Tankersley, Yorkshire, England. Geographical and Historical information from 1868.

TANKERSLEY:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1868.

"TANKERSLEY, a parish in the wapentake of Staincross, West Riding county York, 5 miles S. of Barnsley, its post town, and 9 from Sheffield. It is situated near the South Yorkshire railway, which has stations at Westwood and Birdwell. The parish is bounded on the W. by the river Don, and includes the chapelry of Wortley. Many of the inhabitants are employed in the collieries and ironstone mines belonging to Earl Fitzwilliam, who is principal landowner. The soil is generally fertile and the land in good cultivation. The old Hall is in ruins. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of York, value £474. The church is dedicated to St. Peter. There is also a district church at Wortley, the living of which is a perpetual curacy, value £120. There is a National school for both sexes supported by Earl Fitzwilliam, at whose expense it was erected in 1854. The park, which is well wooded and stocked with deer, belongs to Earl Fitzwilliam, who is lord of the manor, and has a seat at Wentworth. The poor have land producing £30 per annum."

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"BROMLEY, a hamlet in the chapelry of Wortley, and parish of Tankersley, wapentake of Staincross, in the West Riding of the county of York, 6 miles to the S.W. of Barnsley. It is crossed by the Midland railway."

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"HERMIT HILL, a hamlet in the township of Wortley and parish of Tankersley, West Riding county York, 4 miles S.E. of Peniston, and 5 S.W. of Barnsley. It is situated near the river Don."

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"HOWBROOK, a hamlet in the township of Wortley, and parish of Tankersley, West Riding county York, 4 miles S.E. of Peniston, and 5 S.W. of Barnsley. It is situated near the river Don."

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"PILLEY, a hamlet in the township and parish of Tankersley, West Riding county York, 3 miles S. of Barnsley."

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"WORTLEY, a township and village in the parish of Tankersley, upper division of Staincross wapentake, West Riding county York, 8½ miles N. of Sheffield, its post town, and 7 S.W. of Barnsley. It has stations on the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, Great Northern, and London and North-Western railways. The township is separated on the W. from Bradfield and part of the parish of Penistone by the river Don, and includes the hamlets of Bromley, Finkle Street, Hermit Hill, Howbrook, and Smithy Folds. The chief seats are Wharncliffe Hall, the seat of Lord Wharncliffe, who is lord of the manor, and Wharncliffe Lodge, for many generations the seat of the Wortley family; the latter was built in 1510 by Sir Thomas Wortley, ancestor of the Hon. Edward Montague and the Lady Mary Wortley Montague. Near the old seat are Wharncliffe crags, the scene of the ballad of the Dragon of Wantley. The soil is clayey, and the substratum abounds in coal, ironstone, and gritstone. There are collieries, iron and steel works, agricultural implement factories, brick and tile kilns, and stone quarries. The Wharncliffe Silkstone Company have their works here. The population in 1857 was 1,095, and in 1861 it was 1,121. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of York, value £120. The church, dedicated to St. Leonard, was partially rebuilt in 1815. There are a public library, a National schoolhouse, erected by Lord Wharncliffe in 1861, and a Sunday-school. The charities produce about £35 per annum."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2013