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The Dark Ages
The Dark Ages were called that because there is so little history
recorded or remaining from the period. I could say that the monk Gildas in his "De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae ac flecbili Castigatione in Reges,
Principes et Sacerdotes" (now get your breath before continuing but don't ask me to translate) had mentioned the town but this would be an outright fib. I could say that
Rotherham was named in the works of the Venerable Bede but I would be lying. It appears nowhere in saga or edda; scalds did not sing of its wealth and power around the hearths in the
halls of kings. Times haven't changed a lot have they?
Presumably after the Roman armies were sent back to Rome there still remained around Rotherham a community of retired soldiers with their wives and families, together with the remains of the local Celtic community, who lived and farmed and died. The town that is now Rotherham was part of the Celtic kingdom of Elmet until about 550AD.
I can never remember if it was the Angles or the Saxons (Saxons I think) who invaded this part of England, but doubtless whatever tribe they belonged to they may well have fired whatever town was here and put the locals to the sword. Then again they may just have married into all the local families, which, to paraphrase a joke as old as the Saxons, was just the start of their troubles. I have just found another historical source that maintains it was the Angles who invaded this part of England and drove the Celts into the hills. The area then became part of the kingdom of Mercia.
The name Rotherham, meaning the hamlet on the River Rother, is of Saxon origin. It is anybody's guess what the place was called before or even if it had a name. The present town is actually on the River Don. This is just a piece of speculation but it seems likely that the Roman settlement near Canklow Bridge was subject to flooding and at some time in the Dark Ages the burghers moved their town a bit downstream where there was hillier ground and a decent ford. Perhaps they took the name with them. Many of the other town and villages in the area that now comprises the Borough of Rotherham have Saxon names.
By late Saxon times ownership of the Rotherham area was organised into manors held by thanes. These were primarily agricultural, but one of the duties of the thane was to provide fighting men in time of war.
There was a later invasion of Vikings and possibly some more problems with fire, sword and extremely large blonde men with beards. Most of the area that is now Rotherham became part of the southern borders of the kingdom of Northumbria, an area called Deira. The Vikings came first for a good scrap and a nice bit of pillage to take home for the wife. However they saw that there was much good farming land to be had, either by force or negotiation. Most of the Vikings who came to stay in this area were of Danish origin, younger sons of farming families who spoke a language not dissimilar to that spoken by the locals and who worshipped similar gods. Many more small settlements eg Hellaby, Maltby have Nordic names. There is no written history but I suspect that after a few initial confrontations the Saxons and the Vikings settled down to a healthy working compromise.
The Battle of Brunanburgh or Brunanburh in 936AD, is supposed to have been fought between Brinsworth and Catcliffe. There are though there are many other sites postulated for this event, including the village of Morthen, also in Rotherham, where there is a Saxon Cross said to commemorate the 50000 warriors reputed to have been slain. I have now read several versions of the battle: earlier thought favoured an internecine struggle between two Viking kingdoms, but later theories believe that it was fought between the Viking armies and the English or Anglo-Saxons under King Athelstan. Athelstan won the battle and pushed back the invading Vikings for a time. There is an account, none too sensible, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles of 937AD which I am not going to reproduce here.
Although some of the Romans in Britain had practiced Christianity and Saint Augustine had converted the good people of Kent from 596AD there is little evidence of it in Rotherham through these centuries. Itinerant preachers wandered through the countryside, raised the the cross and preached the Gospel wherever there was a likely audience. Sometimes they may well have suffered a bit of martyrdom. At first the preachers raised a simple wooden cross but converts later erected stone preaching crosses to indicate the places where Christians were welcome to hold their services. Later many of these became the sites of churches. I could be wrong here for I have not conducted a thorough investigation but I believe that none now exist in Rotherham but the remains of two preaching crosses can be found at Conisbrough, just over the border in Doncaster.
It is believed that about 937AD the first Christian church was built on the hill in the centre of Rotherham where the parish church now stands. I do not know to whom the original church was dedicated but it was known as All Hallows in Tudor Times was afterwards called All Saints and was created Rotherham Minster in 2004. Certainly there are Saxon remains under the present church. This would indicate that the community was well enough off to afford themselves somewhere to nod off during the sermons.
In the village of Laughton-en-le-Morthern there are the remains of a Saxon doorway in the present church. This would indicate there was a stone-built church here in Saxon times, quite a rarity as the Saxons rarely built in stone. There are also scant remains of a Saxon motte and bailey castle. These indicate that Laughton, most probably a centre for the enforcement of law in the area, was quite well-off.
That's about it folks until the Normans arrived.