Beighton

In October, 1882, the village opened a small reading and recreation room.

You may want to use the Eckington Library on Market Street near Southgate in Eckington parish. It is closed Wednesdays and Sundays. They have a Local Studies and Family History section to help you with your searches.

You may want to use the Sheffield, YKS, Library just across the county boundary.

• In addition to the churchyard, there is a cemetery on School Road.
   
• The cemetery is managed by the Sheffield City Council Burial Board.
   
• We have a partial extract of Beighton burials in a file for your review. At the moment, we have only a handful of entries. Your additions and corrections are welcomed.
   

• The parish was in the Aston sub-district of the Rotherham Registration District up until mid-1895.
   
• In a July 1895 district re-organization, this parish was transferred to the Eckington sub-district of the Chesterfield Registration District.
   
• The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
   

• The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin.
   
• The church was reputedly built in the 11th century.
   
• The church is on Church Lane, but the burial ground is now on School Road.
   
• The church was restored and partially rebuilt in 1868.
   
• David MORRIS has a photograph of St. Mary's Church on Geo-graph, taken in September, 2005.
   
• Richard CROFT has a photograph of the ancient church steps on Geo-graph, taken in June, 2010.

• The Anglican parish register dates from 1653 and is in good condition.
   
• The church register is deposited at the Sheffield Archives and are on fiche at the Eckington Library.
   
• Monument Inscriptions from the graveyard have been recorded and are on deposit at the Sheffield Archives (as of 2003).
   
• The Derbyshire Record Office (DRO) has Beighton Baptisms 1648-1668 and 1676-1965; Marriages 1648-1668 and 1676-1967; Banns 1754-1848 and 1938-1990; Burials 1648-1668 and 1676-1974. A note says there were no baptisms; marriage or burial entries between 1669 and 1675.
   
• Marriages at Beighton, 1653-1837 are available in Nigel BATTY-SMITH's database of scanned images of Phillimore's Parish Registers.
   
• The church was in the rural deanery of Staveley.
   
• The Independentsts (United Free Church) built a small chapel here which was later demolished.
   
• The Wesleyan Methodists built a small chapel here in 1849 called "The Reform Chapel". This building was later demolished.
   
• A Primitive Methodist chapel was built here in 1891.

• Civil Registration began in July, 1837.
   
• The parish was in the Aston sub-district of the Rotherham Registration District up until mid-1895.
   
• In a July 1895 district re-organization, this parish was transferred to the Eckington sub-district of the Chesterfield Registration District.

"BEIGHTON, a parish in the hundred of Scarsdale, in the county of Derby, 7 miles to the S.E. of Sheffield, its post town, and 10 N.E. of Chesterfield. The Midland, and the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire railways pass near the village, and have stations at Eckington and Woodhouse Mill. The approach to the village from Eckington is through a massive stone cutting."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin HINSON ©2003]

The parish cover almost 3,100 acres and is bordered by Yorkshire on the east and north, across the River Rother. The Chesterfield Canal cuts through the north-east portion of the parish. Birley, Frecheville, Hackenthorpe and Sothal (or Southal) Waterthorpe are hamlets in this parish.

The village was mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book. In 1967 the city of Sheffield expanded its boundaries to include this parish within its urban borders. So the parish is now, technically, in Yorkshire.

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Rosemary LOCKIE provides a transcription of the Beighton entry under Hackenthorpe from White's Gazetteer and General Directory of Sheffield & Twenty Miles round, 1852.
   
• Ann ANDREWS provides a transcription of the Beighton entry in Kelly's Directory of the Counties of Derby, Notts, Leicester and Rutland (1891).

• The transcription of the section for Beighton from the National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin HINSON.

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Beighton to another place.

• "Includes Birley, Hackenthorpe and Frecheville. Now in City of Sheffield and since 1974 in Sheffield diocese."
  (Ref: Derbyshire Record Office: Catalogue of Parish Registers)

• The parish used to hold its annual Feast Day during the first week in August.
   
• In the 1800s the parish was known for the scythes and sickles manufactured at Hackenthorpe.
   
• Ben BROOKSBANK has a 1951 photograph of the local freight train on Geo-graph, taken in July 1951.
   
• Ben BROOKSBANK has another 1951 photograph of the Up freightfreight on the Nottingham main line on Geo-graph, taken in July 1951.
   
• J. THOMAS has a photograph of The Belfry pub, Sothall, on Geo-graph, taken in March, 2015.
   
• In the 1950s, massive housing development encroached from nearby Sheffield. In April, 1967, the city of Sheffield incorporated Beighton within its borders.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK443836 (Lat/Lon: 53.347444, -1.336017), Beighton which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

• Sally Ann THOMAS tells us that an ancestor, George MORTON give Beighton as a place of birth. He joined the Royal Horse Artillery in 1794 and fought throughout the Peninsular War. He was a Staff Sergeant at Waterloo.
   
• On 11-Feb-1942 a troop train carrying 400 naval and sailors military personnel crashed at Beighton station. 14 soldiers were killed and 35 injured.
   
• Bombs and land mines were dropped on Sheffield during World War II. Some of these blew out windows in the High Street, but there were no casualties in this parish.

There are two Commonwealth War Graves in Beighton Cemetery, both from World War II:

1. Robert POOLE, gunner, 54 Lt. A.A. Regt. Royal Artillery, age 44, died 10 July 1943. Son of James and Agnes Laura POOLE.
2. Frederick SCARFE, priv., General Service Corps, age 18, died 18 March 1946. Son of Frederick and Ellen SCARFE.

Jane TAYLOR has this snippet from the Derby Mercury of 17 Jan 1805: MARRIED: "On Thursday, Mr. ASKHAM, of Sheffield, surgeon, to Miss Catharine YOULE, of Beighton, in this county."

Jane TAYLOR in Redcar provides this notice from the Derby Mercury of 25 July 1804: "DIED: On Friday se'nnight, in the 83d year of his age, John BOWDON, Esq. of Beighton Fields, in this county."

• This place was an ancient parish in county Derby and it became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
   
• This parish was in the ancient Scarsdale Hundred (or Wapentake).
   
• In April, 1967, this Civil Parish was abolished and the land was given over to Aston Civil Parish and Eckington Civil Parish.

• Bastardy cases would be heard in the Eckington petty session hearings.
   
• There is an index of a handful of Beighton Bastardy Papers held at the DRO on the Yesterdays Journey website. Select "Bastardy Papers" on the left side, then "Beighton" from the list of parishes displayed.
   
• The Common Lands were enclosed here in 1800.
   
• As a result of the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, this parish became part of the Rotherham, Yorkshire, Poorlaw Union.
   
• In a July 1895 district re-organization, this parish was transferred of the Chesterfield Poorlaw Union.

In an 1875 Will (made in 1867), Eliza Jemima BOWDON, Beighton Fields Priory, Barlborough, spinster, mentions;

1. sister Frances Willoughby BOWDON
2. sister Barbara Magdalen WRIGHT
3. niece Mary Beatrice WRIGHT
4. niece Madeleine Mary WRIGHT
5. property in Wheston, p.Tideswell
6. cousin Marmion FERRERS
7. late aunt Caroline FERRERS
8. Rev. Thomas WILLIAMS Mount St Mary's, Spinkhill
9. Josh SHIPTON witness
10. John BRAILSFORD witness

A school board of 5 members was formed in December 1877.

Beighton Board School was erected in 1880 and enlarged in 1890 to hold 320 boys & girls and 152 infants; average attendance in 1891, 240 boys & girls & 110 infants.

Hackenthorpe Board School was erected in 1883, for 120 boys & girls & 60 infants.

In 1895 there was a small charity endowment for 10 free scholars.

Westfield Sports College is located on Eckington Road in Sothal.