Great Houghton, South Yorkshire

St Michael and All Angels Church is the parish church of Great Houghton in South Yorkshire. The church is dedicated to St Michael, and was originally a private chapel and was built by Sir Edward Rodes, the High Sheriff of Yorkshire, who was a conspicuous Parliamentarian. It was built about 1650 and used for worship by his family and the tenants of his land. Sir Edward was a great friend of Oliver Cromwell, when he was the Lord Protector of England. He served in Cromwell's Privy Council and was also the Colonel of his Cavalry. Cromwell visited the church on its completion and approved of its simple design. Sir Edward died on 19 February 1666 and is buried in Darfield Church. His Coat of Arms appeared in stone on the east gable of the church. This mysteriously disappeared over the years but the space where it lay still remains. The first religious ceremony in the chapel was the baptism of one of the younger sons of Sir Edward by Mr Edward Bowles of York, one of the most eminent Presbyterian clergy of his day. Richard Taylor was the first officiating minister as Chaplain to the Rodes family. He had been prevented from exercising his ministry in public by the Act of Uniformity. The Rodes family were great patrons of nonconformity. The chapel at Great Houghton must have been well known throughout the country as a haven for persecuted clergy of the period. The chapel had a succession of non-conforming ministers who existed under Rode's protection. The chapel remained private for many years and it was not until 1849 that it became ‘Episcopally licensed’ for worship. It only became part of the Church of England (under Darfield parish) in 1906 and the first Anglican service was a Holy Communion which took place on 24 November 1908.

Great Houghton Halt was a small railway station on the Dearne Valley Railway (DVR) situated between Goldthorpe and Thurnscoe Halt and Grimethorpe Halt. The halt served the village of Great Houghton in South Yorkshire, England. The station opened on 3 June 1912. Originally named Houghton Halt, it was renamed Great Houghton Halt a few weeks later, on 24 August 1912. At first, trains were operated on behalf of the DVR by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway; when that company amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922, the combined organisation (also known as the London and North Western Railway) absorbed the DVR on the same day.The station closed on 10 September 1951.

Middlecliffe is a small hamlet in South Yorkshire, England. It straddles the road between Darfield and Great Houghton, close to Barnsley, where Middlecliff Lane joins the B6273 road. The hamlet falls within the Darfield Ward of Barnsley MBC. It is mostly a collection of current and former council houses, small corner shop, a Working Mans Club and a sports ground. Middlecliffe is the birthplace of footballer Wilf Copping, who played for Leeds United, Arsenal and was capped 20 times for England.

Little Houghton is a hamlet and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. At the 2001 census it had a population of 618, increasing to 659 at the 2011 Census.Access to the hamlet of Little Houghton is gained by travelling along Middlecliff Lane through the village of Middlecliffe. The larger village is made up of mainly council and ex-council houses. Little Houghton was previously the site of two large coal mines. Houghton Main was a deep shaft mine and Dearne Valley a drift mine. Both mines are now closed and their sites have been landscaped, which has been partly funded by money from the European Union. Before the coal mines, the village was involved in agriculture and there were a number of farms in the village with associated cottages. Only two of the old farm buildings remain, but some have recently been converted into housing. The two settlements come under Little Houghton Parish Council.

Millhouses is a district of Barnsley in the English county of South Yorkshire. Millhouses adjoins the town of Darfield near the A635 road to the east of Barnsley itself. The district falls within the Darfield Ward of the MBC.

Darfield railway station was opened in 1840 by the North Midland Railway, serving the village of Darfield in South Yorkshire, England. The original station building was of typical Francis Thompson Italianate design. Immediately north of it was Cat Hill Tunnel which was opened out when the line was quadrupled, and, in 1901, the station was rebuilt 15 chains further north next to the Doncaster road. A terrace of four cottages is shown on Ordnance Survey maps as "Railway Cottages" long after all other traces of the old station and its small goods yard had been removed. The last appearance of the cottages was on the OS map of 1955–56. Access to the cottages was by a drive which ran south to Cat Hill Road between Broomhill and the skew bridge which carried the railway over the road. The new station had typical Midland Railway timber panelled buildings. The new goods lines passed to the east. These had access to three major collieries - Grimethorpe, Dearne Valley and Houghton Main - and connected to the GCR and L&Y lines.The station closed in June 1963 and the line closed in 1988.

Billingley is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, in South Yorkshire, England, 7 miles (11 km) east of Barnsley. At the 2001 census it had a population of 177, increasing to 210 at the 2011 Census.

Cat Hill Tunnel was a railway tunnel that ran through Darfield, South Yorkshire, England, leading to Darfield railway station (now closed). The tunnel was built by George Stephenson for the North Midland Railway opened in 1840. It was 154 yards long (one of the longest in the region) and ran under fields into Darfield station from the Cathill Road end of Darfield. The railway bridge was removed in the 1990s. Steps that led to Darfield station may be found beyond the western abutment. The station was originally at the Broomhill end of the tunnel but in 1880 was moved nearer to the road when the tunnel was 'scalped' into a cutting. The remains of Darfield station can be found at its former Doncaster Road site. The original station was built 45 chains to the south at the Cathill Road site near to Broomhill in 1840.

Barnsley East and Mexborough was a Parliamentary constituency in South Yorkshire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency was created in 1997, partially replacing Barnsley East, and was a safe seat for the Labour Party. At the 2010 general election, it was largely replaced by a re-established Barnsley East constituency.

The Church of All Saints is the parish church in the village of Darfield in South Yorkshire, England. It is a Church of England church in the Diocese of Sheffield. The building is Grade I listed and was built in the 11th century AD with additions dating to the 14th and 15th centuries, and restorations taking place in 1849 and 1905. The Corn Law repeal campaigner Ebenezer Elliot is buried in the churchyard which also contains monuments to the victims of the 1857 mining disaster at Lundhill Colliery and the 1886 disaster at Houghton Main Colliery. The 1886 memorial was restored in 2011. Between 1892 and 1934 the rector of All Saints was Canon Alfred Sorby who successfully argued in the High Court of Justice that on Ascension Day children attending a church service should not have to go to school. This ruling was known as the 'Darfield Judgement'.

Burntwood Hall is a house that lies near the village of Great Houghton, South Yorkshire, England and has been known as Boomshack and Burntwood Nook/Lodge over the centuries.

The River Dove is a river that extends through the Low Valley in Barnsley, England. It flows from Worsbrough Reservoir to its confluence with the River Dearne.