Thurcroft

Thurcroft
Thurcroft  Thurcroft shown within South Yorkshire
Population	5,296
OS grid reference	SK5089
Civil parish	Thurcroft
Metropolitan borough	Rotherham
Metropolitan county	South Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ROTHERHAM
Postcode district	S66
Dialling code	01709
Police	South Yorkshire
Fire	South Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
EU Parliament	Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament	Rother Valley
List of places UK England Yorkshire

Thurcroft is a village and civil parish situated southeast of Rotherham in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. From 1902 to 1991, it was a close-knit, mining community. It has a population of 5,296.^[1]

The village has seen great changes and re-generation since the pit closed down. It had a devastating effect on the community as a whole and since a lot of families have moved out of the village. Recent re-generation has taken place from the local council and now the housing has increased with new housing estates being built on the old pit site.

The old colliery site and the pit tip have now been renovated into large grass planes and show no sign of what they once were.

Facilities

Thurcroft has a number of schools, pubs, a snooker club, a cricket club, five take-a-ways, car spares shop, a garage, a DIY shop, a charity shop, the Thurcroft Welfare Community Hall, the Gordon Bennett Memorial Hall, a pharmacy, a bookmaker, an off licence, a butcher, a beauty parlour, a Dance Wear and Fancy Dress Shop (Performers Unlimited), four hairdressers, a traditional sweet shop, a Deli, a Kitchen shop, three newsagents, and two medium sized supermarkets, the SPAR, and the Co-Op. There is also a gymnasium, in the old chapel and an auction hall, which used to be a cinema many years ago. Also in Thurcroft is a large shoe shopping centre, Wyndsor World of Shoes. Next to Windsor are three local independent shops. In addition, an independent free church, Thurcroft Christian Fellowship (TCF CHURCH).

History

The name Thurcroft has Norse (Viking) roots as 'thorr' means thunder in old Norse, so is probably at least a thousand years old. According to A D Mills in his 'Dictionary of English Place-Names' the first mention of Thurcroft is in 1319. Thurscroft 'Enclosure of a man called Thorir. Old Scandinavian persons name + Old English word Croft

Until the 20th century Thurcroft consisted of Thurcroft Hall, the longtime holding of the Mirfin family, and three other farms. Thurcroft Hall was held by the Mirfin (sometimes spelled Mirfield) until 1644 when Robert Mirfin, the lord of the manor, died childless. The property then was carried into the Beckwith family by his widow—who also happened to be his stepsister. The MIrfields and the Levetts of nearby High Melton were interrelated, Thomas Levett having married Robert Mirfin's sister Elizabeth.^[2]

Today's Thurcroft is very different from its medieval antecedents. Today's town now has a disreputable reputation due to the high level of crime and anti-social behaviour. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Coal mining

The land on which the village would one day stand was bought in the 1800s (along with the Hall) by a Sheffield brewer (Thomas Marrian), whose son, Thomas Marrian Jr, leased the coal mining rights to Rother Vale Collieries in 1902. Modern Thurcroft only really came into being with the sinking of the coal mine in around 1909. Many of the terraced houses on the area showed characteristics of coal mining in the last quarter of the 19th century and first quarter of the 20th century. The population grew from next to nothing in 1900 to around 2,000 in 1923: Shortly after which the village saw hard times in the 1926 coal strike, when 250,000 free meals were given out between May and September. By 1947 the mine employed over 2,000 men, and in the 1984/85 miners' strike was once again in the thick of the action.

The coal mine was closed in Thurcroft in 1991 despite attempts by the workforce to buy it out.

Church and parish

Before 1995 Thurcroft was within the parish of Laughton-en-le-Morthen and a permanent stone church was only built in 1937, making it one of the newest on this site (although there was a Methodist chapel built in 1917, and a village cemetery was established in the 1920s). Thurcroft parish became separate from Laughton in 1995.The old Catholic Church is now home to TCF Church.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thurcroft.

• History of Thurcroft, Timeline, Thurcroftweb
• Thurcroft Top Club F.C.
• Thurcroft Welfare Community Hall