Maltby
The traces of Roman roads pass through Maltby but there is no evidence of major settlement. The name Maltby comes from By which is Norse for settlement. I am sure that I have read it was particularly used by the Danish Vikings and that their patterns of settlement in Britain can be traced by the concentration of villages ending in -by. Malt could be a personal name or indicate that barley was once malted here. It is named in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Maltebi and was at the time a small farming community. Through the Middle Ages the villagers continued to rely on agriculture but developed the small-scale industries of forestry and water milling.
In the late 18th Century, after the roads were turnpiked, Maltby enjoyed a short-lived vogue for people coming to drink the waters. There were many sweet and efficacious springs in the area but I don't know if there was ever a spa.
Maltby was once a pretty little village, before the advent of housing estates. There was a cluster of old cottages around the church. I was told that both church and cottages were built largely of stone raided from Roche Abbey after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. For centuries the old abbey was used as a quarry by generations of locals. Nowadays Maltby consists of large, large housing estates, private and council.
In the early 20th Century coal began to be mined in the area. Housing was developed for the miners including Maltby Model Village. The population increased from 500 in 1901 to 17,980. Maltby Main Colliery is still open and in 2004 there has been a large injection of money which will keep the pit open a while longer. It is expected to close in 2015. It is the only pit still operating within Rotherham Metropolitan Borough.
For those who may be interested there is a whole system of limestone caves around Maltby. These used to be open and the kids used to play in them, but I believe that they were sealed off some years ago to stop this dangerous pursuit.