Catcliffe
The village of Catcliffe is situated to the nor'nor'west of the River Rother in Rotherham. Some of it is set on rising ground clear of the floodplain of the river but some is built on low-lying ground. Although the river has been altered and is heavily embanked here floodwater backing up through the drains can still be a problem after heavy rains. At the western edge of Catcliffe there is a trading estate with a huge superstore and convenient links to Sheffield Parkway and to the motorway network. Tinsley Municipal Golf Course is very convenient. The nearby Sheffield Airport was closed in 2008 and I believe that the site is under redevelopment.
In addition to the alterations to the river, the mining of the coal seams underneath the area, has caused settlement and flooding. One of the many resultant wetland areas is the pond and Local Nature Reserve called Catcliffe Flash.
More information at Catcliffe Flash.
The History of Catcliffe
The name Catcliffe, earlier 'Catteclive', means quite simply the cliff where the cats live. I have read another fanciful contention that it translates as 'the boatmen' meaning the Vikings. It does not appear in the Domesday Book but it may be the place called Cathelai, and then again maybe not. It is not mentioned until well into the Middle Ages when records indicate that Robert de Herthill rented a house and land in Catcliffe from Gervase de Bernack of Treeton. From the Bernacks, Catcliffe passed to the Lords of Hallamshire, the Furnivals then by the mid 16th Century the Earls of Pembroke then the Dukes of Norfolk.
A 1649 rental of the estates of the Earls of Pembroke who then lords of Hallamshire, records the names of the tenants at Catcliffe. The most important were George Oake, Margaret Jarvis and Thomas Revell.
Catcliffe remained a small, agricultural settlement until the 18th century when a factory for making glass was built there by William Fenney in 1740. The Catcliffe works had two cones or furnaces. The glassworks closed in 1884 but was re-opened in 1901, only to end up in bankruptcy a short while later. The one remaining glass cone was purchased by Rotherham Rural District Council in the 1960s and old people's bungalows were later built on the surrounding land. More information at Catcliffe Glass Kiln. High Hazels Colliery was sunk here in the late 19th Century and the site was later opencast.
The railway came to Catcliffe in 1900 with the opening of the Sheffield District Railway between Treeton Junction and Brighton Junction. The station at Catcliffe survived until September 1939 when the whole line closed.
Catcliffe Churches
Catcliffe was part of the ecclesiastical parish of Rotherham. The inhabitants either had to use the chapel at Tinsley or journey into Rotherham. A temporary Anglican Church, St Faith's, constructed of iron, was erected in 1895. Catcliffe became part of the new parish of Brinsworth in 1903, and a new permanent church, St Mary's, was built in 1910. The Wesleyan Chapel was opened in 1869 and a new Methodist Chapel was erected in 1906.
Catcliffe Population
The population of Catcliffe was 135 according to the first census in 1801. It increased slowly throughout the 19th century, reaching 273 in 1851 and 352 in 1891. By 1901 it had risen to 1,232. The population of Catcliffe reached a peak at 2,048 in 1951. It then began to fall, reaching 1,671 in 1981 and 1,392 in 1991. New housing development with some impressive modern designs on the Blue Man's estate (it may have another name but that's what people call it) may have increased this.