Royston, South Yorkshire

Notton and Royston railway station was a railway station that served the village of Royston, South Yorkshire, England. It was situated on the Barnsley Coal Railway between Staincross and Mapplewell and Ryhill. The first section of the line to open was that from Stairfoot to Applehaigh (just north of Notton and Royston station) in 1870 so that Rosa Colliery could be served. The station opened, along with two others on the line, on 1 September 1882, and was closed to passengers by the LNER on 22 September 1930.It had flanking platforms and simple buildings to house all the facilities constructed in wood.

Royston High School was a state school in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. Along with City School, Sheffield, Royston High School had links with Malealea in Lesotho, small groups of pupils visited biannually. Pupils and parents organised fund raising activities throughout the year to help the villagers in Malealea. In 2010, Royston High School was merged with nearby school, Edward Sheerien and was renamed Carlton Community College. Primarily, the school was situated on two different sites which were the old Royston and Athersly campuses. In December 2010, the school moved to a new building in Carlton. The school was renamed Outwood Academy Carlton in 2016.

The Church of St John the Baptist is the parish church in the village of Royston in South Yorkshire, England. It is a Church of England church in the Diocese of Leeds. The building is Grade I listed and was built in the 12th century AD. Built by the monks of the nearby Priory of St. Mary Magdalen at Lund (Monk Bretton Priory), the present building can be dated back to before 1234. The association of this Church with the monks would have ended abruptly when their Priory was seized by the Crown and dissolved in 1539. There was possibly an Anglo Saxon Church here, evidenced by some early foundation work, and the discovery of a fragment of an Anglo-Saxon cross, now displayed to the right of the High Altar. On the opposite side of the Sanctuary, the solid Sacristy door with its original iron work is particularly fine. The Eastern part of the Chancel is probably the earliest part of the present building, the masonry of the North and South walls being part of the Church described in 1240 as "newly built". The proportions of the Chancel would seem to agree with those of a mid- 13th century structure, though it is uncertain if it was originally flanked by aisles. The Decorated tracery of the East window and the distinctive ogee (onion shaped) arch of the Sacristy doorway in the north wall of the Sanctuary are part of a re-modelling of circa 1340, but earlier is the North Aisle with its windows with Y tracery of the early 14th century. The Nave with the addition of the Clerestory and magnificent Roof is a re-building in two stages in the 15th century. The three Eastern bays with their arcade of unusual basket arches dates to circa 1413–18. The Western bay (circa 1480) is where the tower originally stood. There is an enclosed stairway within the North West wall, with a lancet window into Church. This was probably the access to an earlier tower. The stonework here matches the arcades in the Chancel and the enlarged Lady Chapel of circa 1430–40. All this is Perpendicular in style, as is the Great West Tower which was built in the 1480s. Whilst the Tower has the usual diagonal buttresses, crenellated parapet and crocketted pinnacles, it is more remarkable for its extremely unusual Oriel Window at the same level as the ringing chamber. The present clock mechanism was installed in 1898 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee the previous year. The faces were restored in the early 1970’s. The Church was extensively restored in 1867-69 by J. L. Pearson. A floor plan (1818) showing how it looked prior to that restoration is displayed at the West end of the North Aisle. The Chancel was extensively re-ordered in the 1980’s, at which time the pre-Reformation Altar Stone was discovered buried in the floor of the Sanctuary. It was restored, and the base upon which the Altar Stone is now fixed incorporates stones from Monk Bretton Priory, the Shrine of Our Lady of Rocamadour (France) and the now-demolished National School of 1844. The High Altar also contains a Relic of St. Justin, Martyr, (Martyred in 165). Upon the Altar is the Tabernacle in which is reserved the Blessed Sacrament. The white light burning above reminds us of the Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in His Blessed Sacrament. The West end was totally re-modelled in 2001-02 and contains a litch and toilet with spacious Gallery above. The 1959 tower screen by Martin Dutton, the ‘Lizard man’, was re-fashioned as the Utility room door at the west end of the North Aisle. It bears the shields of the Province of York (crossed keys), the Diocese of Wakefield (fleur de lys) and of Monk Bretton Priory (covered cups). The Tower (regretfully not open to the public) contains a full peal of eight bells, six re-cast after the Second World War (1946) and two added in 1979 by Taylor of Loughborough. The Sanctus Bell is the original number five bell from circa 1530. The Font which is probably late 15th century, with its beautifully decorated early 20th century cover, was moved to its present position in 2002. All the Roofs are medieval; those in the Nave and Aisles have finely carved bosses depicting the Head of St. John the Baptist, the Agnus Dei, the Pelican in her piety, Sacred Monograms, The Green Man, some grotesque heads and interesting heraldry. Shown in the North Choir Aisle is an unusual Synod of Bishops. A particular favourite is a man with asses ears. The present brown stain was added in the 19th century and may obscure medieval colour – it certainly makes the roof difficult to read. Originally the whole interior was plastered and painted; the plaster was stripped from the walls in the 19th century restoration. In the Nave there are fragments of late 16th century and 17th century painted texts. The grey coloured paint over the Chancel Arch obscures a late 17th century painting of Moses and Aaron flanking panels with the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer and the Creed. More visible is the painted lettering on the wide pillar opposite the Font. The text quoted is Amos 8: v. 4–7, and it seems to follow the wording and spelling of the 16th century ‘Breeches’ bible more closely than that of the later King James version. The Rood Beam which supports images of Our Lord on the Cross with Our Lady and St. John the Evangelist, carved in the 1930s by Read of Exeter was rescued from the redundant Church at Gildersome near Leeds and was restored and fitted here in the 1980s by Peter Larkworthy. The steps leading to the original Rood Loft survive at the East end of the North Aisle. The Medieval Rood Screen and Loft extended right across the Aisles and Nave. If the steps appear to start fairly high on the wall this is partly because the whole floor level was lowered in the 19th century restoration. The Perpendicular oak Screens, however, are original and probably remnants of the Par-close Screens of the medieval Chapels at the eastern ends of the Chancel Aisles. Also in the 19th century restoration, an extensive Gallery at the Western end of the Nave was removed. The North West door was blocked up at the same time, and a window inserted in its place. The 20th century statue of St. John the Baptist (our Patron Saint) was made by local Sculptor Steve West in 1993. The Stations of the Cross around the Aisle walls are particularly striking and were painted by Craig Hudson of Sheffield in the 1980s. Externally, excavations on the North side of Church in 1983, revealed a number of interesting features. A number of pieces of carved stone have obviously been re-used in the 14th and 15th century footings, including a section of an arch (possibly part of an earlier Nave arcade) and, at the West end of the Aisle, half a cross slab grave cover of circa 1300, utilised as the base of a buttress. Similarly, a re-laying of the South Nave floor in 2009 revealed that at least one of the pillars is supported by a re-used incised stone of substantial proportions. Stained Glass The Stained Glass windows are mainly Victorian, but there are various fragments of medieval glass in the top lights of the Lady Chapel and Sacristy windows, some of which date from the 14th and 15th centuries. Additional fragments of medieval glass are currently in storage and it is hoped that these may be re-introduced in the near future. There is, however, one surviving head which escaped the iconoclasts. The glass in the great East window (1885) is by Clayton and Bell and depicts scenes from the life of Our Lord. The upper lights of the Lady Chapel East window which depict the Annunciation are by Burlison and Grylls, from circa 1904 (when the Lady Chapel was re-ordered), but the lower part of this window is as recent as 2002 by Simon Harvey of York. The first two windows in the South Aisle are by William Wailes of Newcastle, the third window is by Mayer and Company of Munich. The West window (1871) is again by Wailes, as is the next window you come across in the North Aisle. The final window at the head of the North Aisle is again by Clayton and Bell and was recently brilliantly restored by the York Glaziers Trust following severe vandal damage.

Monckton Coke Works (formerly the Monckton Coke and Chemical Company Ltd) was a coking plant near Royston in South Yorkshire, England. The plant opened in 1884 and was closed 130 years later in 2014, being one of the last remnants of the coal industry in Yorkshire. In the 21st century, it was known as being the last independent coke works in the United Kingdom. For many years it was known for its high-quality coking coal, even being exported to coal-rich South Africa for use in steelmaking. However, in 2013/2014, the market was swamped with cheap imports from the Far East, spelling the demise of Monckton due to it being uneconomical.

Royston and Notton railway station was opened in 1841 by the North Midland Railway, near the Yorkshire summit of the line, on the south side of Navvy Lane bridge. The original station was rebuilt, about a mile further south, in 1900 when the lines were quadrupled. Shortly after this, the Midland Railway built a branch from Royston Junction to the north of the station as part of its plans to reach Bradford and the north, avoiding Leeds. In the end, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway gave it running powers and the branch only reached Dewsbury. It was a large station with four platforms and typical Midland Railway timber buildings although only 2 platforms were used regularly for passenger services. It closed in 1968. Nearby was the Royston engine shed built in the early 1930s, code 20C, to provide motive power for trains from the large collieries of the area. Most of its allocation was Stanier and WD 2-8-0s plus the ubiquitous Fowler 4F's, but ex LNWR 0-8-0s and LMS Garratts were not unknown.

Carlton is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated between the villages of Athersley and Royston. The village is split in two with one half in the Monk Bretton ward and the rest in the Royston ward of the Barnsley MBC. It was built up on coking and coal mining industries and now has one of the largest industrial estates within the surrounding area. In the industrial estate lies a glass recycling plant, called Rexam. To its east stands the Mr Kipling cake factory, owned by Premier Foods. Until 1974 it was in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Carlton has two Church of England churches and a Methodist chapel, which is now private housing. A Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses serves both the Carlton and Athersley congregations. An ancient sacred spring or holy well existed near to the modern-day Carlton Road and became associated with St Helen in early Christian times. The name St Helen's was used for a 20th-century secondary school near to the site of the old well, which merged with the original Edward Sheerien School in 1992 (the new Edward Sheerian School merged with Royston High in 2009 to form Carlton Community College). The school is now known as Outwood Academy Carlton, after gaining academy status in 2016 following a report from OFSTED placing the school in special measures. Carlton has its own village group, www.carltonvillage.co.uk, that is accessible to all villagers. Carlton has also a junior football team called the Bridge Tigers, which has teams ranging from u-7s to u-15s playing at Carlton park.

Notton is a village and civil parish in the City of Wakefield district of West Yorkshire, England. The village is approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) north-west of Royston and 5 miles (8 km) south of the centre of Wakefield. The parish had a population of 982 at the 2011 Census. Until 1974, the parish was part of Wakefield Rural District. In the Middle Ages the manor was held by the de Notton family, whose most notable member was William de Notton (died about 1365), Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. It later passed to the Darcy family. Notton has a village hall on George Lane, and a post office on Applehaigh Lane.

Ryhill railway station was situated on the Barnsley Coal Railway, later the MS&L, Great Central and London and North Eastern Railway.

Wharncliffe Woodmoor 1, 2 and 3 colliery (part of Wharncliffe Woodmoor Colliery Company Ltd, the Wharncliffe Woodmoor Colliery Company was formed in 1873 when it purchased the New Willey Colliery, which had been sunk in 1871) was a coal mine that was located at the junction of Laithes Lane and Carlton Road, about 2 miles (3.2 km) north-east of Barnsley, South Yorkshire and a quarter mile east of Staincross and Mapplewell railway station, on the Great Central Railway. The branch line junction was about 200 feet (61 m) from Staincross that connected it to the colliery via a private line. The line finished up between the three main shafts and the coking ovens.

Barnsley North is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Created as a result of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election and represented by Dan Jarvis of the Labour Party.

Walton Hall is a country house in Walton near Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It was built on the site of a former moated medieval hall in the Palladian style in 1767 on an island in a 26-acre (11 ha) lake. It was the ancestral home of the naturalist and traveller Charles Waterton, who made Walton Hall into the world's first wildfowl and nature reserve. Waterton's son, Edmund, sold the estate. The Waterton Collection is in Wakefield Museum. Walton Hall is now part of the Waterton Park Hotel. In the 1940s and again in the early 1950s and early 1960s the Hall was a maternity home. Walton Hall, and a residence at Cawthorne, were home to the Anglo-Saxon chieftain, Ailric, who is mentioned in the Domesday Book and was the King's Thane for South Yorkshire. When the Normans came to Yorkshire, Ailric was at Walton and was alerted by a man on horseback that they were coming in force. He amassed his retainers and on horseback they ambushed the mounted Norman knights of Ilbert de Laci, who were moving on the road from Tanshelf to Wakefield. The better armoured and armed knights of Ilbert de Laci resisted the attack. For two to three years Ailric maintained a guerrilla war out of his estates in the west of South Yorkshire, until de Laci was forced to come to an accommodation with him, whereby Ailric would communicate with the local people and de Laci would return many of his former estates, including Walton Hall.The descendant of this family, Sara le Neville, married Thomas De Burgh, the Steward of the Countess of Brittany, Duchess of Richmond. Walton Hall was one of six manors, including the manors at Silkstone and Cawthorne and the De Burgh manors in North Yorkshire, that she lived at through the year. In 1333, Sir Philip de Burgh was granted a licence to 'crenelate' his manor house at Walton. The Waterton family acquired the Cawthorne estates and those at Walton including Walton Hall, with the marriage in 1435 of Constance Asshenhull, the heiress of the De Burgh family, to Richard Waterton.In the time of Sir Robert Waterton who served Henry VIII the hall came to the waters edge and was three storeys high. Sir Robert Waterton's father-in-law was Sir Richard Tempest, who was with Henry VIII at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. His father in law was Steward of the King's manor of Wakefield and involved in the Tempest – Saville feud. The only part of the old buildings that remain is the old watergate, which is said to be part of an earlier 14th century structure. At that time it was the only entrance across a drawbridge. The old oak hall referred to by Charles Waterton was on the second storey and was in an L shape.The entrance hall at Walton Hall has armorial shields on the walls representing the ancestors of the Waterton family. The Waterton family intermarried with other prominent Yorkshire families of the medieval age, including the Percys, the Barnbys, the Wentworths, the Hildyards and others.Walton Hall is a proposed UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sir David Attenborough has stated that "Walton Hall is an extremely important site in the history of nature conservation worldwide. It is, arguably, the first tract of land anywhere in modern times to be protected, guarded and maintained as a nature reserve."

Edward Sheerien School was a comprehensive school in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. It had approximately 800 pupils, ages 11–16. The school was where a large portion of the motion picture Kes was filmed in 1969.The school site was previously occupied by St Helens Comprehensive School, until being amalgamated with Edward Sheerien School in 1992. St Helen's opened on 22 November 1963 to cater for children from the Athersley South and Monk Bretton area of Barnsley. The original Edward Sheerien School was located on Newstead Road Athersley North. Edward Sheerien School closed in September 2009, merging with Royston High School to establish Carlton Community College. The school went on to relocate to a new site in 2011, and in 2016 became Outwood Academy Carlton. The site of the school was demolished in early 2011.