The Unofficial
Website
Templeborough
Templeborough is situated west of Rotherham Town Centre in the floodplain of
the River Don. This was a predominately agricultural area until the Nineteenth Century filled up the river valley with industry. There is now nothing left of the Roman fort possibly
called Morbium and the associated graveyards etc. that used to be in Templeborough. I assume that later people who lived in Rotherham interpreted the remains of the fort as a temple
hence the name Templeborough rather than Forttown or Castleborough. Other versions of the name recorded are Templebarrow, and the place was also called Burgh (or Brough) Hill and Castle
Garth.
In the Twelfth Century Templeborough was owned by the de Saville family. It was gifted to the Abbot of Roche Abbey in whose hands it remained until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538. It was a crown possession to 1559 during which time the old fort was used as a quarry by the locals. In 1559 Queen Elizabeth granted Templeborough and Ickles to Lionel Reresby. The Reresbys sold the estate to Sir John Savile in 1705. Elizabeth Savile inherited Templeborough along with the Thrybergh estates of the Reresbys. Both estates were owned by the same families, latterly the Fullertons, to 1803. Quite what happened after that I am not sure but during the early months of the First World War steel works were built on the site. The steel company permitted excavation the site of the fort and cemeteries before they disappeared under the works.
There was a small village here with houses, a chapel, a public house and a school opened in 1903. The community was destroyed in the 1950s to allow for the further expansion of the steelworks. The pub called the Temple is still there but I don't think its a pub any more. Now there are only works and derelict works at Templeborough. Oh and Magna Science Adventure Centre. I suppose Blackburn Meadows once a sewage farm now a nature reserve also qualifies.
More pages:-
Photographs of Templeborough
Other Pages to Visit
For more information about the area visit onsite at:-
The History of Rotherham >> Roman Rotherham
Culture in Rotherham >> Museums >> Magna
Recreation in Rotherham >> Parks >> Other Nature Reserves, Woodlands & Wetlands >> Blackburn
Meadows
Village Links
Other Useful Information
The old Guest and Chrimes building is part of the site that Tesco were considering developing but have been denied planning permission despite an appeal. Rotherham Industrial Development Office are also involved in a £43.3m scheme to bring benefits to Ferham, Masbrough and Canklow.