Rawmarsh Area
Nether Haugh - Rawmarsh - Ryecroft - Sandhill - Upper Haugh - Warren Vale
The Rawmarsh area is north of Rotherham centre. It is a sprawled out area covering a fair few square kilometers. The old village center was along High Street and Blyth Road, but except for the churches and a couple of old cottages none of this remains. The old manor of Rawmarsh stretched from Nether Haugh to Aldwarke but this was split into three and shared between three heiresses. Some information about the surrounding villages can be found below.
On Wednesday 26 January 2011 there was a ceremony to cut the first sod for the new Rawmarsh Customer Service Centre on the site of the demolished leisure centre at Rawmarsh. After much delay work has eventually started on the new combined one-stop council and health centre for the residents of Rawmarsh. On the ground floor, the £5 million building will provide access to council services and a new library in addition to new changing facilities for users of the adjacent sports field. Local people will also be able to access community health services together with a GP practice and pharmacy. The first floor will accommodate the community meeting room and council staff accommodation plus an administration section for NHS Rotherham staff. The new building will also offer ample car parking spaces for the public with the whole area benefiting from landscaped surroundings. It is expected that the scheme will be completed by January 2012.
The old Council Offices and the Carnegie Library on Rawmarsh Hill at Parkgate will then be closed. With the car parks at the back of these there will be a grand site for Rotherham Council to sell off for redevelopment.
Sandhill
The hill of sand, probably the hill where sand was dug for building work. Now mostly housing estates. The National Coal Board built a new estate, known as 'The Concrete Canyon' at Sandhill, Rawmarsh, for an influx of miners, mostly Scots, who came to work at Kilnhurst Colliery in the 1950s.
Upper Haugh & Nether Haugh
Haugh means an upland area, nether means lower. Haugh is variously pronounced hof, haw, how, and horf but more often without the aitch. Upper Haugh consists of housing estates. There is some nice old property in Nether Haugh, including one of the three manor houses of the Manor of Rawmarsh.
Unfortunately the village straddles the main Barnsley to Rotherham Road and traffic is often very heavy.
Warren Vale
The valley where there were rabbit warrens. Old maps of the area show that this area was riddled with them. The right to warren was an important one through Medieval times and later as the rabbit was a valuable source of food and fur.