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The Moorgate Area
Moorgate Street climbs up from the top of High Street to Moorgate Road. Whilst Ship Hill climbs up from the end of Westgate to join Moorgate Road at the High House. This was the way to the Town Moor which was common grazing land owned by the town. The old beast market was held on the site of what is now the Town Hall as it was just out of the centre. There are a number of side streets - Downs Row, The Crofts, Grove Road, and Stanley Street, and footpaths, also known as twitchels or gennels - Snail Hill, Quarry Hill. I've also included Mansfield Road in this section as there is so little to say about it I couldn't merit giving it a page of its own.
Moorgate Road
Moorgate Road is the old road out to the Town Moor, a piece of land held in common by the citizens of the town, where they could graze their animals. It is also one of the main highways out of town to Whiston and beyond. There is still an old milestone further out by the Thomas Rotherham College, which, if memory serves me right, shows London 166 miles. It runs right out to Whiston Crossroads but I am not going that far.
There has been a methodist church on this site since 1761. The building was then known as the Octagon Chapel in Bunting Row. This church was built in 1903 to replace the old one.
It is now called Talbot Lane Methodist Church. The piece of modern art displayed in the square in front is I believe called "The Cyclist" as it indicates the start of the various cycle routes around Rotherham.
On the opposite side of the square is the present day Rotherham Town Hall.
It was built in 1936 as a courthouse and jail and was was converted into the Town Hall about 1993 after new courts were opened at Rotherham police station.
For a short tour around the Town Hall please visit Tourism in Rotherham >> Places to Visit in Rotherham Centre >> Rotherham Town Hall.
This nice building fronting Moorgate Road is now home to a number of small firms. I am not at all sure of its original purpose but think it might have been a chapel.
Steven has been in touch to say that:-
"The old building on Moorgate you refer to used to be the parish hall for All Saints' Church and was used for meetings of cubs, brownies and girl guides as well as a youth club on Fridays and Sundays and other parish activities. It was also used for many years by pupils at South Grove School, which used to be on the opposite side of the road, as a school canteen I don't at this stage know if that was its original purpose."
This is the old Unitarian Church on Moorgate which built in 1879. For many years there was a notice board outside the church with comment posters which said things like "War is
Senile Delinquency"
. The church fell into disuse but was turned into a mosque in 1987. Further refurbishment took place in 2003. The mosque is open from dawn to dusk every day.
This building was home to Rotherham Grammar School from 1857 to 1890. It is now an accountants' office.
Although I have not covered them here, there are some fine old buildings further out of town, like the Old Vicarage (currently being done up). And some not so fine like the old British Wagon offices next door. For those of you who are not Rotherhamites, Moorgate is the Snob End of Rotherham.