Catcliffe
Coordinates: 53°23′30″N 1°21′45″W / 53.39163°N 1.36240°W
Catcliffe is a village and civil parish on the north-west bank of the River Rother in South Yorkshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,108.[2] It is located in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, about 2.5 miles (4 km) south of the town of Rotherham and 4.3 miles (7 km) east of Sheffield City Centre.
History
Catcliffe is mentioned in the Domesday book, its name is presumed to mean the cliff where the cats live. In 1740 William Fenney established a glassworks here. The site was chosen, amongst other reasons, for being 10.5 miles away from Fenney's a glassworks in Bolsterstone, formerly owned by his mother-in-law—the terms of her will prevented him from setting up a glassworks within 10 miles of the town. One of the cones of this glassworks still exists and is the oldest surviving structure of its type in Western Europe. It is a Grade I listed building[3] and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
On 25 June 2007 the village was evacuated because of fears that cracks in the dam at Ulley reservoir could lead to widespread flooding in the valley.
Catcliffe railway station opened on 30 April 1900 and closed on 11 September 1939.
Governance
Catcliffe is a civil parish and local issues are governed by a Parish Council, one of 29 such councils in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, whose chairman is Councillor Andrew Cater.[4] It is in the Brinsworth and Catcliffe Ward of the Borough, which is represented on the Borough Council by Alan Buckley and Andrew Roddison of the Labour Party[5] and Nigel Simpson of UKIP. This ward is part of the Rotherham parliamentary constituency, no longer a safe Labour Party safe seat, and is presently represented in the House of Commons by Sarah Champion MP who has held the seat since a by-election in 2012 when the previous incumbent Denis MacShane resigned over an expenses scandal.[6]
Geography
Catcliffe is located on the west side of the River Rother, about 2.5 miles (4 km) south of the town of Rotherham and 4.3 miles (7 km) east of Sheffield City Centre. The village sits on the floor of the Rother Valley, ranging from about 30 metres (98 ft) to 50 metres (160 ft) above mean sea level.[7] The village is susceptible to flooding and was badly affected by the floods of June 2007.[8]
Demography
At the time of the United Kingdom 2001 Census the population of Catcliffe civil parish was 1,766 people.[1] The ethnic mix was 98.9% white (White British, White Irish, or White Other), 0.3% Black British, 0.2% Asian, and 0.6% mixed race.[9]
Below is a table outlining population change of the parish since 1801.
| Year | 1801 | 1871 | 1901 | 1951 | 2001 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 135 | 336 | 1,232 | 2,048 | 1,766 | ||||||||
| Source: A Vision of Britain through Time[10] | |||||||||||||
Landmarks
As well as the glass cone, the centre of the village is dominated by a nine-arch viaduct that was built in 1901 to carry the Sheffield District Railway across the River Rother.[11] Catcliffe Flash, to the south of the village, is a local nature reserve that is made up of a lake and marshland formed as the elevation of the land beside the River Rother dropped due to coal mining subsidence.[12]
Transport
Catcliffe is bisected by the A630 Sheffield Parkway, close to junction 33 of the M1 motorway.[7] Bus services provided by First South Yorkshire, Powells Bus Co., and TM Travel link the village with Rotherham Town Centre, Sheffield City Centre, and the Meadowhall Centre, as well as the surrounding villages.[13] The closest mainline railway stations are at Sheffield, Rotherham, and Meadowhall. The Sheffield District Railway ran through the village, and there was a passenger station at Catcliffe railway station from 1900 to 1939.
Notable people
Former English footballer Gordon Banks was born in Catcliffe.[14] His nephew Nick Banks, drummer for the band Pulp, now owns a pottery in the village.[15] Pulp used to rehearse in Catcliffe and wrote the song Catcliffe Shakedown, which portrays the village in a negative light.
Sports
The village had its own football team – Catcliffe F.C. – playing in the FA Cup during the 1900s.
References and notes
- 1 2 "Catcliffe CP". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
- ↑ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- ↑ Historic England. "The Glassworks Cone (335632)". Images of England. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
- ↑ "Rotherham Parish and Town Councils". Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
- ↑ "Ward 3: Brinsworth and Catcliffe". Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council website. Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
- ↑ "Political profile: Sarah Champion". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
- 1 2 "Grid reference SK 425 885". Get A Map. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
- ↑ "Residents welcome flood defence". BBC News. BBC. 29 May 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- ↑ Data taken from Lower Layer Super Output Area area Rotherham 027B, which covers an area that is slightly smaller than the civil parish, giving a total population of 1,507 people. See: "Area: Catcliffe CP (Parish)". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- ↑ "Catcliffe Tn/CP: Total Population". A Vision of Britain Through Time. Great Britain Historical GIS Project. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
- ↑ Batty, S. (1984). Rail Centres: Sheffield. Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Limited. p. 50. ISBN 1-901945-21-9.
- ↑ "Catcliffe Flash LNR". Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
- ↑ "Bus timetables for Catcliffe". Travel South Yorkshire. South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- ↑ "People of note: Gordon Banks". Treetonweb. Treeton Parish Council. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- ↑ "Catcliffe Viaduct and Railway". Treetonweb. Treeton Parish Council. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
External links
Media related to Catcliffe at Wikimedia Commons