Snippets
Rotherham Latitude: 53.430171 Longitude: -1.356897
First Forge: in 1161, worked by the monks of Kirkstead at Kimberworth under a grant made by Richard de Busli, Lord of the Manor of Sheffield
Black Death: during the Black Death which hit Yorkshire in 1349, in York alone, a third of the population perished
The first practical steam engine: A Newcomen engine at Garrowtree pit, Kimberworth, then part of the estate of the Marquis of Rockingham, 1823
Longest House: Wentworth Woodhouse, facade of 600 feet.
In 1907 Sheffield and Rotherham Bank (established 1792) was acquired and by the end of the year, after the acquisition of this business, Williams Deacon's boasted 102 branches.
Russums is a family owned and run company, established in 1830 and based in Rotherham since 1870. The real origins go back even further to the sixteenth century, before becoming too faint to trace! Currently the sixth generation of the Russum family run the business
First University: Leeds in 1904. It began as the Yorkshire College of Science in 1874, and was granted independant status in 1904. Sheffield College formed in 1879, was granted university status later in 1904.
The River Don is 72 miles long, with a drainage area of 669 square miles.
Largest Carnivore - The badger is the largest in Britain, an average adult boar weighing just under 30 lb. One of 60lb. was killed near Rotherham, in the winter of 1952.