Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for MASBROUGH

MASBROUGH, a quondam hamlet and a chapelry in Rotherham parish, W. R. Yorkshire. The quondam hamlet is now a suburb of Rotherham, separated only by the river Don; stands on the W side of that river, and on the North Midland railway at the junction of the branch to Sheffield; has a station with telegraph at the railway junction; and communicates with Rotherham by an ancient bridge of five pointed arches. It has risen rapidly. from the condition of a hamlet to that of a town; and it presents a street appearance of similar character to that of Rotherham. St. John's church was built in 1864; is in the early decorated English style; was left off with tower and spire unfinished; and contains 800 sittings, all free. The Independent theological college stands on a gentle eminence, amid a plot of garden and pasture; was founded in 1756, and opened in 1795: has two fronts, toward respectively the SW and the NE; contains apartments for 21 students; is in connexion with the University of London; and has an income of about £530. A chapel is connected with the college, and was built in 1815. A Baptist chapel stood formerly on Masbrough Common; and was rebuilt in Rotherham in 1836, at a cost of £1,100. The Roman Catholic chapel was built in 1843. A monument is in the par ish church of Rotherham to 50 young persons, who were drowned on occasion of a launch at Masbrough in 1841. Extensive iron-works in Masbrough were founded in 1746, by Walker of Clifton; produced vast quantities of ordnance during the French war; and have turned out a number of notable iron bridges, including the Southwark one at London. Extensive steel-works were erected in 1842, at a cost of £20,000. There are also large foundries, manufactories of stove-grates, glass-works, chemical-works, and other industrial establishments. A colliery likewise is adjacent. Ebenezer Elliott, the corn-law rhymer, w as a native.—The chapelry was constituted in 1865. Polp., 6,588. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of York. Value, £200.* Patron, the Archbishop of York.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a quondam hamlet and a chapelry"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Yorkshire AncC
Place: Masbrough

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