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Catcliffe, Orgreave & Treeton
including Bole Hill & Waverley
These villages are situated to the south west of the town of Rotherham.
Catcliffe and Orgreave were part of the manor of Tinsley from Saxon times but became part of Rotherham, whereas the rest of the manor became part of Sheffield.
April 2008 – UK Coal have published their plans to transform the old opencast site now called Waverley. Work is already under way on an Advanced Manufacturing Park and other business units. Permission has been given for Highfields Commercial on part of the site, whilst a large government office development is also proposed. The rest of the site is expected to contain up to 4000 houses, community facilities, green spaces and two lakes designed to take surface water and floodwaters if necessary. Hope they do something about the roads.
The Villages
Bole Hill
Bole Hill is a small village just to the north east of the main village of Treeton. It is on the edge of the floodplain of the River Rother on what is obviously a bit of higher ground. There was a spa here once but I have no information about it.
Catcliffe
The name 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.
Glass was smelted at Catcliffe in the past and the glass kiln can still be seen. I visited with my history teacher from school nearly as long ago as they used to smelt glass but I remember very little about it. I visited again in 2005 but whilst the kiln is still there, there was no information to help me out.
Orgreave
The name of Orgreave means 'the pit from which ore was dug'. This village is mentioned by name in the Domesday Book, so this means that iron mining was associated with this area before 1086. Another version of the name is Norgrave which could have an entirely different meaning. In 1811 the village of Orgreave had the massive population of 42 persons. Even today there is a small population and no church, pub or school. A bit of Orgreave is also tucked away next to that part of Sheffield called Woodhouse Mill.
Orgreave was yet another area blighted by mining with a massive coking plant, which in its heyday, you could smell 20 miles down wind. One of the bitterest battles of the Miners' Strike in the reign of Maggie was fought here. You might just remember that the miners lost, thus the coking plant is no more.
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 it was part of the estates of Morcar, Earl of Northumbria. The village, then called Trectone, and the parish church are mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086. On a prominent position at the top of the hill, the present day church of St Helens has stood on the same site since 1175.
Treeton was the usual largely rural area until the colliery arrived. 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 pit of course is gone and I am unsure how far the powers that be have got with reclamation.
Waverley
Waverley does not appears as an area name on any of my maps, but only as a Catcliffe street. However I believe from reading certain articles that Waverley is the name now given to the reclaimed tip at Orgreave. November 2007 - I believe that plans have been finalised, though I don't know about passed for a multi-million pound development at Waverley. This will consist of housing and government offices.
Other Pages to Visit
More about the area onsite at:-
Recreation in Rotherham >> Parks (various sections) Catcliffe Flash, Treeton Wood, Falconer Wood & Hail Mary Wood and Treeton Dyke.
Also Tourism in Rotherham >> Out and About in Rotherham >> Catcliffe Glass Kiln.