Kiveton Park
Kiveton Bridge
Kiveton means 'The settlement in the hollow', Anglo-Saxon 'kyfe' meaning dish or hollow vessel and 'ton' meaning village or homestead or stockaded camp. The discovery of large numbers of potsherds and a corn drying kiln in 1966 during the extension a quarry near Kiveton Park Station indicated that there was a small and probably temporary Roman settlement here about 100. The pre-Roman trackway known as Rykneild Street passed through the eastern part of the parish. The Domesday book of 1086 recorded its name as Cieutone with the C being pronounced as a present day K. From about 1080 to 1868 Kiveton was a hamlet of the parish of Harthill-with-Woodall, after which it was transferred to Wales Parish Council.
Kiveton is pronounced the old fashioned way with the "e" - Kiv-et-un and not Kaevton. Kiveton was once the site of a stately home - Keeton Hall: the Hall was demolished in 1811 with only the stables remaining, which now form part of Kiveton Hall Farm.
The surname Keeton (i.e. Kiveton in its slovenly pronunciation) is local and has incarnations through history as Keuton (1370 poll tax register), Kayton, Keveton, Kyveton, Keton, Kneton, Keeton and so on and on and on. The land owning Keetons apparently sold their Kyveton estate to the Hewets in about 1580 and interestingly a lot of Keetons appear in the American colonies in the 1600s (as recorded by US genealogical societies).
A small market was opened at Kiveton in 1992, following a struggle with Sheffield City Council who initially claimed that it infringed their market rights.
The History of Kiveton
I know little of the history of Kiveton until fairly recent times but you can be pretty sure that it was a small rural community for most of the time. The Chesterfield Canal was completed in 1777 allowing development of the stone quarries. Enormous quarries existed in Kiveton Park and between 1840 and 1844 almost half a million tons of locally mined limestone were loaded onto the canal for transportation to London to build the Houses of Parliament. Coal was mined from bell-pits from the Middle Ages. In 1866, Kiveton Colliery, a deep mine was sunk but this closed in 1994.
Methodism was strong in this area and the Methodists at Kiveton Park met in the messroom at Turner's quarries before the chapel was erected in 1893. The chapel ceased to be used in 1980 when the congregation converted the manse into a house church.
The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway from Manchester via Sheffield to Retford was opened in the mid 19th Century. It runs through here with stops at Kiveton Bridge and Kiveton Park. In the latter half of the 20th Century commuter housing has been developed here because of this facility.
The quarries and the pit are now disused. The site of the former Kiveton Colliery has been reclaimed and is now woodland, grassland and recreational areas called Kiveton Community Woodland together with three fishing lakes claaed Kiveton Waters which opened to fishermen and others in June 2006.
Kiveton Hall
Kiveton Hall was built for the 1st Duke of Leeds who decided that his Elizabethan house at Thorpe Salvin was not grand or modern enough, and so had a new seat built at Kiveton about 1700. Although Kiveton Hall was very large and very grand it was obviously not big, enough or grand enough for later dukes. The 6th Duke decided to live at Hornby Castle in North Yorkshire after 1812 and ordered Kiveton to be demolished. The 7th Duke instituted a Chancery case against his father's trustees, claiming that the value of the estate had been diminished by the demolition. The case ended with the trustees being ordered to pay the Duke £42,000 plus interest. All that remained after the demolition were part of the stables which form part of Kiveton Hall Farm.
Kiveton Pit Head Baths
Kiveton Pit Head Baths, built by the miners out of their own pockets, has listed status and in 2003 The Kiveton Park Development Trust has submitted a detailed bid for Lottery Funding for around £5million to turn the baths into a centre for the arts.
Early in 2009 I have read that the future of the pit head baths are still under discussion. It seems as if the latest plan is to turn the building into apartments whilst retaining a few of the original features in the public areas. Some people think it is a good idea to preserve the building, others are opposed. I walked by in 2011 and the building is fencrd, boarded-up and in parts near derelict.
Kiveton Pit Offices
The old pit offices are a truly nice building. Whilst it looks as if some work is needed to bring them up to scratch they are managed by Kiveton Park and Wales Community Development Trust and used by a wide variety of companies including Rother Valley College and Redroad.
