Wortley, South Yorkshire

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Wortley is a village in the Metropolitan borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. It is famous for the Wortley Top Forge, which dates back to the time of the Industrial Revolution, but is most famous for the notorious highwayman Swift Nick (John Nevison, 1639 - 1684) who was born and raised there. It was really he (and not Dick Turpin) who made the infamous ride on horseback from London to York in order to establish an alibi for a robbery. However, the family which owns Wortley and the surrounding estate, the Montagu Stuart-Wortley Mackenzies, have done nothing to commemorate him, and other places (notably Castleford) have therefore had some success in exploiting inaccurate claims concerning his birthplace. Until 1987, Wortley was home to the Earl of Wharncliffe.