Dalton

The Warenne estate at Dalton Parva passed to the Fitzwilliams of Sprotborough, one branch of whom became seated at Aldwarke in the 14th century. From the Fitzwilliams, the manor passed to the Foljambes.

Dalton Magna passed with Thrybergh to the Reresbys, Saviles and Fullertons.

The parish of Dalton was large, extending from the River Don in the north to the Brecks in the south. Ecclesiatically Dalton was divided into three with part falling within Rotherham parish and part within Thrybergh parish while the south eastern part of Dalton, a detached portion, was formed in 1849.

A church, Holy Trinity, was erected at Dalton Parva at the expense of G. S. Fullerton who endowed the living with £150 a year. A Primitive Methodist chapel was erected in 1910, and a Wesleyan Reform chapel in 1912. G. S. Fullerton was also responsible for providing the parochial school at Dalton Parva. This was enlarged in 1875 and 1893, a master’s house being added in 1902. The council infants school at Dalton Brook was erected in 1912.

The two main settlements in Dalton were the hamlets of Dalton Magna and Dalton Parva. A third settlement, Dalton Brook, grew up along the Rotherham – Doncaster Road. On a rise to the north of this road was a windmill, Dalton Mill. This survived until the late 19th century although latterly the power was supplied by a steam engine. In 1871 the civil parish had a population of 250, of whom 170 were in Dalton Parva and 70 in Dalton Magna. In 1881 the hamlet of Aldwarke, formerly a detached portion of the parish of Ecclesfield, was transferred to Dalton. The great majority of the population were engaged in agriculture. The population in 1891 was 322. In 1901 it had grown to 438.

In 1900 the Dalton Main Colliery Co. began to sink a colliery at Silverwood, on a site that lay partly within Dalton and partly in Thrybergh. Coal was reached at a depth of 746 yards in 1903 and the first coal was raised in 1905. Silverwood Colliery became a major employer and by 1911 the population of Dalton had risen to 3,248.

Although many of the miners lived in Thybergh, there was also extensive housing development in Dalton, particularly in the area between Dalton Parva and the Doncaster Road. The colliery remained an important employer in the area until it closed in 1995.

The late 1920s saw the construction of a large housing development by the Industrial Housing Association at Sunnyside in the south-east of the parish to house workers at Silverwood Colliery. In the late 1930s, Herringthorpe Valley Road was constructed along the western boundary of the parish, and in 1936 560 acres on the east side of the road were transferred from Dalton to Rotherham. There was further housing built at the Brecks and Listerdale, on the southern borders of the parish, in the late 1930s. The continued house building within Dalton saw a rise in population from 4,982 in 1931 to 7,473 in 1951, 9,348 in 1981 and 9,573 in 1991.

(Extracted from:- R.M.B.C, Patchwork of parishes, 1997)

Useful Links

 Map of Dalton
Return to the Local Towns and Villages index page
Archives and Local Studies Service
Rotherham Maps Online
Find out more about your area