Rotherham

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Rotherham_United :: Rotherham :: Rotherham_and_District_Sunday

Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England, built upon the River Don near the confluence of the Don and the Rother. It lies in the Don Valley between Sheffield and Doncaster. Its geographic coordinates are . The town is six miles from Sheffield City Centre. It is the main town in the metropolitan borough of Rotherham, which has the safest Labour council in the country. The population of Rotherham is 248,175.

The Towncentre and Shopping/Entertainment

Rotherham is in South Yorkshire, close to Sheffield and Barnsley . The town centre has some highstreet names but the nearby Meadowhall Shopping centre, one of the largest in the country, attracts shoppers there as well as to the town centre. Rotherham town centre has a large BBC Screen in the town square, All Saints Square, which features a fountain, bars, restaurants and shops. The nearest cinema is at Meadowhall or the Valley Centertainment, a large entertainment complex across the road from Meadowhall. The Sheffield Arena is also next to the Valley Centertainment.

The town centre is undergoing a transformation known as the Rotherham Renaissance, which will turn Rotherham into a large modern town with apartments, major highstreet stores and outdoor cafes etc., and a new theatre. This project has already started, with apartments being built on a key site on the waterfront.

History

While there were Iron Age and Roman settlements in the area now covered by the town, Rotherham itself was not founded until the Early Middle Ages. It soon established itself as a key Saxon market town, lying, as it does, on a Roman road near a forded part of the Don.

In the 1480s the Rotherham-born Archbishop of York, Thomas Rotherham, instigated the building of a college (The College of Jesus) to rival the colleges of Cambridge and Oxford. This and the stylish new parish church of All Saints made Rotherham an enviable and modern town at the turn of the 16th century. But the college was dissolved under the reign of Edward VI - its assets stripped for the crown. By the end of the 16th century, Rotherham had fallen from a fashionable college-town to a notorious haven of gambling and vice. Nevertheless, the history of Thomas Rotherham and education in the town continues to be remembered in the name of Thomas Rotherham College.

Industry

The region had been exploited for iron since Roman times, but it was coal that first brought the industrial revolution to Rotherham. The seams were the driving force behind the improvements to navigation along the Don - the various cuttings that eventually formed the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation.

However, the iron resources were soon picked up on, most notably by the Walker family, who built up something of an Iron Empire in Rotherham. Throughout the 18th century, the Walker foundries produced high quality cannons, in addition to more experimental contracts for bridges and the likes. Meanwhile, Joseph Foljambe established a factory to produce his Rotherham plough, the first commercially successful iron plough.

Rotherham iron was very highly regarded for its strength. Iron, and later steel, became the principal industry in Rotherham well into the 20th century. Steel, Peech and Tozer's massive Templeborough steelworks (now the Magna Science Adventure Centre) was, at its peak, over a mile long, employing 10,000 workers, and housing six electric arc furnaces producing 1.8 million tonnes of steel a year. The operation finally closed down in 1993.

Buildings

Despite its history, Rotherham is rather short on old (secular) buildings. The only surviving timber-framed structure is the empty, dilapidated, and much altered former Three Cranes pub (16th century). In fact much of Rotherham's town centre was knocked down and modernised during the course of the 20th century.

The town centre does, however, contain one of only four bridge chapels in the country: the 15th century Chapel of Our Lady of Rotherham Bridge (or "Chapel on the Bridge") on Chantry Bridge. The chapel was restored in 1923 having spent a good period of time as a tobacconist's shop.

Other buildings of note include the 15th century Minster (formerly All Saints parish church), and the 18th century Clifton House which now houses Clifton Park Museum.

Beyond the town centre, away from the Don Valley the Rotherham district is largely rural, containing a mixture of farming and mining communities as well as the large Wentworth Woodhouse estate.

Culture

Culturally, Rotherham has produced several entertainers who started on the Working Men's Club scene, such as Dougie Brown, Zulu 440, Paul Shane, and The Chuckle Brothers. It is also a thriving haven of Classic and Progressive Rock helped by the Classic Rock Society and it has spawned many bands such as Deadline, Saxon, Jive Bunny and This Girl. The poet and author A. R. Monday was also born in Rotherham.

Professor John Lee from the television shows Anatomy for Beginners and Life and Death is a consultant histopathologist at Rotherham General Hospital.

Rotherham is mentioned in a line from the song "Fake Tales of San Francisco" by the Arctic Monkeys.

Since the late 1990s Rotherham has consolidated its reputation as a popular and exciting clubbing destination. The principle clubbing area runs from the old 'New York New York' nightclub (now blu bamboo) on Ship Hill down to 'Liquid'. Ironically, the local police station is situated between these two locations.

The town also has a Civic Theatre and Arts Centre.

Sport

Rotherham has a football team in the Football League One, Rotherham United, and a second flight rugby union team, Rotherham R.U.F.C. which are currently run under the name of Earth Titans. Hurdler Chris Rawlinson, olympic silver medalist Peter Elliott and former England goalkeeper David Seaman are from Rotherham.

Politics

Denis MacShane is the current Member of Parliament for Rotherham. The politician William Hague is also from Rotherham.

Twin Towns

Rotherham is twinned with, among others, Saint-Quentin, France and Kaiserslautern, Germany

External links

Towns in South Yorkshire

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