Tickhill

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name = Tickhill
latitude = 53.43049
longitude = -1.11348
map_type = South Yorkshire
population = 5,264
metropolitan_borough = Doncaster
metropolitan_county = South Yorkshire
CountyType = Metropolitan county
region = Yorkshire and the Humber
constituency_westminster = Don Valley
post_town = DONCASTER
postcode_district = DN11
postcode_area = DN
dial_code = 01302
os_grid_reference = SK592931

Tickhill is a small town in the metropolitan borough of Doncaster (part of South Yorkshire, England), on the border with Nottinghamshire.

Geography

It lies eight miles south of Doncaster, between Maltby and Harworth, on the busy conjunction of the A631 and A60 roads, and [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/134096 adjacent] to the A1(M) motorway. It is located at 53° 26' North, 1° 6' 40" West [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=tickhill&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=39.644047,90.878906&ie=UTF8&z=12&iwloc=addr&om=1] , at an elevation of around 20 metres above sea level. The River Torne passes close to the south-east of the town where it is the boundary between South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, eventually meeting the River Trent.

Notable buildings in Tickhill include the substantial ruins of Tickhill Castle which contains a private residence leased by the Duchy of Lancaster, St Mary's Church - a large thirteenth century parish church and the [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/386725 buttercross] .

History

William I

Shortly after the Norman Invasion, William I of England gave the lands around Tickhill to Roger de Busli, who built a castle on a small hill.David Hey, "Medieval South Yorkshire"] Busli also co-founded nearby Roche Abbey with Richard FitzTurgis.

Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, Tickhill was the second most important town, after Doncaster, in what is now South Yorkshire. The Domesday Book lists the settlement under the former estate centre at Dadsley, now lying on the northern edge of the village. Dadsley was served by a church atop All Hallows Hill, which by 1361 had been downgraded to a chapel. Evidence suggests that the chapel was unused after the English Reformation, and was razed in the mid-seventeenth century.

Tickhill's eponymous hill was probably the base of what is now the motte of Tickhill Castle. The town grew up around the castle, and St Mary's was built soon after to replace All Hallows as the settlement's main church.

Initially, Tickhill was one of England's most successful new towns. It gained a friary and St Leonard's Hospital. The Guild of St Cross was established in the town, and it is believed to have acted as the settlement's main governing body. In 1295, Tickhill sent two members to Parliament, but did not do so subsequently.

ixteenth century

As castles declined in importance during the mediaeval period, so did Tickhill. By the sixteenth century, only a hall was occupied on the castle site, but the market and an annual fair on St Lawrence's Day survived. A little trade was gained from its position on the main road to Bawtry. In 1777, a butter cross was erected in the market place in an attempt to revive the weekly market, but this ceased in the 1790s.

Strafforth and Tickhill was one of the wapentakes of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The Tickhill Psalter, a medieval manuscript, is currently on display in New York.

The following records from [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/59901 St Mary's] Church, Tickhill are available at the Doncaster Archives:

* Baptisms 1542-1895
* Marriages 1538-1910
* Burials 1537-1901
* Banns 1798-1838
* Index: Baptisms 1542-1718, 1771-1839
* Index: Marriages 1538-1677, 1754-1838
* Index: Burials 1538-1674, 1771-1855
* Bishop’s transcripts 1600-1866

The Tickhill & Wadworth railway station was open from 1910-29.

The Castle

Tickhill Castle was built by Roger de Busli, one of the most powerful of the first wave of Norman magnates who had come to England with William the Conqueror. The castle had an eventful history in national life. It was held for the usurping prince John against his brother King Richard I, when the latter returned from abroad in 1194, after his absence on crusade, was the site of a three-week siege during baronial conflicts in 1322 and in the civil war of the 1640s its importance as a local centre of resistance led to its ‘slighting’ (intentional disabling) by Parliament after the defeat of the royalist forces there in 1648. (Conisbrough, long disused as a fortress by this time, escaped such a fate.) Today Tickhill castle remains an impressive ruin, retaining its Norman gatehouse, built in 1129-1130, the foundations of the 11-sided keep (one of only two in the world) on a mound 75 feet in height, built in 1178-9 on the model of the keep at Conisbrough, substantial defensive ditches, some parts of which remain as a moat, and walls enclosing an inner courtyard covering two acres.

Amenities

There is the [http://www.estfeld.doncaster.sch.uk/wa/ Tickhill Estfield] and [http://www.tickhill-st-marys.doncaster.sch.uk St Mary's] C of E primary schools.

Notable residents

* Jean Fergusson - Actress playing Marina in Last of the Summer Wine
* Duggie Brown - Comedian
* Gervase Phinn - Author
* John Mayock - Olympic Athlete
* John Regis - Olympic Athlete and all round nice guy

References

External links

* [http://www.doncasterhealth.co.uk/phiu/communities/graph/profiles/files/Tickhill.pdf Health statistics for Tickhill]
* [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/WRY/Tickhill/ Tickhill on the GENUKI genealogical site]
* [http://www.tickhillhistorysociety.org.uk/index.asp Tickhill & District Local History Society]
* [http://www.tickhillonline.co.uk Tickhill Online]
* [http://www.tickhillridingclub.co.uk Riding club]
* [http://www.tickhilltoday.com Tickhill Today]
* [http://www.rotherhamweb.co.uk/gallery/tickhill/ Rotherham Web]
* [http://www.doncaster.gov.uk/Leisure_in_Doncaster/Libraries/community_libraries/Tickhill_Library.asp Library]