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Recent archaeological remains uncovered in the "Wellgate" area suggest that there has been a settlement at Conisbrough since at least the 2^nd or 3^rd century.  Ask anyone with an interest in the history of the village, and they will tell you that St. Peter’s Church dates back to the 8^th century and that there has been a castle in Conisbrough since the 11^th century.  But there is more to the history of Conisbrough than its landmark buildings. 

The earliest written record of Conisbrough dates to the years 1000-04 when Wulfric Spott, one of King Edward’s ministers, granted the lands around “Kyningesburg” to Elfheim, another Saxon nobleman.  At this time the Conisbrough estates were extensive as they also included the fisheries of Hatfield.

At the time of the Battle of Hastings in 1066 the manor of Conisbrough was held by Harold, the son of Godwin, also known as King Harold, the king who lost everything at Hastings.

The Domesday Survey of 1086 records that the Honour of Conisbrough was a large estate centred on the burh, and some twenty-eight vills (small townships) belonged to it.  It was then owned by William de Warenne who was to become the Earl of Surrey in 1088.

It would be easy to assume that the history of the medieval Conisbrough Village and Conisbrough Castle were tightly linked together; whilst this is true to a point, recent work carried out by and on behalf of local history groups to translate local court documents into modern English, has discovered that there was much more going on in the village of Conisbrough than anyone had previously thought possible.

By the time of the Poll Tax of 1379, during the reign of Richard II, it is recorded that the population of Conisbrough was some “…123 soules…” in the same record the population of Old Denaby was 105, Rotherham was 354, Tickhill was 462, Sheffield was 530 with 761 people living at Doncaster.  By 1795 the number of people living in Conisbrough had risen to 840, by 1821 there were 1,142 living in the village.

Twenty years later the census return of 1841 showed an increase to 1,341 including 524 children less than 14 years of age and not employed.  Of the 381 working men, 151 were directly associated with farming and many of the 44 male and 63 female servants were employed by farmers.  It is difficult for us to imagine today, but just 100 years ago there were still five farms on Church Street.

Mining

There are records of coal mining taking place at Conisbrough going back as early as 1487, with the occasional mention of coal in documents and records throughout the history of the area from that time.  However, in 1863 work began on the sinking of the first pit shaft at Denaby and by 1867 the extraction of coal from the pit had begun.  This marked the end of the rural nature of Conisbrough. 

Coal mining was to become the largest employer in the Conisbrough and Denaby area.  In 1868 the Denaby Colliery Company began to built new housing close to the colliery and the new settlement of Denaby Main was created.  By 1878 coal gas was being supplied to miners houses and running water was laid on from a purpose built reservoir in 1902.  By 1920 the Colliery Company owned 1,700 dwellings.

Such was the demand for coal that a second pit shaft was sunk less than a mile from Denaby on the Cadeby side of the Don between the years 1889 and 1893.  Before 1920 two more shafts had been sunk, one at each colliery.  During the 1930s over 6,000 men were working at the two collieries.

For over 100 years the two pits extracted coal day and night, but not without a cost in human lives.  The most notable loss of life was the Cadeby Pit Disaster of 1912, which resulted in the eventual death of 91 miners.  But the overall cost of mining was staggering, by the time that Denaby closed in 1968 there had been no major accident at the pit, yet 203 men had lost their lives.  When Cadeby closed in 1986 it had claimed the lives of 130 men not including those who died in the 1912 disaster.  Injury and illness brought about by working in terrible conditions underground still effect the lives of ex-miners and their families today over twenty years after the final closure of both pits.

Other Industries

Coal mining was not the only employer in the village.  Conisbrough has supported a wide variety of industries throughout its existence.  Although all but a few have long since gone, many have left their mark upon the history and fabric of Conisbrough.

As has already been mentioned, by far the largest employer by the mid 19^th century was agriculture with almost 50% of the male work force employed in farming in some way.  There were also other sources of employment that would have existed in the village from medieval days. 

The Domesday Survey of 1086 mentions two mills on the lands of Conisbrough, there is evidence to suggest that at least one of them was next to the River Don, for in 1316 a mill in Conisbrough is referred to by John de Warenne the 8^th Earl, in a complaint about a mill dam at Sprotborough that was hindering the flow of the river to such an extent that it effected the mill at Conisbrough.  A flourmill on the same site at Burcroft continued to grind corn until 1927.

Other ancient trades known to be still taking place in the village in the mid 19^th century include basket making, rope walking, tanning and working leather.  Interestingly enough these tasks all took place in the area near Kearsley Brook known as “Codder Alley” (modern day March Gate).

The quarrying of limestone for building has been carried out in the area since before the Normans.  Many of the oldest buildings in the village are built using locally quarried stone.  There were quarries at Crookhill, Highfields and Northcliffe Crags (Ladies Valley).  It is thought possible that numerous other quarry sites existed in and around the township, although all trace of many have long since been eradicated.  The largest quarrying operation took place at “Conisbrough Cliffs” an area near the viaduct.  It consisted of “Near Cliff” which was already worked out by 1791, and “Far Cliff” which included the long gone industrial hamlet of Levitt Hagg.

The other building material used in many of the older houses in and around Conisbrough is a dark red brick.  There have been two brickyards in the village, the first was just behind the castle on land now known as “The Plantation”, the earliest record of the yard is to be found on the 1840 tithe map, although it is likely that the yard was older, by 1850 it had closed.  The second brickyard first appears on the 1858 Ordinance Survey map.  Ashfield Brickyard was situated on the Sheffield side of Cliffton Hill.  Work continued on the site until 1960. The “clay-pit” that the brickyard produced in its time was so large that it took 20 years to fill-in.

Some industries had been and gone by the middle of the 19^th century, one notable example was the Burcroft Boring Mill.  Built in 1779 by Samuel Walker, an Ironmaster from Rotherham.  The mill was used in the boring and test firing of cannon cast at Rotherham; many of the cannon on Nelson’s Flagship “HMS Victory” were bored and fired for the first time at Burcroft.  At sometime before the mid 19^th century the boring mill was converted to a sawmill, among the items made at the mill were bobbins for use in the Lancashire cotton mills.

Another industry to spring up near the river at Burcroft was the Conisbrough Sickle Works.  A sickle was a hand-held agricultural cutting tool used like the much larger scythe, (also made at the manufactory), for harvesting wheat, oats, barley and the like.  It is not certain when production of edged tools began at Burcroft, but the first mention of the factory was in 1825.  Production of these tools continued on the site until 1971, during its heyday the factory was producing more than 60,000 tools per year, almost 80% of which were exported all over the world to such places as India, Romania, Poland, Peru and Fiji.

In 1863 the Kilner brothers opened a glass bottle factory at Denaby Main.  The site that was accessed via a bridge, (still called “Kilner Bridge”), was between the railway and the river, (where the Earth Centre car park is today).  Kilner products, which included glass storage “Kilner” jars and “pop” bottles, were known internationally.  By 1871 they employed 123 men, twenty-three years later in 1894 they employed as many as 400 hands (men, women and boys), and were making up to 300,000 bottles of all types per week. 

Kilner Glassworks was a completely self contained manufactory, taking in raw materials and producing finished jars and bottles ready for use.  The proximity of the river and railway made this a simple process, and was a fine illustration of Victorian industry.  The Kilners contributed much to the Conisbrough area and their mark can still be seen in the fine houses that the family had built for themselves. The factory however, closed in 1936 and has long since disappeared from the landscape.

The list of other industries that grew-up, flourished and have now disappeared from Conisbrough is far too long for detailed inclusion here, there were sawmills and woodworking companies, a railway repair yard, toffee makers, sweet makers; at least 2 breweries.  There have been iron and brass foundries, a fat and glue works, a crisp factory and endless tradesmen and women throughout time, all have added to the rich tapestry that is Conisbrough. 

The history of Conisbrough as a village is by no means unique, like any settlement, it has developed in fits and starts, like any settlement its history is there to read in the buildings, streets and landscape around us.  All that you will need to help you to find out more is an open mind, time and a willingness to listen and learn.

There have been many self taught historians and antiquarians in the past, between them all they have added a massive weight of paper to the written history of Conisbrough.  The Conisbrough and Denaby Main Heritage Group are currently involved in the process of archiving as much of this information, photographs and other historic sources as possible, if you have anything that you wish to contribute to the archive or if you wish to find out more about the history of Conisbrough and Denaby, they can be found in Conisbrough Library on the first Friday and Saturday of each month between 10am and 3pm. 

This account of the history of Conisbrough is far from being a complete record and is only placed here to "whet the appetite" of the reader.  Much of the information here has been gleaned from the pages of “an Illustrated Account of Conisbrough –by Robert Allen Marsh” (no longer in print).