Worrall - History

History

The origins of Worrall go back to Anglo-Saxon times, it had its roots in farming and was mentioned in records as part of a manor which also included the areas of Ughill and Wadsley. The manor was held by the Saxon chief Aldene and included 14 bovates of land and an open woodland, a mile square. The villages name derives from the Saxon word Hrivfull meaning “top” and this would certainly apply to Worrall’s lofty position above the Don and Loxley valleys.

After the Norman Conquest Worrall was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as being part of the land held by Roger de Busli. Throughout its history Worrall was closely connected with the nearby village of Wadsley which lies two km to the SW. In 1541 Henry Everingham was named as lord of the manor of both villages in a charter which granted relief from paying certain duties as long as tenants paid their annual rent. The manor of Worrall was transferred to the ownership of Robert Swyft in 1557 and then to Sir Francis Leake before passing into the estates of the Earl of Shrewsbury. In the 18th century the Stead family estate owned properties in Worrall, at his death Thomas Stead (1728–93) owned 16 properties and 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) in various parts of Hallamshire and Sheffield. Throughout this period Worrall was predominantly a farming community.

Worrall developed some small scale industry at the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when some small Little Mester workshops were set up to make cutlery and knives. Nearby Wadsley had a reputation for making pocket knives and Worrall found it easier to trade with Wadsley than with the more distant Sheffield.

Ganister mining and quarrying were other industries that grew in the area. Quarrying developed from the middle of the 17th century when there was an expansion of farming in the area and farmhouses and cottages needed to be built for the workers. The biggest quarry in the area was the Middlewood quarry off Mowson Lane which was owned by George Turner. Local historian Joe Castle has suggested that stone from this quarry was used to build the Wicker Arches in Sheffield. The quarry closed at the start of World War II and is now a new housing development. There were three Ganister mines in the immediate Worrall area. The Yews Mine and the Langhouse Mine were owned by Charles Bramall, while the Stubbin Mine was owned by the Oughtibridge Silica Firebrick Company and was the last to close in November 1927.