Harthill
Harthill means the hill where there are deer. Before 1066 the manor was owned by King Harold (Godwinson), and by the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 it was part of William de Warenne's Honour of Conisbrough. There were 13 freemen, 11 villeins and 12 plough teams, which indicates a large village with a considerable area under cultivation. The manor descended through the second son of William de Warenne to the Bardolf family.
The 1379 Poll Tax returns listed 156 tax payers which would suggest a total population in Harthill (and Woodall) of around 400. The list is headed by John de Keuton (or Kenton) described as 'serigante' (a sergeant was a lawyer), and Agnes his wife, who paid the considerable sum of 6s 8d. In the reign of Henry IV it passed into the ownership of the Beaumonts. For much of the Middle Ages the Serlby family had been resident lords of Harthill as tenants of the chief lords. The manor was granted to the Serlbys by Henry VII after 1486. The marriage of Gertrude Serlby and Sir George Chaworth brought Harthill to his family.
The manor of Harthill was sold about 1673-4 to Sir Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby. Osborne's ancestor, Edward Osborne, had been born in Harthill in the early 16th century. Under the patronage of Sir William Hewitt of Wales, Edward was apprenticed to Hewitt's business as a cloth merchant in London and eventually married Hewitt's daughter. He was Lord Mayor of London in 1583 and laid the foundation of the Osborne dynasty. The Osbornes had their seat at Kiveton Old Hall at Kiveton Park which was then within the parish of Harthill. Danby was created Duke of Leeds in 1694 for supporting William of Orange's and Mary Stuart's accession to the throne. He is buried in the family vault at Harthill All Hallows Church.
A new Kiveton Hall was built in the 18th Century but it was neither large or grand enough for later Dukes and was demolished in 1811 when the Osbourne family finally moved away to larger and grander mansions. The manor house which had been inhabited by the Serlbys was demolished about 1860 to allow an extension to churchyard so it must have been in pretty bad nick.
Although Harthill was primarily an agricultural village but there were local industries associated with farming such as the spinning and weaving of wool and the production of linen. The main local industry was quarrying the local gritstone to produce whetstones for sharpening knives and tools.
The common land of Harthill was enclosed at will by the owners, Dukes of Leeds and even when the last of the unenclosed land known as Woodall Moor came under Harthill Enclosure Award of 1761 the dukes were awarded 231 acres out of about 250. Kiveton Colliery was sunk on the north edge of the parish in the 1860s and provided work for many Harthill men. Houses at Fir Vale which were erected in 1868-70 on an island of land not owned by the Duke of Leeds who prevented any of his land being developed to provide housing for the miners. The Parish Church established a mission room and school at Fir Vale in 1875.
In the years after the First World War the village began to expand with the council houses built in 1920-1, 1926-7 and 1935. The Miners' Welfare Institute was built in 1924, funded partly under the National Scheme and partly by lcal donations. During the Second World War 19 bombs fell in the eastern side of the parish in August 1940 and a landmine fell near Woodall the following March. In the 1960s the M1 Motorway was driven through the western side of the parish and Woodall became the site for a motorway service area.
Harthill is a reasonably sized village spread out over several main roads. Properties on the main road are often in nice little yards or alleys away from the traffic. I'm no expert about buildings but the earliest I noticed seemed to date from the 18th Century, or even possibly a bit before that. Harthill is a great mixture of styles and types from mansions to cottages, from old to very modern. There are a few shops, didn't notice a Post Office (its on Winney Hill), and a couple of pubs. There is a lovely parish church with the Old School Room in the grounds, and a Methodist church which was very busy the Sunday we visited. There's a Junior and Infant School, extensive playing fields and a village car park. In fact the only real down side was the traffic through the village but that is the usual complaint everywhere these days.
In 1801 the population of Harthill with Woodall was 660 and by 1991 it was 1,834.
All Hallows Church, Harthill
Harthill-with-Woodall was the parish for the area. It is believed that Harthill Church was founded by William de Warenne in 1085. It was one of the churches that he gave to Lewes Priory. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1537 the advowson of Harthill was one of many granted to Henry VIII's minister Thomas Cromwell. After Cromwell's disgrace and execution it was granted to the Waterhouse family. It was again in the hands of the crown in 1674 when Charles II granted it to Thomas Osborne.
Parts of the church of All Hallows date from about 1200. Little is know of the history of the church but in the 15th Century it was massively extended. A chancel, tower, north and south aisles and chapels were added at this time. In the 17th Century the north chapel was used as a mortuary chapel by the family of the Duke of Leeds. The gauntlets and funeral pall of the Duke are on display. The church underwent extensive restoration in 1850 and 1895-8.
The church was held as a rectorship and the rector was entitled to receive the Great Tithes and the Little Tithes from all the parishioners. There is a substantial and elegant rectory (now in private hands) and what must have been an extensive glebe farm with a tithe barn and numerous outbuildings (also now homes). The rectors of Harthill must have been very wealthy men.
Harthill & Pebley Reservoirs
Close to Harthill are Harthill and Pebley Reservoirs which were build as holding ponds for the Chesterfield Canal. Harthill Reservoir is home to Rotherham Sailing Club www.rotherhamsailingclub.org.uk. There is also carp and coarse fishing available here Tel. 07724 076050 or 07717 835844. When we visited in December 2007 the levels in Harthill Reservoir were very low; don't know the reason why - I've found out repairs were being made to the spillway. There is an Access for All walk around Harthill Reservoir.
North Farm
Now the area of North Farm is a real blot on Harthill's landscape and it isn't Harthill's fault. The properties here are, I believe, owned by businessman and builder Glen Saint. They have been partly built or done up for a very long time: they are in fact derelict. The Pedant and I has a little dispute about this: he reckoned it was at least ten years; I thought it was more like fifteen. In their present state they are worth a small fortune, in a completed state a large fortune. It beggars my belief that they can be left in such a state for such a long time and that the powers that be appear to be able to do nothing about it.