamped with their name. Excellent porcelain services and figures were also made for here, generally painted in flowers on a fine clear white background.
Nearly 600 people were employed both here and at the Don Pottery.
Situated to the east of the site of Swinton pottery, on the other side of Blackmoor Road, in the angle formed by that road, Warren Vale Road to the east, and a footpath to the south, is a triangular quarry or pit, occupied now by Three Corner Plantation. Geological and historical information indicates the area was a clay pit, probably dug in the 18th - early 19th century, in association with the pottery, and was subsequently used by the pottery as a store of raw materials, including calcined flint (which is represented by extensive dumps of calcined flint flafes ready for grinding in the flint mill), and dumps of pottery waste (eg on the roadside nearest to the pottery along Blackamoor Road), which includes fragments of broken pottery, saggers, moulds, ashes, pieves of gypsum, coal, sandstone, etc., probably dumped in readiness for disposal for roadbuilding or landfill.
« Waterloo Pottery Kiln and Pottery Ponds
Don Pottery
John and William Green owned the Don Pottery, established in 1801. John , had been a partner in both the Leeds and Swinton potteries, and the high quality wares were influenced by the Leeds pottery products. It was situated on the bank of the Don canal on the boundary between Swinton and Mexborough which gave good access.
Around 1810 they experimented with porcelain, resulting in the production of some highly successful pieces, which are extremely rare. Don Pottery was exported to the Middle East, Russia, and South America.
Business declined in the 1830s and the Greens were declared bankrupt in 1834 and the pottery advertised for sale. Many moulds and patterns were purchased by other local potteries and re-used.
In 1839, Samuel Barker who owned the Mexborough Pottery, purchased Don Pottery, both potteries were run by him until 1848 when production was centred on the Don Pottery site. (Samuel Barker died at Mexborough House, aged 53 on 15 July 1856.) In 1882, it was rented out to other partners, although it still traded as Samuel Barker & Sons. The pottery closed in 1893 when all the stock was sold to pay overdue rent.
In September, 1847, Caleb Barker a Warehouseman, at Don Pottery, was murdered. Read more »
Wath Wood and Boyd Royd
Wath Wood and Boyd Royd form two parts of a single woodland block. They lie to the south of Wath and to the west of Swinton, just over 6 kilometres north of the centre of Rotherham.
The site contains several features of archaeological value, most notably a well-preserved section of the 'Roman Ridge', built between 450 and 600 AD in order to defend the Celtic kingdom of Elmet from the advancing Anglo-Saxons. In addition, Boyd Royd Wood is surrounded by a substantial woodland boundary bank, and a post-medieval well has been found in Wath Wood.
Swinton War Memorial
Roll of Honour. There are 203 names listed for World War 1 and 48 names for World War 2.
Charles Green
Charles Green(1734-1771), an astronomer, son of Mr. Joshua Green of Swinton, accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage on the Endeavor. Green was appointed by the Royal Observatory to observe the transit of Venus from Tahiti. He died at sea of dysentry. His sister Mary was married to William Wales (1734-1798), astronomer and mathematician.
Walter Ardron (1918-1978)
Walter Ardron the footballer was born in Swinton. He played for Rotherham United from 1938 and Nottingham Forest from 1949.
