Treeton
'Ton' means village or homestead so Treeton is the village with trees so you can see the area had the usual rural beginnings. In Anglo-Saxon times there were two manors, one was part of the estates of Morcar, Earl of Northumbria and the other belonged to Ulfketill. The village, then called Trectone, and the parish church are mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086. Both manors were given to the Earl of Mortain who let it to his tenant Richard de Surdeval. There was a church and priest with 4 villeins and 13 smallholders and 2 mill sites are recorded.
By the end of 13th century, the Furnivals were sole lords of Treeton and from them the lordship descended to the Talbots and the Dukes of Norfolk. In the Poll Tax return of 1379 the wealthiest inhabitant in Treeton was John Helot the baker and his wife who were assessed at one shilling. There were 93 people in Treeton who were reckoned able to pay the tax. In 1428 the freeholders of Treeton were called upon to contribute toward the ransom of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, who had been captured by the French. There was a substantial manor house at Treeton it must have fallen into decay for the remains were demolished in the 1920s and I no other information about it.
The ecclesiastical parish of Treeton included the township of Brampton-en-le-Morthen, part of the township of Ulley and a detached area at Waleswood. The parish church of St Helen was rebuilt about 1175 on a prominent position overlooking the village. The north aisle was added in the 13th century and the south aisle in the 14th century. the church has been subject to restoration but still contains some of the Norman structure.
Treeton Colliery was sunk in 1875 by Rothervale Collieries Ltd. Due to a slump in trade it did not enter full production until 1891. The population of the village increased with the influx or miners and the building of houses. Treeton Parish Council was formed in 1894. Under its first chairman J.F. Jones, managing director of Rothervale Collieries, electric street lighting was provided for the village. Treeton Grange was for many years the home of the Jones family and afterwards became offices for the United Steel Companies Ltd and the British Steel Corporation. The North Midland Railway (later Midland Railway) railway line ran along the valley of the River Rother but Treeton did not get a station of its own until the 1890s. The railway builders diverted the Rother into a new, straight course. Treeton Dyke originated as the severed section of the old course. Treeton Colliery was for a long time one of the main sources of employment (please forgive the pun) and there was a miners' training centre here. The colliery closed in 1990 and the site is still being redeveloped.
The original school at Treeton had been sited in a cottage near the church. This was replaced by a National School 1851. The school premises were leased to the Treeton School Board in 1876 and were replaced by a new Board School in 1880. This school was extended in 1901-2. A new school was erected at the south end of the village in 1983. In 1992 the old school buildings were converted into the Treeton Youth Enterprise Centre to provide workshops for young people starting their own businesses.