Great Houghton Halt railway station

Great Houghton Halt was a small railway station on the Dearne Valley Railway (DVR) situated between Goldthorpe and Thurnscoe Halt and Grimethorpe Halt. The halt served the village of Great Houghton in South Yorkshire, England. The station opened on 3 June 1912. Originally named Houghton Halt, it was renamed Great Houghton Halt a few weeks later, on 24 August 1912. At first, trains were operated on behalf of the DVR by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway; when that company amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922, the combined organisation (also known as the London and North Western Railway) absorbed the DVR on the same day. The station closed on 10 September 1951.

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Great Houghton, South Yorkshire

Great Houghton is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England), on the border with West Yorkshire. It lies to the west of Thurnscoe, on the B6411 road. At the 2001 census it had a population of 2,261, increasing to 2,475 at the 2011 census. The name Houghton derives from the Old English hōhtūn meaning 'settlement on a hill spur'. Great Houghton is a former mining village and its mines were served by the railway, which has since gone, but remains are still visible. The village has a Miners Welfare Hall which was built and completed in 1923 and handed over to Great Houghton Parish Council soon after. In 2024 Barnsley MBC funded The Miners Welfare Hall's full renovation under its Local Centre's Renovation works. Further works are planned in 2025 under the same funding initiative. The village had a primary school called Sandhill. The old school building that stood on the main street was demolished in 2007 and was replaced with a new Private Finance Initiative primary school. The village has a church, St Michael's All Angels. Some parts of Great Houghton were affected by the 2007 summer flooding, which caused extensive damage in neighbouring villages.

St Michael and All Angels Church, Great Houghton

St Michael and All Angels Church is the parish church of Great Houghton in South Yorkshire. The church is dedicated to St Michael, and was originally a private chapel and was built by Sir Edward Rodes, the High Sheriff of Yorkshire, who was a conspicuous Parliamentarian. It was built about 1650 and used for worship by his family and the tenants of his land. Sir Edward was a great friend of Oliver Cromwell, when he was the Lord Protector of England. He served in Cromwell's Privy Council and was also the Colonel of his Cavalry. Cromwell visited the church on its completion and approved of its simple design. Sir Edward died on 19 February 1666 and is buried in Darfield Church. His Coat of Arms appeared in stone on the east gable of the church. This mysteriously disappeared over the years but the space where it lay still remains. The first religious ceremony in the chapel was the baptism of one of the younger sons of Sir Edward by Mr Edward Bowles of York, one of the most eminent Presbyterian clergy of his day. Richard Taylor was the first officiating minister as Chaplain to the Rodes family. He had been prevented from exercising his ministry in public by the Act of Uniformity. The Rodes family were great patrons of nonconformity. The chapel at Great Houghton must have been well known throughout the country as a haven for persecuted clergy of the period. The chapel had a succession of non-conforming ministers who existed under Rode's protection. The chapel remained private for many years and it was not until 1849 that it became ‘Episcopally licensed’ for worship. It only became part of the Church of England (under Darfield parish) in 1906 and the first Anglican service was a Holy Communion which took place on 24 November 1908.

Middlecliffe

Middlecliffe is a small hamlet in South Yorkshire, England. It straddles the road between Darfield and Great Houghton, close to Barnsley, where Middlecliff Lane joins the B6273 road. The hamlet falls within the Darfield Ward of Barnsley MBC. It is mostly a collection of current and former council houses, small corner shop, a Working Mans Club and a sports ground – home to Houghton Main CC and FC. Middlecliffe is the birthplace of footballer Wilf Copping, who played for Leeds United, Arsenal and was capped 20 times for England.

Little Houghton, South Yorkshire

Little Houghton is a hamlet and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. At the 2001 census it had a population of 618, increasing to 659 at the 2011 Census. Access to the hamlet of Little Houghton is gained by travelling along Middlecliff Lane through the village of Middlecliffe. The larger village is made up of mainly council and ex-council houses. The name Houghton derives from the Old English hōhtūn meaning 'settlement on a hill spur'. Little Houghton was previously the site of two large coal mines. Houghton Main was a deep shaft mine and Dearne Valley a drift mine. Both mines are now closed and their sites have been landscaped, which has been partly funded by money from the European Union. Before the coal mines, the village was involved in agriculture and there were a number of farms in the village with associated cottages. Only two of the old farm buildings remain, but some have recently been converted into housing. The two settlements come under Little Houghton Parish Council.