12th-14th Centuries
Firbeck is not one of the settlements listed in Domesday Book. It first appears in a charter of 1171-9, now in the British Museum.
The “woodland stream” in question is the Firbeck Dike. A John de Frithbeck was one of the beadles in the reign of Henry III. There was no resident lord at the time of the 1379 Poll Tax. The Firbeck return lists a “pistor” (baker), shoe maker and carpenter, all paying 6d. The remainder of the 45 tax payers were assessed at 4d.
Firbeck Estate and Hall
The manor of Firbeck came into the hands of the Cressy family. In the late 16th century the manor was bought by William West of Rotherham, a prosperous lawyer who had been seneschal and chief steward for the Yorkshire estates of the Earl of Shrewsbury. He was the author of Symboleography, a major legal treatise and lawyer’s precedent book, first published in 1590. He lived at one time at Moorgate Hall, Rotherham, but the fortune accumulated during his working life enabled him to purchase the Firbeck estate and build Firbeck Hall. The 1594 edition of his book is dedicated from Firbeck and his will, made in 1598, directed that he be buried in Firbeck Church.
He was succeeded by his son, William West II, also a prominent lawyer and steward of the manors of Rotherham and Kimberworth, who was followed by his son John. After the death of John West in 1659, without heirs, the estate passed to Sir Francis Fane, one of the children of John’s sister Elizabeth. Sir Francis sold the estate to William Woolhouse who, in 1676, sold it to Jonathan Staniforth of Rotherham who was buried at Firbeck in 1691. His grandson, also Jonathan, held the patent on the “Rotherham” plough. On the death of Amelia Staniforth, last surviving sister of Jonathan Staniforth II, in 1792, the estate passed to a distant relative, John Barker, who sold it to Henry Gally of Langold. It was his son, Henry, who rebuilt Firbeck Hall.
A ‘green lady’, supposedly the ghost of a daughter of the West family who drowned herself after her Roundhead lover was killed by her brother, is reputed to haunt the Hall.
The buildings of Firbeck Hall probably contain an Elizabethan core but were heavily remodelled in the 18th century and “rudely Elizabethanised” for Henry Gally knight in the mid-19th century. Knight had commissioned Sir Jeffry Wyattville to design a house at Langold but instead turned his attention to Firbeck and carried out extensive additions and modifications before his death in 1846. Knight had left the house and estate to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners who sold it to a Mrs Miles of Bristol for £70,000.
After her death in 1878, it was purchased by Rev. Gladwyn Jebb. The Jebb family retained ownership of the Hall but lived elsewhere. In the First World War a number of Belgian refugees were accommodated in the house and after the War the tenants included Mr Peech of the steel makers, Steel, Peech and Tozer.
The Hall, which had been badly damaged by fire in 1924, was purchased by Cyril Nicholson in 1934 and converted into a country club in 1935, with a golf course and private airfield in the grounds. During the War, the hall was used as an annexe by Sheffield Royal Infirmary and the airfield was taken over by the government. Cyril Nicholson put the hall and estate up for sale in 1943 but the hall failed to find a buyer. In 1945 the hall was purchased by the Miners’ Welfare Commission and became the South Yorkshire Miners’ Rehabilitation Centre. It was transferred to the National Health Service in 1951 as a rehabilitation centre for industrial injuries and closed in 1991.
Park Hill
The house known as Park Hill was the home of the Saunderson family in the 17th century. It then passed through several hands until 1765 when it was purchased by Col. Anthony St. Ledger. A keen horseman, Col. St. Ledger gave his name to the classic horse race which is still run at Doncaster. The family remained at Park Hill until the late 19th century. The house was used by a girls’ school for a time before the Great War. The lead was removed from the roof during the First World War and by 1928 the house was in poor condition. It was put up for sale but did not find a buyer until 1934 when it was bought by Cyril Nicholson who demolished the house in 1937.
Church
Little is known about the early church in Firbeck. The chapel was reported as being in good repair in 1786. The church was served by a curate who received £12 14s 6d a year. The old church was demolished and rebuilt by Henry Gally Knight in 1820 with a low roofed nave, small chancel and squat tower. The architect, William Hurst, was also responsible for Woodsetts Church. A north aisle, used as a vestry and organ chamber, was added in 1844.
Further extension took place in 1887 when Rev. Jebb, of Firbeck Hall, rebuilt the chancel in apsidal form, opened out the north aisle and re-roofed the nave. A new tower was added by Mrs Jebb in 1900. The church is now dedicated to St. Martin but was formerly dedicated to St. Peter. The church contains a memorial to John West and his wife and several memorials and hatchments to members of the Gally Knight, St Ledger and Jebb families. There is a stone near the porch recording the burial of Isabel Robinson of Stone in 1694, aged 111, and of her son John in 1730, aged 109.
Education
The village school dates from the early 19th century, having been founded by Henry Gally Knight’s wife, Selina, who died in 1823. The 1851 census lists 30 children in the village as “scholars”. By 1861 this figure had grown to 40. They were taught by the schoolmaster, John Stevens, assisted by his mother-in-law Elizabeth Bennet and Miss Cant. In 1871 there were separate boys’ and girls’ schools supported by Mrs Miles of the Hall. The school roll was never large and was bedevilled with poor attendance, with many pupils being required to help their parents on the land. By 1937 there were only 20 pupils on the roll. This fell to 14 in 1938 and in April Firbeck School closed. The children were transferred to Woodsetts Council School. When the school closed in 1934 the building was taken over by Firbeck Hall and used as a social club for staff from the Country Club. It was handed over to the village in 1938 and renamed Park Hall Social Club.
Population
The first national census in 1801 recorded 161 inhabitants in Firbeck. In 1991 the census recorded exactly 200 more people living in the village. In between the population had fluctuated, reflecting prosperity and depression in the farming industry, and it was only 174 in 1931.
(Extracted from:- R.M.B.C, Patchwork of parishes, 1997)
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