Place:Goldthorpe, Yorkshire, England

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source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Goldthorpe is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, in South Yorkshire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it was anciently a small medieval farming village, Goldthorpe is recorded in the Domesday Book and was under the Manor of Bolton upon Dearne which was once owned by Roger de Busli.

Goldthorpe railway station opened in 1988 on the Wakefield Line.

In the early 18th century Barnsley Attorney William Henry Marsden Esquire of nearby Burntwood Hall bought the Lord of the Manor of Bolton on Dearne with Goldthorpe for £10,000 together with over of land. Goldthorpe is recorded in the 1761-1767 Inclosure Awards. The Marsden family continued to hold the manor until 1815.

The area is now commonly referred to as the Dearne Valley and was a major coal mining area, but since the closure of the mines in the late 1980s, it has become a deprived economic area. The area to the west of Goldthorpe along the A635 road is known locally as Highgate.

The actor Brian Blessed once lived on Probert Avenue in Goldthorpe.

St John and St Mary Magdalene Church, Goldthorpe, built in 1916, is an early example of a ferro-concrete building.

According to Pevsner, the pulpit bought by the church in 1931 is 18th century Flemish.

Goldthorpe Market is located just off the A635 in Goldthorpe town centre. The main market days are Tuesday and Saturday. The market has 64 stalls.

Goldthorpe Library is a relatively new building (the previous library having been burnt down in an arson attack) situated in the middle of the town.

The main secondary school in the area is the Dearne High School- a specialist humanities college which caters for around 1,300 pupils aged 11–16 years. There are three main primary schools: Dearne Goldthorpe Primary School (3-11, community school), Dearne Highgate Primary School (3-11, community school) and Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School (3-11, voluntary aided school).

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