Kiveton Park
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Coordinates: 53°20′N 1°16′W / 53.34°N 1.26°W
Kiveton Park, informally Kiveton (in either case, Kiveton is pronounced with three syllables, i.e. /ˈkɪ-və-ˌtən/), is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, from the Norman conquest to 1868, Kiveton was a hamlet of the parish of Harthill-with-Woodall. It subsequently transferred to the civil parish of Wales which takes its name from the neighbouring village.
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[edit] Geography
Kiveton Park is located at approximately 53°20′30″N 1°15′30″W / 53.34167°N 1.25833°W, at an elevation of around 100 metres above sea level. It lies on the B6059 road (Station Road) and is served by two railway stations: Kiveton Bridge and Kiveton Park. The Chesterfield Canal lies to the south, while the villages of Todwick and South Anston are to the north and east. Kiveton Park lays claim to being in Rotherham Borough Council, has a Sheffield postcode, a Worksop telephone code, and has the Chesterfield Canal running through it! It also lays claim to being the smallest place in Europe to have two separate railway stations[citation needed] - Kiveton Bridge railway station, in the centre of the village, and Kiveton Park railway station.
[edit] History
Kiveton gets its name from the Anglo-Saxon for the settlement in the hollow. In the Domesday Book it is written Cieutone, and was under the ownership of William de Warenne. It subsequently transferred to the de Keuton family, who sold the estate on to former Lord Mayor of London Sir William Hewet in 1580. One of his descendants was Thomas Osborne who became the first Duke of Leeds. He arranged the building of a stately home in the village, Kiveton Hall (also spelled Keveton, Keeton or Keton Hall), in 1698. The building was demolished by George William Frederick Osborne, 6th Duke of Leeds in 1812, with local legend stating that the demolition was the result of a bet with the then Prince of Wales (subsequently George IV of the United Kingdom).
A major Community History Project has been in progress to record and encourage an understanding of the history of Kiveton Park and neighbouring Wales, particularly their mining heritage. This was based in the Old Colliery Offices, pictured below, and can be explored at http://www.kivetonwaleshistory.co.uk
[edit] Economy
Coal mining has traditionally been the principal industry of Kiveton, and dates back to the Middle Ages. Much of the coal is near to the surface, and as early as 1598, the area was extracting 2,000 tons a year. By the middle of the 19th century, the coal-fields were being served both by canal and by rail, and in 1866, the Kiveton Park Colliery was sunk, making it one of the earliest deep mines in the world. As a result of the new colliery, the population of Kiveton leapt from 300 to 1,400 over a period of just ten years.
The pit closed in 1994, resulting in the loss of 1,000 jobs. As a consequence, Kiveton is now essentially a commuter base for adjacent towns.
Kiveton is also home to large steelworks at the bottom of Redhill.
Most of the colliery buildings have since been demolished, but the protected pit-head baths (built in 1938), and the 1870s office building with its gothic clock tower, remain.
[edit] Sport
Kiveton has a long sporting heritage stretching back to 1879, when Kiveton Park Colliery Cricket Club was formed. The club plays in the Bassetlaw and District Cricket League and has done since its inception in 1904, and are the only club to hold the distinction of playing in the league every single year the league has functioned.
In 1892, Kiveton Park Football Club was formed. The club was one of the founding members of the Yorkshire League, and now plays in the Central Midlands League, at the 12th level of the English Football Pyramid. The club has recently won back-to-back Sheffield & Hallamshire FA Association Cups. The club played in the FA Cup for four consecutive years from 1946 as 'Kiveton Park Colliery', and in 1969 as 'Kiveton Park United'. The club also played in the FA Vase from 1976 to 1989. [1]
Kiveton is also famous as the birth place of legendary football manager Herbert Chapman and his brother Harry, one of the greatest players to have played for Sheffield Wednesday.
[edit] Forthcoming events
Between Saturday 23rd May and Monday 25th May 2009, Kiveton will play host to the 2009 Inland Waterways Association National Campaign Festival[1]. This event, centred around the Chesterfield Canal, marks the start of the drive to link the two stretches of the canal between Kiveton and Staveley.
[edit] Notable people
- James Toseland - 2004 and 2007 Superbike World Champion
- Harry Chapman - Sheffield Wednesday football player
- Herbert Chapman - Arsenal Manager
- Eric Oakton - Chelsea football player
- Herbert Morley - Notts County, Grimsby Town and England football player
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.kiveton2009.com : IWA National Campaign Festival Kiveton 2009
