Woodlands, South Yorkshire
Encyclopedia
Woodlands is a model village
, 3 miles (5 km) north of Doncaster
in South Yorkshire
, England. It was designed and built in the early 20th century by Percy Bond Houfton
as tied cottages for the miners of the neighbouring Brodsworth Colliery
. In an era of model villages such as Saltaire
, Port Sunlight
and Bournville
, Woodlands, with extensive open spaces, many different designs of houses and overall living conditions superb for their time, possibly represents the height of the model village movement. The whole of the village is now a conservation area.
) and a Roman Road
, the houses in the village are in short terraces, typically of four, and face each other across wide avenues. At the back they typically overlook a large square open space. The Roman Road
is Ermine Street
, the branch from Lincoln
to York
via Doncaster
and Tadcaster
. Locally, it is colloquially known as the Roman Rigg, more correctly as the Roman Ridge
.
Between the village and Highfields there is the former country house of Woodlands, now a social club, and the Woodlands wildlife park with Highfields Lake
(an ornamental lake on the Pick Burn) and Hanging Wood
(or Highfields Wood). In "The Park
" a green of 10 to 15 acres (40,000 to 61,000 m²) is surrounded by about 120 of these houses. The houses back on to woodland or to green open space, and instead of facing each other across a narrow street, look across perhaps 200 yards of parkland to the houses opposite. In Highfields Wood is a stream, known as Robin Hood's stream, which springs near the Roman Rigg, and runs into Pick Burn. The stream may be so named as Robin Hood
is reputed to have roamed in Barnsdale Forest
, of which Highfields Wood was part. The nearby country house Brodsworth Hall
belongs to English Heritage
.
All Saints Church (1913), the red brick parish church
built for this mining community has a distinctive spire
that is visible from central Doncaster, the A1(M), and the main East Coast
railway-line. Unusually, the church has a small baptistry positioned behind the font
at the back of the church, for baptising adults by immersion (though in practice this baptistry requires baptismal candidates to squat or kneel down in it, and there is barely enough space for the priest to be in the tank with the candidate - though that has not prevented it being used for a number of adults and young people in recent years). All Saints was one of a few late Oxford Movement
churches to be built with baptistries.
The village was featured on Thursday 30 August 2007 (at 6.30pm) on the BBC Look North's A-Z of the region. (Woodlands on Look North)
Model village
A model village is a type of mostly self-contained community, in most cases built from the late eighteenth century onwards by industrialists to house their workers...
, 3 miles (5 km) north of Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
in South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
, England. It was designed and built in the early 20th century by Percy Bond Houfton
Percy Bond Houfton
Percy Bond Houfton was a late-19th Century and early-20th Century architect. He became a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1925. His best known works were Woodlands model village in South Yorkshire , and Creswell Model Village in Derbyshire...
as tied cottages for the miners of the neighbouring Brodsworth Colliery
Brodsworth Colliery
Brodsworth Colliery was a colliery near Woodlands, South Yorkshire, England that closed in 1990. It was renowned for the superb model village of Woodlands that housed its workers...
. In an era of model villages such as Saltaire
Saltaire
Saltaire is a Victorian model village within the City of Bradford Metropolitan District, West Yorkshire, England, by the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal...
, Port Sunlight
Port Sunlight
Port Sunlight is a model village, suburb and electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is located between Lower Bebington and New Ferry, on the Wirral Peninsula. Between 1894 and 1974 it formed part of Bebington urban district within the county of Cheshire...
and Bournville
Bournville
Bournville is a model village on the south side of Birmingham, England, best known for its connections with the Cadbury family and chocolate – including a dark chocolate bar branded "Bournville". It is also a ward within the council constituency of Selly Oak and home to the Bournville Centre...
, Woodlands, with extensive open spaces, many different designs of houses and overall living conditions superb for their time, possibly represents the height of the model village movement. The whole of the village is now a conservation area.
Topography
Lying between the historic Great North Road (the former A1, now the A638A638 road
The A638 is a main road in England that runs between the A1 at Markham Moor in Nottinghamshire and Chain Bar Junction 26 of the M62 motorway south of Bradford in West Yorkshire....
) and a Roman Road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
, the houses in the village are in short terraces, typically of four, and face each other across wide avenues. At the back they typically overlook a large square open space. The Roman Road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
is Ermine Street
Ermine Street
Ermine Street is the name of a major Roman road in England that ran from London to Lincoln and York . The Old English name was 'Earninga Straete' , named after a tribe called the Earningas, who inhabited a district later known as Armingford Hundred, around Arrington, Cambridgeshire and Royston,...
, the branch from Lincoln
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
to York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
via Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
and Tadcaster
Tadcaster
Tadcaster is a market town and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. Lying on the Great North Road approximately east of Leeds and west of York. It is the last town on the River Wharfe before it joins the River Ouse about downstream...
. Locally, it is colloquially known as the Roman Rigg, more correctly as the Roman Ridge
Roman Ridge
The Roman Rig is the name given to a series of earthworks to the north east of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England that are believed to originally have formed a single Dyke running from near Wincobank in Sheffield to Mexborough. Its purpose and date of construction are unknown...
.
Between the village and Highfields there is the former country house of Woodlands, now a social club, and the Woodlands wildlife park with Highfields Lake
Highfields Lake
Highfields Lake is an ornamental lake in the Woodlands wildlife park at Highfields, north of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England.It is filled by the Pick Burn, which then flows on to presumably eventually join the River Don...
(an ornamental lake on the Pick Burn) and Hanging Wood
Hanging Wood, South Yorkshire
Hanging Wood is also known as Highfields Wood. It is situated between the old Great North Road and the Roman Road, and between the mining villages of Highfields and Woodlands...
(or Highfields Wood). In "The Park
The Park (Woodlands)
The Park is the name of the centrepiece of Woodlands model village, with about 120 houses set around a green of about 10 to . The houses overlook woodland or green open space, and do not face each other across a road as with traditional industrial villages....
" a green of 10 to 15 acres (40,000 to 61,000 m²) is surrounded by about 120 of these houses. The houses back on to woodland or to green open space, and instead of facing each other across a narrow street, look across perhaps 200 yards of parkland to the houses opposite. In Highfields Wood is a stream, known as Robin Hood's stream, which springs near the Roman Rigg, and runs into Pick Burn. The stream may be so named as Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
is reputed to have roamed in Barnsdale Forest
Barnsdale
Barnsdale, or Barnsdale Forest, is a relatively small area of South Yorkshire, England which has a rich history and the region is steeped in folklore. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire...
, of which Highfields Wood was part. The nearby country house Brodsworth Hall
Brodsworth Hall
Brodsworth Hall, near Brodsworth, five miles north-west of Doncaster in South Yorkshire is one of the most complete surviving examples of a Victorian country house in England, and is virtually unchanged since the 1860s...
belongs to English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
.
All Saints Church (1913), the red brick parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
built for this mining community has a distinctive spire
Spire
A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....
that is visible from central Doncaster, the A1(M), and the main East Coast
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
railway-line. Unusually, the church has a small baptistry positioned behind the font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
at the back of the church, for baptising adults by immersion (though in practice this baptistry requires baptismal candidates to squat or kneel down in it, and there is barely enough space for the priest to be in the tank with the candidate - though that has not prevented it being used for a number of adults and young people in recent years). All Saints was one of a few late Oxford Movement
Oxford Movement
The Oxford Movement was a movement of High Church Anglicans, eventually developing into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose members were often associated with the University of Oxford, argued for the reinstatement of lost Christian traditions of faith and their inclusion into Anglican liturgy...
churches to be built with baptistries.
Refurbishment
The local council, DMBC, are using Green Corridor Money to give the Squares a facelift and to give the houses a back garden. 4 Squares had been completed by October 2009. The Brodsworth Informer, a Bi-Monthly, 16 page news journal, is delivered free to almost 4,000 homes in the area. 2003 saw the revival of the old May Festival, started in 1910 when mine owner Sir Arthur Markham was persuaded to give the miners (some 653) a day off with pay for the Festival.The village was featured on Thursday 30 August 2007 (at 6.30pm) on the BBC Look North's A-Z of the region. (Woodlands on Look North)
External links
(for the village) (for the area between Brodsworth Hall and the colliery site)- All Saints, Woodlands on the A Church Near You website
- Woodlands on BBC Look North