Rotherham & the Hearth Tax of 1672
Governments, then as now, were always looking for ingenious new ways to raise revenue. The charging of tax on hearths, chimneys and fireplaces was just one in a long line. Unless you wished to freeze to death in the winter and live on uncooked food at all times, it was necessary to have some kind of heating and cooking facilities. For the purpose of levying Hearth Tax every householder was charged 2s per hearth unless exempt on the grounds of poverty. This area of South Yorkshire was hit particularly hard by such a tax as it was levied on the smithies, furnaces and forges as well.
A full record of the Hearth Tax returns for the town of Rotherham is available which records 245 properties, of which 35 were noted as poor and 14 empty. Smithies were recorded at 14 properties. There was a mill and a common oven.
At Kimberworth there were 118 properties with 20 noted as poor. There was also a steel furnace with four hearths, and 14 smithies. At Greasbrough were 87 properties with 17 noted as poor and 2 empty. There were seven smithies and a common oven. At Brinsworth there were 21 properties listed. The total for the ecclesiastical parish being 471. The same Hearth Tax records show 743 in the township of Sheffield and 1209 in the ecclesiastical parish, so by this time Sheffield was a much bigger town.