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Canklow
Canklow is situated a mile or so to the south of Rotherham centre in the
valley of the River Rother. To the east are the pleasant wooded areas of Boston Park and Canklow Woods. To the west are the valleys of the Don and the Rother which have been filled with
industry since the Nineteenth Century.
The name Canklow first appears in the Thirteenth Century as Kankelawe which I translate as Steephill Hill. According to Cockburn's place names it could also means the King's Cairn but
that sounds more like Cock and Bull to me.
However people lived here long before that. There are the remains of a substantial stockaded settlement and a much used holloway in Canklow Woods. It is believed that in Roman times the
site of the civilian settlement or vicus was about the site of Bow Bridge over the River Rother at Canklow. Retired soldiers who chose not to return home received land grants and formed
a colonia. Some of these farmed along the river valleys and Canklow remained largely agrarian until Rotherham Main Colliery was sunk in 1890. Housing was built to accommodate the
workers and a rail depot was built to shift the coal. Pit and depot are both gone but the housing remains and the less said the better. After Rotherham Main closed in the 1950s the old
mill and bridge were demolished as well and a new steel bridge put up.
I understand that there was a very nice building called Canklow House which was built by John Carr of Rotherham in 1767. It was demolished in 1965. If you have further information about the house please let me know and I will add it to the pages about Rotherham's Hall and Stately Homes in Feature Articles.
Other Pages to Visit
More about Canklow on site at:-
Recreation in Rotherham >> Parks >> Urban Parks >> Canklow Woods.
More about Rotherham Main at:-
The History of Rotherham >> Other History Pages >> The History of Trade and Industry in Rotherham >> Coal Mining >> Coal Mining - A Short History of the Mains.