Mexborough
The Town of Mexborough
Mexborough is the next settlement along the Don Valley from Swinton and is in the Borough of Doncaster. Every time I visit it seems an extremely quiet place with nothing much doing but I could be wrong. The town centre is small and much decayed, but has managed to retain two or three very posh shops, the sort that deserted Rotherham long ago, Madame Florence being the place to go for that extra-special outfit. Sadly, after 77 years, Madame Florence closed at the end of August 2009.
The History of Mexborough
Mexborough is located at the north eastern end of a dyke known as the Roman Ridge which has varied interpretations and there is likely to have been asettlement there for avey long time. The name Mexborough combines the Old English suffix burh meaning a fortified place with an Old English or Old Norse personal name, which may be Meke, Muik, Meoc, or Mjukr.
The earliest known written reference to Mexborough is found in the Domesday Book of 1086 where it was called Mechesburg. Before the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 the area had been controlled by the Saxon lords Wulfheah and Ulfkil. Their lands were given to the Norman Baron Roger de Busli. The remains of an earthwork in Castle Park are though to have been a motte and bailey castle in the constructed in the 11th century shortly after the conquest.
The only really old building of any note in Mexborough is St. John's the Baptist church, which dates in part from the 12th century. There are a few buildings from the 18th Century including several public houses; the Ferryboat Inn, the George and Dragon, the Bull's Head and the Red Lion. Most of the buildings in the town are post-1800 when prosperity came to town.
Throughout the 18th, 19th and much of the 20th centuries the town's economy was based around coal mining, quarrying, brickworks and the production of ceramics. These industries lead to an increase in industrial illness and an increase in the mortality rate. Although the town boasted a cottage hospital, the lack of suitable facilities led to Lord Montagu donating land for a new hospital to be built. Lord Montagu laid the first stone at the site in 1904. The site is still a working hospital, and now forms part of the Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS trust.
Like many town and villages in South Yorkshire Mexborough suffered from the closure of the mines in the 1980s.
Don Valley Festival
The Mexborough Festival began in 1912 and the present day festival includes more than 160 classes of music, speech and drama, including school choirs, bands, soloists, drama groups, and readings. For 2006 it has been rebranded the Don Valley Festival. It appears to be held about April every year but is little advertised or covered in the Rotherham Press. Website www.donvalleyfestival.org.uk.