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Coordinates: 53°28'33?N 1°03'41?W? / ?53.47594, -1.0613
Rossington is a former mining village to the South-East of Doncaster, South Yorkshire and is surrounded by beautiful countryside and the market towns of Bawtry and Tickhill.
[edit] History
There are remains of both a Roman fort and Roman pottery kilns in the area. The name Rossington translates from the old Anglo-Saxon name of 'Farm on the Moor'. In later times, Rossington housed a small village and both Rossington Hall and Shooters Hill Hall.
[edit] Four Villages in One
The area known as "Rossington" is actually made up of four Villages, namely "Littleworth", "Old Rossington", "New Rossington" & Rossington Bridge. Littleworth & Old Rossington merged into one village when a new housing estate was built in the 1970s, the loss of the Littleworth shop, also assisted in the demise of this tiny Hamlet. The New Village began to be built around the time of the sinking of the Colliery.
[edit] The Colliery
It was, however in the mid-twentieth century that saw the largest expansion of the area. The need for workers in and around the Rossington Main Colliery led to the building of large numbers of housing near to the pit in what was called New Rossington. After the end of British Coal in the early 1990s, the mine was able to keep operating and became one of the last in the area to keep producing coal albeit at a greatly reduced scale. However, with the decline of the mine, the village suffered high levels of unemployment and poverty throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. The Colliery finally closed in 2007.
[edit] Old Village Expansion
In more recent years, Old Rossington has seen the building of large levels of new, private housing raising the village's affluence. It is claimed that Rossington is the largest village in Britain with a population of 13,248 (9,089 New Rossington, 4,159 Old Rossington) over four times larger than the near by town of Bawtry (3,198) and making up 4.6% of the total population of the Doncaster Metropolitan Borough (data source, www.doncasterhealth.co.uk/Phiu/communities [1])
The expansion of the Old Village actually makes it newer than the New Village.
[edit] The Railway through Rossington
The 'Old Village' and 'New Village' are separated by the East Coast Mainline; there are only two crossing points over the railway between the old and new villages. These are the road bridge on Stripe Road and the level crossing at the point where West End Lane becomes Station Road. As the road name suggests Rossington once had its own station, however, this was closed during the Beeching cuts of the 1950s and 60s (exact date not known). The station buildings and platforms remained in place until the early 1980s, when the platforms, which were to the south of the level crossing were dug up and the old signal box that stood on the north east side of the crossing was demolished. The signaling having been automated and control of the crossing moved to Doncaster PSB a few years before. When the old signal box was in operation the crossing was controlled by a large set of wooden gates, which were operated by the signalman who had to leave the signal box and open and close the gates by hand. These gates were replaced by automated barriers controlled from Doncaster PSB at the same time as the signal box was closed; however, some older residents of Rossington still refer to the crossing gates. The only surviving building is the old Station cottages, which stand on the north west side of the crossing and are now private dwellings.
[edit] Public Houses
Although there are no really old or historic pubs in Rossington, there two pubs in the village with names that relate to local history, both of which are relatively new buildings (post Second World War). Firstly there is The Styrrup, which is located on the junction of Station Road and Stripe Lane, this pub reputedly acquired its name because the infamous Highwayman Dick Turpin once watered his horse Black Bess at the nearby pump on Station Road while on his legendary ride to York. The second Rossington pub with a storey behind its name is The Poacher on Radburn Road, this pub was built in the early 1980's and at the time the pub was being built along with the surrounding housing estate, the village was rocked by the murder of a local girl by her uncle. When the murder case was brought to trial the key prosecution witness was a local man who had seen the murder take place while out poaching, it was therefore decided that the pub should be named in his honour.
Correction - in addition there was a coaching inn at Rossington Bridge [known locally as Parrot's Corner] which operated until the late 19th century, after which it became a private house. Within the last 20 years it was again licenced and is now a pub called The Hare & Tortoise.
[edit] Religion
St Michaels Church, Old Rossington
The Village currently supports a number of churches.
- St. Michael's Church (Old Rossington Parish Church)
- St. Lukes's Church (New Rossington Parish Church) - [Almost more Catholic than Christ The King!]
- Rossington Methodist Church
- Christ The King Roman Catholic Church
- New Life Christian Centre
- Salvation Army, West End Lane. It's hall closed about 10 to 20 years ago.
[edit] Education
The Village has many successful schools
- St. Michael's CE Primary School
- St. Joeseph's RC Primary School
- Tornedale Infant School
- Pheasant Bank Junior School
- Grange Lane Infant School
- All Saint's School, a CE Sports College.
Rossington is the home to the 'RASCALS' swimming team based at Rossington Sports Centre. Rossington Swimming Club was founded in June 1966. Rossington has a long history of local junior and senior cricket. Rossington Main Cricket Club. The Cricket Club has 3 Senior teams that mixes youth and experience and these teams play on a Saturday and Sunday. The Cricket Club also has junior teams from the age ranges under 11's, under 13's, under 15's and under 17's. The Cricket club is a warm, friendly club always looking for new players of all ability. website/ http://rmcc.play-cricket.com/home/home.asp
(Source: Wikipedia) |