Wath upon Dearne
The name Wath means a ford or crossing place, possibly from the Latin vadum. It was shown as Wad in the Domesday Book. It may also come from the Norse 'Vath' also meaning a ford. Dearne is one of the names of the river which had also been known as Dart, Derwent and Darent. All these are names of rivers in other parts of England and like Avon presumably mean river. The town is variously known as Wath, Wath-on-Dearne or Wath-upon-Dearne.
The present town of Wath upon Dearne is placed south of the River Dearne and most of it, but not all, is situated clear of the floodplain, so the river is a fair distance away. Little is known of the early history of Wath upon Dearne but it seems likely that there was a small settlement here back in Pre-Roman times build in a convenient spot near the river crossing. There may also have been a Roman outpost from the fort or castra at Doncaster (Danum) which controlled the passage across the ford. There was a settlement here in Anglo-Saxon times as there is evidence of Anglo-Saxon foundations in the church of All Saints. The community would have been largely agricultural for many centuries astride the junction of the old Doncaster-Barnsley and Rotherham-Pontefract roads, the latter a branch of the ancient way called Ryknield Street.
The manor of Wath was given by the Conqueror to Roger de Busli, from whose family it passed to the Flemings and then to the Wentworths. After the death of the last Marquis of Rockingham it passed to Earl Fitzwilliam. A market has existed here since the Middle Ages and the remains of the Market Cross (buttercross) are preserved. According the information:–
"1312. King Edward II granted Reiner Fleming IV, Lord of the Manor of Wath, permission for an annual market and fair. Reiner probably set up the Market Cross at the bottom of Sandygate.1989. The new shaft was given in memory of Gorge Bramall and Richard Ogden, Builders of this Town."
It appears that the market was discontinued some time afterwards but was revived in 1814.
Around the turn of the 19th century the poet and newspaper editor James Montgomery who was a resident of Wath at that time, described it as "the Queen of villages". This rural character was to change rapidly in the 19th and 20th century with the development of the deep mining industry.
The 1837 version of White's Directory called Wath-upon-Dearne “a fertile and extensive parish, roughly 6 miles by 4, and bounded to the south by Rawmarsh, Greasbrough, Kimberworth and Chapeltown, to the west by Tankersley, to the north by the parishes of Darfield and Adwick, and on the east by the River Don.”
It contained roughly 11,000 acres and in 1801 when the first census was taken there was a population around 4,000 which increased to just under 7,000 by 1831.
Kelly's West Riding Directory (1867) stated that that Wath had a National School for boys built in 1663 and endowed by the Rev. Thomas Wombwell, who had been vicar of the parish. The girls did not get a school until 1858 when the money to build it was raised by subscription. There were three chapels for Wesleyans, Wesleyan Regformers and the Primitive Methodists. Servant hiring statutes were held on 24th November each year. A pioneer of shorthand called William Addy who had a shorthand bible published in 1687 was born in the town.
Coal mining must have become an important industry towards the end of the 18th Century. The Dearne and Dove Canal, which was opened in stages from 1798 to 1804 was built to transport fuel from the local collieries on the southern side of the Dearne Valley to markets in the rest of Briatain. The canal passed through the town just to the north of the High Street on a large embankment and then turned north into the Dearne valley: a wide section known locally as the 'Bay of Biscay'. The canal finally closed in 1961 after many years unused and in poor repair. Much of the line of the canal in the town has since been used for new roads; one called 'Biscay Way'.
Rail took over from the canal as a means of transporting coal out of the area, and Wath upon Dearne became a railfreight centre of national importance. One of the biggest and, for its time, most modern railway marshalling yards, the Wath marshalling yard in the UK was built north of the town in 1907. It was one of the eastern ends of the trans-Pennine Manchester-Sheffield-Wath electrified railway (also known as the Woodhead Line), a project which spanned World War II, and was in part justified by the need to transport large amounts of coal mined in the The Town of Wath-upon-Dearne to customers in North-West England.
Large scale coal mining commenced with the sinking of Wath Main began in 1875. There were two shafts when the mine was fully working. Manvers Main at Wath consisted of three collieries. The first was sunk in the late 1890s, the second 1900-1901 but when the third shaft was started has eluded me. Manvers was owned by Manvers Main Collieries Ltd., Wath-on-Dearne, Rotherham, Yorks in 1945. By about 1900 the pits must have brought a good deal of wealth to the town if you judge by the substantial well-built houses from the period. It was part of one the largest smelliest, and dirtiest concentrations of industry in South Yorkshire with coking ovens and vast railway yards, as well as the pits. These all closed in the 1980s.
Wath once had three railway stations, all on Station Road - Wath Central, Wath (Hull and Barnsley) and Wath North in order of distance from the town centre. This most distant station was the last to close in 1968 as a part of the Beeching Axe. The town no longer has a direct rail link, although there has been talk of opening a station on the Sheffield-Wakefield-Leeds line at Manvers, roughly a mile from the town centre.
Following the closure of the collieries and the industries associated with them, Wath upon Dearne entered on a period of hardship. Along with the whole of the Dearne Valley, Wath was classified as an impoverished area and received much public money. I believe that quite a lot of money both from the EU and the Coalfields Development Fund and other public bodies was spent in Wath to reclaim the old pit sites and railway yards at Manvers. Development of new roads, light industrial units, office complexes have helped to bring Wath into the 21st Century. Large housing developments are taking place and firms like Tesco and Netto have built the supermarkets to feed both the old populations and the incomers.
Held every May bank holiday, Wath Festival is the biggest folk festival of its kind in the region, with a growing national reputation. Some of the biggest names in the folk scene have appeared in recent years. It is also very much a community festival with traditional dancing, street performances, workshops, children's festival and the famous throwing of the bread buns from the Parish Church Tower.
Wath has a population of about 17000. It is twinned with Saint-Jean-de-Bournay, in France.
The Montgomery Hall
Address:- Church Street, Wath-upon-Dearne Tel. 44 (0)1709 513160. Website www.montgomeryhall.co.ukThe Montgomery Hall which had been derelict has been re-vamped and re-opened as a multi-purpose community cultural centre. This is home to many community groups as well as performances and gigs.
Wath Churches
All Saints
Address:- Church Street, Wath-upon-Dearne.A church has existed here since Saxon times. The first building was probably of wood but by the time the Normans arrived in 1066 there was a small stone church. The Normans extended the church about 1150 by adding a north aisle and chancel. The Lady Chapel was built around 1300 and a row of carved heads originally on the outside wall were incorporated in the new chapel. There are Norman remains including the base of the tower and the north arcade of the nave and chancel but the remainder of the of the bell tower and its spire are 15th century. The south aisle, arcade and some of the windows are 600 years old. The living was worth £315 p.a. in 1831 and is a discharged vicarage in the gift of the dean and chapter of Christ Church, Oxford who hold the tithes by a grant from Henry VIII. Visit their website www.wathparishchurch.co.uk.
St James
Wath's second church dedicated to St. James dates from 1902.
Wath Trinity Methodist Church
Address:- Church Street, Wath-upon-Dearne. This is a substantial building which looks as if it dates from Victorian times.Old Gaol
Close to All Saints Church is a very old and dilapidated building which was the local gaol. It had two windowless stone cells for drunks and troublemakers, and a police constable's room above.