Village’s life transformed by pit opening
CERTAIN events affected villages in the 20th century, changing the way of life, which in some instances, had existed for centuries. This was the case with Warmsworth situated between Doncaster and Rotherham.
At the start of the 20th century, the small village of Warmsworth was clustered round Warmsworth Hall, dating from 1702. Built by John Battie (1663-1724), it replaced an earlier manor house. The area’s other noted buildings at this time included St Peter’s Church, a short distance away to the north east; a bell tower at the centre of the village; War ms worth House, War ms- worth Rec tory and aQuak er Friends Meeting House. Workers found employment in agriculture, or lime burning and quarrying at the nearby Levitt Hagg.
An article from June 10, 1910, said that the pretty village of Warmsworth was likely to lose its oldworld characteristics in the near future. A building project was being planned and it was expected that between two and three hundred houses would be built to accommodate an influx of miners at the Yorkshire Main Colliery at Edlington about a mile away. The site of the projected new houses was on the estate of Lady Isabella Battie-Wrightson, near the crossroads on Sheffield Road, Warmsworth. The pit opened in 1911.
A new public house at Warmsworth was opened on February 13, 1911, replacing the Barrel Inn, dating from at least 1822, situated in the old village. The new establishment was described as an attractive building of red brick, the upper storeys overlaid with stucco. Local builder, Wortley, was responsible for erecting the building, costing £3,000, at the junction off our roads to Edlington, Conisbrough, Sprotbrough and Doncaster. The house was christened the Cecil and Battie-Wrightson Arms, taking the two surnames of land owner Lady Isabella Bat tie-Wright son, nee Cecil.
New Co-op stores erected at a cost of £2,000 by the Doncaster Co-operative Society were opened at War ms worth on July2,1913.CP Wightman, the society’s president, officiated at the event. The organisation’s concert party presented a musical programme to a large appreciative audience.
Electric tram services came to Warmsworth on February 4, 1915, when the Balby route was extended to the village. The tramway extension was largely to serve the Yorkshire Main Colliery. Trams terminated outside the Cecil and Battie-Wrightson Arms until 1919 when a short spur was constructed along Edlington Lane. After that, cars stopped beside the Co-operative Society’s building.
A war memorial, placed at the entrance to the local churchyard, was unveiled on September 17, 1921.
It paid tribute to the 15 men from Warmsworth who had been killed in the First World War. The work took the form of a square pillar in grey granite on two bases surmounted by a plain Latin cross. It was constructed by Tyas and Guest, of S win ton, near Rotherham, and cost around £150.
During the 1920s, E Red fern catered for the rise in the number of motor vehicles by establishing a petrol station and garage at the Sprotbrough Road/Doncaster Road junction.
During July 1935 it was stated Warmsworth’s St Peter’s Church was 700 years old and celebrations were being held to mark the event. At the same time, the rector said he could not let the anniversary pass without calling attention to the great need for further church accommodation.
Plans for a new school to be built by the West Riding County Council at Warmsworth were approved in April 1938. The council architect, a Mr Sugden, said it was proposed to build the school immediately behind the site of the temporary wooden school in Sprotbrough Lane. The accommodation was for 100 children.
Warmsworth’s new church of St Peter, standing off the main Doncaster/Sheffield road, but actually in the Borough of Doncaster, was consec rated by the Bishop of Sheffield (the Rt Rev LS Hunter) with legal and sacred ceremonies, on March 28, 1942. The event was attended by many visiting clergy and by the Doncaster mayor. The old church and site were eventually cleared.
A parsonage house/rectory was enlarged and altered by the Rev Charles Edward Thomas around 1861. The building was improved on several occasions throughout the 20th century before being converted to flats during the 1970s, then demolished. A new, smaller rectory has been built on an adjacent site.
A derelict stone quarry was transformed into Warmsworth’s garden park a ta cost of around £10,000 in August 1955. The official opening ceremony was performed by Ald er manHJBamb ridge, chairman of West Riding County Council. At the ceremony, he said more local authorities ought to become “flower conscious” – more aware of the need for beautifying their town and village centres. He added that the quarry, formerly rat infested, was initially offered to the rural council in 1950 for use as a tip. They decided, however, to develop it as a park.
Post-war change precipitated a decline in the rural economy. Coupled with the sale of agricultural land for housing, Warmsworth became a village without a large employer and instead provided houses for people working in other parts of South Yorkshire and beyond.
The opening of the A1, Doncaster bypass, destroyed some of the buildings on Warmsworth’s perimeter including the White House and a both yin the grounds used as a summer house. On July 31, 1961, crowds saw Minister of Transport, Ernest Marples, cut the ribbon at Warmsworth to let traffic roar on to the £6m new road. He stated it was the largest single project to be undertaken in the Government’s plan for turning the Great North Road into a great national highway suited to the needs of modern traffic.
The children and staff of Warmsworth’s Low Road Church of England Infants’ School said goodbye to their old school on Friday, August 4, 1978. Head teacher Audrey Green, who had been there since 1966, locked the door for the last time. She said :“In many ways we are sorry to be leaving it. Lots of parents and grandparents of our children came here.” A new school was provided nearby.
Warmsworth Hall went through a number of ownership changes during the 20th century. It was sold by Robert Cecil Battie-Wrightson in 1945 as part of his Warmsworth estate. Ernest Roper, of Sheffield, bought the property for £2,500, but it was subsequently occupied byJR Hebditch. During the latter’s tenure, a section of the building on the east side, formerly used as a banqueting hall, was demolished due to its poor condition. Between the early 1960s and mid-1990s the hall, along with a group of newly-erected adjoining buildings, formed the site for British Ropes’ new head offices. Later, the hall formed part of the Moat House group of hotels.
The Quaker Friends Meeting House, built by Thomas Aldam, in 1706, was used by the local over-60s club from 1947. In time, it was converted to a private house.
The Battie-Wrightson pub name was simplified to the Cecil Hotel in 1959 and the premises were demolished for road widening during the 1960s. A new pub was built but fire severely damaged the bar during October 1969. The Cecil reopened after a major revamp in 2000 but closed as a pub eight years later.