Staincross

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Staincross
Staincross shown within South Yorkshire
Metropolitan borough	Barnsley
Metropolitan county	South Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Barnsley
Postcode district	S75
Dialling code	01226
Police	South Yorkshire
Fire	South Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
European Parliament	Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament	Barnsley Central
List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire

Coordinates: 53°35′27″N 1°30′00″W / 53.590833, -1.5

Staincross is a village in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley (part of South Yorkshire, England), on the border with West Yorkshire. Formely part of the now defunct Barnsley West and Penistone borough constituency, following the Boundary Commission for England's report on South Yorkshire's Parliamentary constituencies in 2004 and the subsequent inquiry in 2005, it is now part of the Barnsley Central borough constituency. The Staincross wapentake was named for the village.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Postal Recognition
4 Trivia
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Geography

Staincross lies off the A61 road, about three miles north west of Barnsley. It is located at approximately 53°35′27″N 1°30′0″W / 53.59083, -1.5Coordinates: 53°35′27″N 1°30′0″W / 53.59083, -1.5, and at an elevation of around 125 metres above sea level.

[edit] History

The name is believed to be derived from a Saxon stone cross ('stane cross') that until the 18th Century occupied a position on the junction of Staincross Common - which in itself is an ancient trackway - and Greenside. The stone, now lost, may have been the remains of a rural shrine.^[1]

[edit] Postal Recognition

After a prolonged campaign (backed by former Test cricket umpire, Dickie Bird, a resident of Staincross), a ballot was held in January 2003 to determine whether the residents of Staincross wanted their mail to include the name of the village.^[2] Prior to the ballot, Staincross mail bore the name of a neighbouring village, either Mapplewell or Darton. Indeed it is unclear where the boundaries between the three villages lie. Villagers voted overwhelmingly in favour of the proposal by 966 to 199 ^[3] and Royal Mail implemented changes to officially recognise the village.

[edit] Trivia

The section of the A61 between Staincross and Newmillerdam is rated in the top three most dangerous roads in Britain according to a survey conducted by The AA Motoring Trust. ^[4]