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The Village of Wortley
A place of beauty, character
and especially history
 Many people know Wortley as the place where the traffic on the busy A629 weaves its way between the church and the even older pub. Older readers who live locally may remember the former Wortley Rural District Council that prior to local government reform, covered almost 50,000 acres from the wild moorlands of the Peak District in the west to the fringe of the once mighty South Yorkshire coalfield in the east. To the south the district skirted the urban sprawl of Sheffield with Wortley village almost at its northerly edge. But that is recent history. Wortley, both village and parish have a much longer history as well as great beauty and character. Wortley has a great deal to attract today; those of us who are fortunate enough to live here have much to be thankful for. Those who visit us have much to enjoy.
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 Wortley village and its small parish, some eight and a half miles long and four and a half miles wide, including the hamlets of Bromley and Howbrook and the clusters of houses down the historic Finkle Street near to the old railway station, is one of South Yorkshire’s best kept secrets. Containing as it does clear evidence of a Romano British settlement, the name Wortley is of Anglo-Saxon origin meaning a place cleared of woodland for cultivation. As an area of Viking settlement some local place names also carry this historical mark, notably Wharncliffe originally Quern-cliff. Wortley was included in the Domesday Survey of 1087 and in the late 12th Century saw the influence of the Cistercian monks who are said to have first brought iron works to the Don Valley. Wortley forges produced cannon balls in the mid 17th Century, no doubt used at the local civil war battle at nearby Tankersley Moor in 1643.
 Not surprisingly, there is much evidence in old church registers of colliers in the parish. These would be mainly occupied in earlier times in digging coal by hand from small outcrops and shallow drifts and bell pits but also within the parish between 1864 and 1882 at what was known as Wortley Silkstone Main Colliery (as it worked the Silkstone seam) close to the site of the present Pabilow (or Colliers) Row to the north of the village. Otherwise Wortley was in the main an agricultural parish owned and influenced in so many ways as will be seen, by one long established land-owning family. The core village housing pattern reflects the style of an estate village also seen at Wentworth and Hooton Pagnell. The older houses within the village were clustered around St Leonard’s Church and close to the public house, the school and the local shop with the all-important blacksmith nearby. Although in relatively recent years council houses and individual private houses have been built on what was once estate land and the village has, as a result become more spread out, the old pattern can still be clearly seen. The village square leads in turn to Wortley Hall and the “home farm” and the extensive parkland beyond. A short walk away down the evocatively named Hermit Hill Lane, the one time deer park has over the past 110 years evolved into a much admired golf course. The clubhouse is not much more than two good shots away from Northorpe Farm one of the oldest settlements in the area.
 Wharncliffe Estate, still a substantial landowner has its estate office in the village but more importantly, the centuries old family link with the parish is maintained through the presence in the village and local community of Lady Rowena Stuart Wortley, Lady Barbara Ricardo and recently Lady Ann Bowlby. Carlton, the Fourth Earl of Wharncliffe and father of Lady Rowena, died in 1987 and Aline her mother in 2002. Lady Rowena now lives in the heart of the village only a short distance from the one time Wortley family home at Wortley Hall. Lady Barbara and Lady Ann, sisters of the late Earl, live nearby and Lady Barbara in particular is a lively and indefatigable octogenarian and long time resident of the parish, has a great many friends in the local community.
 The Wortley family line extends back into the Norman period. As in the case with many landed families it has had its ups and downs; periods of considerable influence in state and politics and quieter times when the main concern has been to preserve the South Yorkshire estate for future generations. One Alanus de Wortley was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of 1165 as having a residence at Wortley and he was followed by seven successive Nicholas de Wortleys as Lords of the Manor. Although there is little direct evidence it is believed that Sir Thomas Wortley was living at the Manor close to or on the site of the present Wortley Hall in the second half of the 15th Century. However in 1510 Wharncliffe Lodge was built on a magnificent site on Wharncliffe Chase at the edge of the towering Wharncliffe Crags, 1000 feet above sea level. It was occupied by members of the Wortley family well into the 19th Century. You can still visit the dramatic Crags and search for the lair of the much feared dragon of Wortley as access is available off the old Grenoside to Wortley Ridge Road on certain days of the week. In 1586 Wortley Hall was rebuilt (not for the last time) by Sir Richard Wortley who later lost the estate when he ran into debt. Fortunately after he died in 1603 his widow was able to re-marry, regain the estates and settle them on her grandson Sir Francis Wortley. Sir Francis was a loyalist in the Civil War and spent time in the Tower of London as a prisoner of Cromwell’s Army. A direct descendent married into the Montagu family and produced a son, Edward, who sought to rebuild the Hall once again after the ravages of the Civil War and the early years of the restoration. However the Hall as it stands today is mainly the result of a long and much delayed period of re-building which eventually led to James Archibald Stuart Wortley (MP, Lord Privy Seal and President of the Council and first Baron Wharncliffe) and his wife Lady Caroline Creighton (said to be responsible for much of the landscaping and gardens), returning to the village in the early 1800s.
 According to Lady Barbara, Edward Stuart Wortley the grandson of James Archibald became the first Earl (and thus elevated the family further) at least partly as a result of his foresight in cooperating in the building of a new railway line. The Sheffield, Ashton under Lyne and Manchester railway (later to become the LNER) was opened in 1845 with the completion of the first Woodhead Tunnel. At the Earl of Wharncliffe’s instigation Wortley Station was opened in 1888. Nine years later it was possible to board the train at Wortley and alight in London – a journey made many times by members of the family and in the opposite direction by guests coming to spend sporting holidays in South Yorkshire and staying at Wortley Hall. Lady Barbara confirms that it was almost standard practice for the London train to wait at Wortley Station on those days when it was known that the Earl or his guests planned to travel to London. Eventually the line fell foul of rationalisation of the railway system and by the time the last passenger train ran in 1970, Wortley Station had already been closed. The line of the railway now presents an interesting opportunity for long distance walking (including viaducts and short tunnels) between Wortley and Penistone. Walk down Finkle Street until you see the old railway bridge by the very obviously looking former station then hop onto the track!
 Francis John, the second Earl of Wharncliffe and the great grandfather of Lady Rowena was succeeded by Carlton Archibald Ralph and when he died in 1953 Alan James (known affectionately by many as Carlton) became the fourth Earl. During the 1939-45 period, parts of the Hall were occupied by the Army and the building fell into disrepair after the war. In 1950 the Hall was leased by the Labour Party for use as an educational and holiday home especially for trade union organisations and their members. In 1959 the Hall was purchased from Wharncliffe Estates after a massive fund raising effort to raise the £10,000 necessary to buy the main building, six cottages and 28 acres of land. It thrives to this day as a major tribute to the insight, dedication and voluntary labour of the early pioneers who saw the opportunity as expressed in the souvenir brochure printed after the first 25 years, to create a place where “the wheel of social change has made a full turn”.
Wortley St Leonard’s stands as the heart of the village but with its feet very close to the main road. The lych gate (with interesting coffin rest) is close to one well known sharp bend opposite the Wortley Arms pub and the War Memorial entrance gate, directly opposite the post-office and Countess Tea Room is on the other almost right angled bend. A much admired building with a classical square tower in fine proportion to the main body of the church it is not an old building when compared with the great cathedrals of our land but the site has a long history as a place of worship. There is written evidence of a chapel at Wortley in 1318 but also very good indications that some kind of place of worship was on the site as early as 1268. The Wortley family has been instrumental in the financing of many changes and improvements made to the church in the mid 18th and early 19th Centuries. The tower and new chancel were constructed in the early 1750’s and extensive re-roofing took place shortly afterwards. The bells, which were hung in 1893, are regarded as being one of the finest peals in South Yorkshire. They were a gift from Mary Caroline the Marchioness of Drogheda and sister of the first Earl of Wharncliffe. Amongst many interesting memorials is one to Edward Wortley dated 1778. He was the husband of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, an extraordinary woman of letters who in 1719 first brought the idea of a cure for small pox into England from Turkey where her husband was for a time English Ambassador. At the less exalted level there are a number of memorials to estate workers and two remarkably long-lived local schoolmasters. The last school building, which many generations of Wortley parish people attended, was built in the 18th Century. As a key point of focus for the village it was also used for a range of church and village functions until it was closed in 1992. The fine school building was re-acquired by the estate and converted into housing.
The Wortley family also has an important connection with the golf club. Golf was played originally by the family and friends and a course developed initially perhaps of nine holes on the former Lane Royds deer park. In line with the increased popularity of golf amongst landed families and professional people during the latter part of the 19th Century, a club was formed in 1894 and a few years later a clubhouse was built adjacent to the course. The course was extended to a testing 18 holes with a high reputation for fast and undulating greens. Golfers at Wortley Golf Club are justifiably proud of their classic course set in a totally pastoral environment. First time visitors to the course find it to be an oasis of peace in a busy world. As they cross the road from the Clubhouse and walk down to the first tee past the gamekeeper’s cottage and pheasant rearing pens they move into a world where time may seem for a while to be standing still. They could well imagine coming across Francis John the second Earl of Wharncliffe and founder president of the Club teeing off with a party of friends up from London or Archibald Ralph his successor striding with his spaniel at heel, out of the glorious mature woodland around the fringes of the course with a shooting party on a crisp Saturday morning. Traditions and sporting pursuits are maintained. Portraits of the first three Earl Presidents hang in the Clubhouse and pheasant and wild game shooting still goes on in season through a locally organised syndicate.
History shouts loud in Wortley village and parish. Whether walking amongst the early settlements around the edge of Wharncliffe Chase, looking for the elusive dragon in the caves on the Crags or pottering about in the fascinating early industrial environment of Top Forge, the visitor and local resident have more than enough to stimulate the imagination. A quiet walk around some of the older parts of the village is extremely instructive. Take a look at the old Reading Room (now the Village Club) built by the family as a place for recreation and “improvement” for tenants and estate workers. Take a drink in the historic Wortley Arms before strolling round the churchyard. Look in the churchyard for the old market cross and as you walk down the square towards the entrance to Wortley Hall imagine the local fair held right here as long ago as 1307. Take advantage of the many footpaths and cross over the park to Bromley and on to Howbrook. Walk down to the station and beyond across the once wild Gosling Moor to Moorside Farm and enjoy a magnificent view of Wortley and its church. Then back for tea at the tea room or sample the wide range of wares at our friendly post office and general store.
Here is a place where history, the beauties of nature and the character (and characters!) of village and parish come together. But it is not a museum; it is a live community with a surprising range of businesses often stimulated in recent years by new comers. Sometimes old crafts return; we have a metal worker with his forge at Bromley once again. New skills enter village life; alternative medicine, graphic design and a range of small consultancy businesses for example. Yet around the village in the wider parish, some if not all of the old agricultural environment remains. Early spring sees young lambs in the fields down Finkle Street, Northorpe and Gosling Moor. Late summer sees the gold of harvest across the landscape followed by the opening up of the brown earth again to a new season. And glorious trees everywhere.
If you do not yet know Wortley, come and see us. You will be made most welcome.
Published Summer 2004. All information correct at time of print
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