Oughtibridge
Encyclopedia
Oughtibridge is a residential village on the northern outskirts of Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

 within the bounds of Bradfield Parish Council. The village stands 5 miles (8 km) northwest of the city centre
Sheffield City Centre
Sheffield City Centre—often just referred to as town—is a district of the City of Sheffield, and part of the Sheffield Central ward. It includes the area that is within a radius of roughly of Sheffield Cathedral, and is encircled by the Inner Ring Road—a circular route started in the late 1960s...

 in the valley of the River Don. The population of the village has increased significantly in recent years due to much private housing development and stood at 3,542 in 2006 over an area of 355 hectares (877.2 acre).

Origins

The origins of Oughtibridge date back to the first part of the 12th century when a ford existed in the area over the Don. The ford was managed by a man named Oughtred who resided in a nearby cottage. When a bridge was built on the spot in approximately 1150 it became known as Oughtred’s Bridge or by his nickname of Oughty’s Bridge and the small settlement around the bridge adapted the same name. The hamlet of Oughtibridge grew up as a focal point for local farming communities and the first documented mention of Oughtibridge occurred in 1161 when one of the signatories of an agreement on the grazing rights of Ecclesfield Priory
Ecclesfield Priory
Ecclesfield Priory was a religious house of Benedictine monks, lying in the village of Ecclesfield, north of Sheffield in Yorkshire, United Kingdom.-Early history:...

 was “Ralph, the son of Oughtred”. The name Ughtinabrigg, meaning Oughtred’s Bridge in Middle English
Middle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....

, was used in the document. The priory’s grazing rights included Beeley Wood
Beeley Wood
Beeley Wood is a woodland in the north of the City of Sheffield, near Middlewood. It is one of 35 ancient woodland areas within the Sheffield City boundary...

, a remnant of which still exists to the east of the village. Oughtibridge Hall was built on the high ground to the east of the hamlet in the 16th century; it still stands today and is a Grade-II-listed building.

Onesacre

The little hamlet of Onesacre, approximately half a mile west of Oughtibridge, was mentioned in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

of August 1086. However, its history goes back to Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

 times when it was part of the estate of the Saxon lord Godric. The Onesacre estate, then known as Anesacre, was owned by the Le Rous family after the Norman Conquest
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...

 until around 1380 when it passed to the Stead family who were large land-owners in the Sheffield and Hallamshire
Hallamshire
Hallamshire is the historical name for an area of South Yorkshire, England, in the current city of Sheffield.The origin of the name is uncertain. The English Place-Name Society describe "Hallam" originating from a formation meaning "on the rocks"...

 area. The present buildings date from the middle of the 17th century and Onesacre Hall
Onesacre Hall
Onesacre Hall is a Grade II* Listed building situated in the rural outskirts of the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. The hall is located on Green Lane in the small hamlet of Onesacre in the suburb of Oughtibridge, 8.5 km north west of the city centre.-History:The present Onesacre Hall...

 is Grade II* listed.

Industrial development

Oughtibridge remained a small isolated rural hamlet over the centuries and even by 1747 it was made up of only five families. However, the population started to rise in the latter part of the 18th century as a result of the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

 and a further expansion in farming. Oughtibridge's position within the Don valley made it a prime location as the water power of the river could be used to drive the machinery of the early and mid-19th century.

In 1841 the population had risen to 1,005 with Oughtibridge forge being the main industry in the village. The forge still stands today on Forge Lane and is a Grade-II-listed building; it has been renovated in recent years and turned into several apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...

s within a new housing development. There was a corn mill, paper mill, tannery and a small brewery among the other industries at this time. During the second half of the 19th century Oughtibridge reached its height as an industrial centre with the opening of Oughty Bridge railway station
Oughty Bridge railway station
Oughty Bridge railway station was a railway station on the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway built to serve the village of Oughtibridge, near Sheffield, South Yorkshire....

 in 1845 on the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway
Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway
The Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway was an early British railway company which opened in stages between 1841 and 1845 between Sheffield and Manchester via Ashton-under-Lyne...

. By 1891 the population had grown to 1,784.

The Dixon family bought the paper mill to the northwest of the village in 1871 and it became a flourishing business, being one of the first to use wood pulp to produce paper instead of rags. The mill specialised in tissues, making the Dixcel brand for many years. Wood pulp for Dixon's paper mill was imported from the Toppila pulp mill (Toppila Oy) in Oulu
Oulu
Oulu is a city and municipality of inhabitants in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the most populous city in Northern Finland and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is one of the northernmost larger cities in the world....

, Finland. The Dixons signed an agreement with the railway company to provide a siding for the works to transport raw materials and the finished product. The paper mill was closed in 2007 leaving only converting lines operational. Before this there were converting and two paper machines, the site having several owners after the Dixons, namely British Tissues, Jamont UK and Fort James, and is now part of the Georgia-Pacific
Georgia-Pacific
Georgia-Pacific LLC is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia, and is one of the world's leading manufacturers and distributors of tissue, pulp, paper, packaging, building products and related chemicals. As of Fall 2010, the company employed more than 40,000 people at more...

 group. The paper machines are currently mothballed.

Another company to use the railway was the Oughtibridge Silica Firebrick Company, which had a factory by the railway line near the station; the works were taken over by the Steetley company in 1947. The Steetley refractory works on Station Lane closed in the 1980s with half the site being redeveloped for housing while the remaining half was taken over by Intermet Refractory Products Ltd.

Present day

The modern-day development of Oughtibridge has seen it become a commuter village
Commuter town
A commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential, from which most of the workforce commutes out to earn their livelihood. Many commuter towns act as suburbs of a nearby metropolis that workers travel to daily, and many suburbs are commuter towns...

 with many of the residents working in nearby Sheffield and much of the local industry having given way to private housing development. There are approximately 1,355 housing units in Oughtibridge, 79% of which are owner occupied; there is a significantly lower percentage of rented properties compared to the rest of Sheffield.

The A6102 road, one of the main transport exits from the northwest of Sheffield towards Stocksbridge
Stocksbridge and Upper Don
Stocksbridge and Upper Don ward—which includes the districts of Deepcar, Oughtibridge, Stocksbridge, and Wharncliffe Side, and the villages of Bolsterstone, Ewden, and Midhopestones—is one of the 28 electoral wards in the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England...

 and eventually Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, goes through Oughtibridge splitting into a one way system
One-way traffic
One-way traffic is traffic that moves in a single direction. A one-way street is a street either facilitating only one-way traffic, or designed to direct vehicles to move in one direction.-General signs:...

 in its passage through the village. There are good public transport links to Sheffield by bus including a link to the Sheffield Supertram
Sheffield Supertram
The Supertram, officially called the Stagecoach Supertram, is a light rail tram system in the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England...

 network at Middlewood. There are five public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

s within Oughtibridge (The Pheasant, The Cock Inn, The Travellers, The White Hart and The Hare and Hounds). Oughtibridge primary school is situated on Naylor Road; secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 pupils have to travel to Bradfield School
Bradfield School
Bradfield School is a secondary school situated on the edge of the village of Worrall, in the parish of Bradfield, in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The school caters for pupils between the ages of 11 and 16. It is a specialist Engineering College and provides specialised courses such as...

 in the nearby village of Worrall.

The Parish Church of the Ascension on Church Street was built in 1842. Originally part of the Wadsley
Wadsley
Wadsley is a suburb of the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It stands five km NW of the city centre at an approximate grid reference of...

 parish, Oughtibridge is now a separate parish although the vicar of Wadsley still appoints the vicar at Oughtibridge. Coronation Park is situated in the centre of the village by the river and includes a children's playground and tennis courts as well as some fine specimens of trees. Sheffield Canoe Club use the river by the park as their outdoor base. Just across the road from the park is the hall of the Oughtibridge Brass Band who were formed around 1890. The War Memorial sports ground is situated next to the River Don slightly downstream, providing facilities for the village football and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

teams. The ground was donated by the Silica Firebrick Company in 1921.
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