The Unofficial Website
Kimberworth
Kimberworth is situated on a hill to the north west of Rotherham. The name is
of Saxon origin and a manor has existed here since Saxon times.
In 1086 the Domeday Book records "In Chibereworde Alsige had six carucates of land taxable where three
ploughs are possible. Roger now there has two ploughs. There are 8 villeins and 12
bordars. Meadow 6 acres; woodland pasture 13 furlongs long and one league wide. Value before 1066 £4 0s 0d: now 30s."
It must have been a good strategic site as there was a small motte and bailey castle there. This was never rebuilt in stone and has now disappeared but for the tower mound encircled by Wilding Way and The Motte. The castle bailey is covered by the New World shops and the Drawbridge public house is about the site of the entrance. In the Middle Ages Kimberworth was on the old salt road. Salt was brought by mule or horse from the saltings in Cheshire and was a vastly important commodity in the days when most of the livestock was slaughtered and preserved in salt every autumn.
At one time Kimberworth was a more populous parish than Rotherham itself. It was a separate township from 1756 up to 1871 when the county borough was created. Whatever independence it once had has been entirely swallowed up by the Borough Council. You have to remember that in the days before councils ran everything the local authority was vested in the Church via the Parish Minister and the Manor via the Lord of the Manor or his Steward. The Manor of Kimberworth was part of the dower property of the widows of the Howard family, variously Dukes of Norfolk or Earls of Effingham, and since the Howards were prolific there may have been other title holders too. There is an old village centre with a church and the manor house and the manorial barn are still there and have been restored. What little remained of Kimberworth Castle disappeared under a housing estate long ago.
The manor of Kimberworth was once very extensive and encompassed the Masbrough area. Hence the Earl of Shrewsbury's ironworks were said to be at Kimberworth when they were actually situated at Masbrough in the manor of Kimberworth. Because Masbrough became the area of major industrial development the village of Kimberworth, strung out along Kimberworth Road, Church Street and High Street, remained for a long time, just a village. By 1900 housing development was beginning and has continued so that the rural aspect of the village is largely lost.
Kimberworth Manor & Old Hall
There were two house of importance; Old Hall and the Manor House, Kimberworth Hall. The chapel was close to the Manor House so this was likely the more important. Visit onsite at Rotherham Town & Borough >> Rotherham Features >> Rotherham's Hall & Stately Homes >> Kimberworth Hall. I have read that Old Hall was built in the Seventeenth Century by a relative of the person who lived at Kimberworth Hall in a spirit of family rivalry. I have been able to find out little else but I think the house was demolished to make way for Old Hall School: an espondent thinks that it was demolished long before back in the 19th century. Some of the barns remain and have been converted into housing.
Kimberworth's Churches & Chapels
For such an important village there was no church in Kimberworth until the Nineteenth Century. It was part of the extensive parish of Rotherham and presumably the inhabitants had to walk into town to attend the regular church services once required by law. There was a chapel dated from the 11th or 12th century and dedicated to St Victor the Martyr. It had no regular priest and was served from Rotherham or by local hermits. It ceased to be used for religious purposes about the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries but has other uses later eg. in 1814 it was used as a malt kiln.
In 1824 an Independent Chapel was built in the village on Church Street. The building was later used as a meeting room, sunday school and scout hall before being closed and demolished in the late 1960s.Kimberworth became an ecclesiastical parish in 1843 when the church of St Thomas was opened. The church was designed by Matthew Habershon in the Early-English style but the present building but has little resemblance to the original design as it has been subject to many alterations and improvements over the years. The nave was extended and the tower added in 1860, with the chancel added in 1865. The church is not generally open but there is keyholder access contact 01709 563811. The Salvation Army moved to High Street, Kimberworth in the 1970s.