Rotherham - From College Town to Den of Vice By Simon Haughtone, 15th century, Abbey, Age, Archbishop, archbishop of york, biking, bird, building, bustling town, café, Cambridge, centre, century, charter, clifton park, College, day, Den, Don, early middle ages, effort, entrance, evidence, fair, farmers market, fine, first brick, ford, hand, hiking, history, home, honey, Iron, iron age, Ironworks, Jesus, joshua walker, kiln, Location, Museum, Oxford, parish, place, point, point in time, porcelain, porcelain collection, property, river, river don, Roman, roman settlements, Rotherham, Rufford, Saxon, selection, Simon Haughtone, south yorkshire, Swinton, Thomas Rotherham, UK, Vice, watching, Waterloo, York

Rotherham - From College Town to Den of Vice By Simon Haughtone

January 16, 2010 | Countries, Hotels Accommodations, Tourist Attractions, Travel Tips

The town of Rotherham in South Yorkshire hosts a monthly farmers market and the bustling town centre is home to more than 400 shops, restaurants and café’s. The market boasts a good selection of hand made good like soaps, jams, honey and lots more and if you happen to be in town when it takes place, you would be remiss not to make an effort to attend.

Rotherham is a great location for bird watching, biking and hiking, and you will also find a good selection of historic guided tours. The Clifton Park museum is dedicated to the history of the town and houses a fine collection of porcelain. This was the former home of Joshua Walker, and built in 1783, he founded and owned the Rotherham Ironworks. Entrance is free, and nearby at the pottery ponds and Waterloo kiln, visitors are able to see how the museum porcelain collection was manufactured. This town was the home of Swinton pottery which was built in 1745.

Rotherham is situated on a ford on the River Don, and although there is evidence that both Iron Age and Roman settlements existed here at some point in time. These are now covered by the town which was established as a major Saxon market town in the early middle ages.

Rufford Abbey was established here and as both the Lords of Rotherham were absentee lords, they gave the property to the monks of the Abbey. The monks requested for more market days to be added to their charter and that and additional day be added to the annual fair. This was granted and the monks collected tithes from the parish which now extended across both sides of the river.

In the 15th Century the Archbishop of York - Thomas Rotherham built the “College of Jesus”. It was meant to rival both Oxford and Cambridge. This turned the town into a modern town as it was the first brick building in South Yorkshire, however it didn’t do very well and was closed in 1547. The buildings of the college are still in the town centre and intact, but the reputation of Rotherham as a college town did not remain intact and it soon became a den of vice

Discover your next hotel in Rotherham or select somewhere to stay from these UK hotels

Originally posted 2009-09-09 16:43:06. Republished by Old Post Promoter

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