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Wortley is a very village near Barnsley, in the western part of South Yorkshire. The village has an interesting history. It was mentioned Domesday Book as Wirtleie (1086). It grew as a settlement becuse it was located where the Sheffield to Halifax road crossed the Cheshire to Rotherham roasds. Its develooment was limited because regular fairs and market days did not develop, in large measure because the monks in Barnsly did not want competition for their fairs and markets. The parish church of St. Leonard's dates back to the medieval period, but was rebuilt during the 18th century. The village is famous for two modern matters. First is the Wortley Top Forge dating to the Industrial Revolution. Second is storied highwayman Swift Nick (John Nevison, 1639-84). There were several schools in Wortley. Whilke Wortley itself is a small villge it is surrounded by an urbanized area. The small secondary school has recently closed and been demolished. The Wortley School opened in temporary premises leased from the trustees of the Bull Ring Primitive Methodist Society (1872). This seems to be the result of the Education At (1870) in which Parliament finally committed to a free public education system. The School mentions that the first headteacher was a very severe woman. New buildings were provided, but they proved inadequte. An imposing brick school was eventuallyn built, we think (1883). The old school building has been converted to apartments. The image here shows very young children in 1920, porobably a class portrait. They are a coed group and look to be the same age group as the modern Wortley Lower Primary School. We are not sure about the buildings involved. The 1920 portrait is notable for the bright white collars the boys are wearing.
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[The 1880s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
[The 1980s]