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Killamarsh is a town and civil parish in North East Derbyshire, England, bordering Sheffield and South Yorkshire to the north-west. Killamarsh is surrounded by, in a clockwise direction from the north, Rother Valley Country Park, the village of Wales, South Yorkshire, Kiveton, Woodall, Harthill, Barlborough, Spinkhill, Renishaw, Eckington, and the (former Derbyshire) Sheffield suburbs of Oxclose, Halfway and Holbrook.

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Killamarsh
West End Hotel, Killamarsh
Killamarsh Location within Derbyshire
Population	9,445 (civil parish, 2011)[1]
OS grid reference	SK458806
Civil parish	Killamarsh
District	North East Derbyshire
Shire county	Derbyshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	SHEFFIELD
Postcode district	S21
Dialling code	0114
Police	Derbyshire
Fire	Derbyshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
UK Parliament	North East Derbyshire
List of places UK England Derbyshire 53.3205°N 1.3116°W / 53.3205; -1.3116

The place-name 'Killamarsh' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Chinewoldemaresc.[2] It appears as Kinewaldesmers in the Charter Roll for 1249. The name means 'Cynewald's marsh'.[3]

There are a number of smaller communities within the town: Norwood, Nethergreen, Westthorpe and Upperthorpe surround the main town centre.

History

Domesday records Killamarsh as belonging to Hascoit Musard and being valued at 12 pence.[2] The Grade II* listed parish church of St Giles was built between the 12th and 15th centuries using sandstone. Additions were made in 1895 by J. M. Brooks in magnesium limestone. The chancel south window is restored 15th-century stained glass, and the chancel east window of 1845 is by William Warrington.[4] A Grade II listed medieval cross stands in the graveyard.[5] A number of public houses in Killamarsh are over 300 years old.

Economy

The community originally grew from a farming community, self-sufficient in agricultural and dairy produce since the Middle Ages. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Killamarsh became a thriving mining town as the burgeoning Sheffield iron industry demanded coal and transport links with Sheffield matured. Coal has been mined in Killamarsh since at least the 15th century, but the first major mining operation opened at Norwood resulting in an almost doubling of the Killamarsh population between 1861 and 1871. The last two "pits", Westthorpe and High Moor, are now gone, casualties of the early 1980s pit closure programme.

The river Rother which flanks Killamarsh had provided power to grain mills since the earliest times and was used by ironmongers and smiths from the late 18th century.[6] Killamarsh Forge was owned and operated by Webster & Horsfall. They made crucible steel which was cast into ingots. These were then shipped to their Penns Mill plant in Walmley, who drew the special wire. This was used in the core of the second trans-Atlantic telegraph cable laid by the SS Great Eastern in 1866 as well as other equipment used in the splicing operations.

There is an industrial estate located in the Norwood area north of the town and light industrial units and a business innovation centre to the south on the site of the old Westthorpe Colliery. To the west of Killamarsh is a small animal feed mill, and the factory of Ross and Catherall, a specialist alloys supplier to the aerospace industry.

Composition and geography

Killamarsh is situated on the eastern side of the Rother Valley. The centre of Killamarsh can be defined as the junction where Bridge Street meets Sheffield Road, from which point the roads lead to all other areas of the town. The surrounding area, which contains the shops and businesses on Sheffield Road and Bridge Street, is commonly known as The Village by locals. Southwards up Sheepcote Hill, the communities of Upperthorpe and Westthorpe lie to the east and south east. In earlier times these were distinctively separate from the village centre but it is now difficult to define where the boundaries between the three actually are.

To the west of the centre is Netherthorpe, which encompasses the area around the former railway lines and the new-build estates around Walford Road. The centre to south west of Killamarsh is dominated by housing estates built post-war and in the second half of the 20th century. The Rowan Tree Road area contains mostly semidetached houses on roads named primarily after trees. Killamarsh's estate of pre-fabricated mostly council homes – dubbed the "White City" – is adjacent. Norwood is in the north of the town and surrounds the main road which leads to Waleswood. Between this and Upperthorpe are Church Town and Nether Green, which surround the Kirkcroft Lane area. Out on the far eastern boundaries is High Moor, which due to its significant distance from the rest of Killamarsh is often described as a village in its own right.

Transport

Killamarsh is roughly the same distance to the centres of Sheffield, Chesterfield and Rotherham. Sheffield became the dominant connecting city as its burgeoning iron and steel industry demanded coal, and the road between Killamarsh and Sheffield was upgraded.

Road

The main trunk route into Killamarsh is the B6058 (Station Road/Sheffield Road) which connects the town centre to the A6153 in Mosborough via Halfway, and the A618 at Norwood Roundabout. The A618 then runs south through High Moor towards Clowne, and north through Norwood towards the A57 at Aston. A handful of rural roads connect Killamarsh to the A6153 at Renishaw via Spinkhill. Other notable main roads in Killamarsh include Bridge Street, which runs through the heart of Killamarsh's commercial area, and Walford Road/Rowan Tree Road, which skirt the bulk of the town's residential area.

Killamarsh is roughly equidistant to junctions 30 (Barlborough) and 31 (Aston) of the M1.

Bus and tram

Killamarsh is served by public transport. It is served by 2 services operated by Stagecoach in Chesterfield with 3 services operated by Stagecoach Yorkshire and 2 services operated by TM Travel. There are hourly services to Chesterfield in the form of the 80/80A which is an extension of the 80 bus to Brimington from Chesterfield as one bus an hour is extended from Brimington to Sheffield via Staveley, Killamarsh and Crystal Peaks. There are other services to Crystal Peaks and Thorpe Salvin with the 26/26A and Crystal Peaks to Clowne with the 74. TM Travel also operate two services, the X30 to Sheffield, once in the morning and once in the late afternoon to Harthill, and the 29a, also once in the early morning, to Rotherham. Killamarsh used to have a service which went to Dinnington and Rotherham, First South Yorkshire's 27 which was cut back in the early 2010s. Killamarsh is also served by the 627 Rotherham – Kiveton Park, weekdays and only in school time.

Rail

Killamarsh is no longer served by passenger rail transport, but before the Second World War, three railway lines made their way through the west side of the town, with three stations. These were, Killamarsh West (opened 1841), on the Midland Railway's Old Road route which bypassed Sheffield, Killamarsh Central (opened 1892), on the Great Central Railway's mainline from London to Manchester, and Upperthorpe and Killamarsh (opened 1898), on the LD&ECR's Beighton Branch into Sheffield. Upperthorpe and Killamarsh was the first station to close in 1930 after just 32 years of service, with the line itself closing with the outbreak of war nine years later. Post war, and in 1954 Killamarsh West Closed, with Killamarsh Central remaining open until 1963, when it too was closed, both stations victims of British Railways' vast closure schemes during this period.^{[citation needed]}

The track through the former Great Central line was eventually lifted in the early 1980s, and today forms part of the Trans Pennine Trail. The LD&ECR's route remains derelict to this day, complete with abandoned ballast and signalling cables. The Midland's Old Road route remains open to freight traffic, and has been the subject of debate in recent times over the possibility of reopening a station for Killamarsh on the Line.

The western side of Killamarsh was going to be significantly affected by the new HS2 route from Birmingham to Leeds, but following the government's favouring of an alternative route which will run parallel to the M1 motorway, this is no longer likely to be the case.[7]

Cycling

Killamarsh is one of the beneficiaries of the Sustrans Connect2 project for creating cycle routes.[8] The project has now drawn to a close with the final erection of two new pedestrian and cycle bridges crossing the River Rother and the railway on the border of NE Derbyshire and Sheffield.

Chesterfield Canal

The Chesterfield Canal passed through the town on its way to Kiveton via the Norwood Tunnel, which was the joint longest canal tunnel in the UK at the time of its construction.[9] The canal fell into disrepair following the collapse of the tunnel in 1907. The remains of the Chesterfield Canal are present but housing has been built on part of the canal's original route, and the undeveloped sections are mostly public footpaths. Work carried out in 2008 to create the Killamarsh Greenway brought large sections of the original canal towpath back into use as a traffic-free route through the town, with the intention that once restoration is complete, a significant section of the towpath will already be in a usable state. The canal has been restored from the Chesterfield end as far as Staveley. Work is ongoing to extend it towards Killamarsh with a new route proposed to bypass the missing section and link up to the existing canal at Kiveton. The planned new route will take in part of the old line of the canal and introduce some new sections including taking the canal in to Rother Valley Park before rejoining the original line for the ascent through Norwood.

The planned Rother Link will connect the Chesterfield Canal at Killamarsh, via the River Rother through to the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation, thus creating a new cruising ring and encouraging boats to visit the Chesterfield Canal.

Facilities

Killamarsh has a library, medical centre, shopping areas, and newsagents. It also has good connections to local major towns by virtue of regular bus services and its location close to the Halfway terminus of the Sheffield Supertram network.

Rother Valley Park

Rother Valley Country Park lies to the north of the town. It was created in the early 1980s as part of the restoration works following open cast mining of the area. Originally managed by a joint board of Sheffield MBC, Rotherham MBC, South Yorkshire MCC and Derbyshire CC, the park is now wholly managed by Rotherham. The scheme created a series of ponds and lakes, with the surrounding area landscaped to form a nature reserve[10] and recreation areas, with facilities for water sports. The River Rother flows from the west of town and passes through the centre of the park. Gulliver's Valley, located beside the Rother Valley Park, is a theme park opened in 2020 on the site of a former colliery.[11][12]

Notable residents

• Lee Askham, footballer, who played for Chesterfield F.C., born here.
• Millie Bright, footballer, who has played for Doncaster Belles, Chelsea and England.
• Fred Greaves, the first Derbyshire person to be awarded a Victoria Cross was born here in 1890.[13]
• Richard Hinds grew up in Killamarsh and was a member of the first team squad at Sheffield Wednesday Football Club from 2007 to 2011.
• Sidney Smith, professional billiards and snooker player who was born in Killamarsh in 1908.[14]
• Nicky Weaver, footballer who played as a goalkeeper, grew up in Killamarsh.[15]

Sports teams

This section does not cite any sources. (September 2021)

Killamarsh has many sports teams, in senior and junior age groups. The Killamarsh Dynamoes Athletic Football Club (KDAFC) is one of the many junior footballing sides in the area. Killamarsh Khaos Skater Hockey Club (KSHC) is a roller hockey club with age groups spanning from U10 (U12, U14, etc.) up to senior level. Killamarsh Juniors Athletic Club Institute hosts senior and junior football on its grounds as well as the Killamarsh Juniors Cricket Club (KJCC), which has age groups from U11 to three senior sides and a Sunday side.

See also

• Listed buildings in Killamarsh
• List of places in Derbyshire

References

External links

• Killamarsh in the Domesday Book

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