Clayton with Frickley

Clayton is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster

Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster

The Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster is a metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire in Yorkshire and the Humber Region of England.In addition to the town of Doncaster, the borough covers Mexborough, Conisbrough, Thorne and Finningley....

 (part of South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

), on the border with West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....

. It lies to the north of Thurnscoe

Thurnscoe

Thurnscoe is a village in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. The village is approximately half way between Barnsley and Doncaster, but sufficiently far enough from both to be out of their urban sprawl...

, and is located at approximately 53° 33' 40" North, 1° 19' West, at an elevation of around 80 metres above sea level

Sea level

Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...

.

Together with Frickley, it makes up the civil parish of Clayton with Frickley, which has a population of 208.

Clayton with Frickley is of historical significance for a number of reasons.

Frickley

Frickley All Saints Church is unusually situated about 1.5 miles from the main village in the middle of a field, with no obvious access. The reason for this unusual siting stems back to plague times, when Frickley village was effectively burnt to the ground and resited on the top of the hill following a plague epidemic. The only proof that the village was ever anywhere else is the oddly sited church. Being the only stone building of the time, it was left where it was, and survives to this day as an active place of worship in the Parish of Bilham.

The church has some interesting 18th-19th century graves including that for someone "cruelly murdered on the highway between Clayton and Frickley". The church is a small ancient structure, with a tower, in the interior are some cylindrical columns, and between the nave and chancel is a handsome Norman arch.

Secondly, Frickley Colliery

Frickley Colliery

Frickley & South Elmsall Colliery was opened by the Carlton Main Colliery Company Ltd in 1903 in South Elmsall, in Yorkshire, England.-Frickley & South Elmsall Colliery :...

, (albeit actually located in the nearby mining town of South Elmsall

South Elmsall

South Elmsall pronounced "south em-sull" is a small town and civil parish to the east of Hemsworth in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It is on the B6422 and B6474 ....

), was the starting point of the mining strikes of the 1980s. All that remains of the colliery now is a pleasant green grass hill clearly visible from the village as you look towards South Elmsall

South Elmsall

South Elmsall pronounced "south em-sull" is a small town and civil parish to the east of Hemsworth in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It is on the B6422 and B6474 ....

, and the onetime slag (coliiery waste) heap.

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