East Dene, Eastwood & St Ann's
The areas designated 'east' are not unnaturally situated to the east of Rotherham town centre and are a mile or two away. As far as I know they never existed as separate villages and should be regarded as districts or areas of Rotherham.
East Dene
Dene is valley, so East Dene is the east valley. It largely consists of council estates built I think in the 1930s to rehouse workers from the tenements in central Rotherham.
Eastwood
I always thought that this was the east wood, but poor nerd that I am I have been browsing through some old maps which clearly show 'East Ward'. However older maps and records show wood - you pays your money and you takes your choice. Now Eastwood is largely an area of old terrace housing. It has had a lot of money spent on it in recent years. Large grants have been made to modernise and upgrade property and much effort has been put into 'Eastwood Village', a project designed to include all the residents and foster 'village feelings' towards each other.
I don't know if this has worked or not but some of the streets are looking a lot brighter and better kept; and some are not. Those closest to the town centre tend to be parked-up with workers from Rotherham.
Eastwood Trading Estate
A very extensive trading estate exists between the main road and the River Don and goes as far as the Mushroom Roundabout. There is a wide variety of firms operating out of premsies here.
St Ann's
The area of St Ann's is named after the road, one of a number of saintly roads in the area. This is a small area of pensioners bungalows and flats, a few shops and the new (October 2008) Rotherham Leisure Complex.
I will throw up my hands here and say that I thought this would be white elephant. To judge by the numbers of cars parked there, early and late, weekdays and weekends; it is anything but.