Orgreave, South Yorkshire

Orgreave
The River Rother at Orgreave
Orgreave  Orgreave shown within South Yorkshire
Population	739 (2011 Census)
OS grid reference	SK425860
Civil parish	Orgreave
Metropolitan borough	Rotherham
Metropolitan county	South Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Sheffield
Postcode district	S13
Police	South Yorkshire
Fire	South Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
EU Parliament	Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament	Rother Valley
List of places UK England Yorkshire

Coordinates: 53°22′12″N 1°22′24″W / 53.37012°N 1.37324°W

Orgreave is a village and civil parish on the River Rother in South Yorkshire. It is in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, about 4.5 miles (7 km) east of the centre of Sheffield and a similar distance south of the centre of Rotherham.

The 2011 Census recorded its population as 739.^[1] This is a slight decline since the 2001 Census, which recorded its population as 761.^[2]

History

Coal and coke

Coal mining in the area began with Dore House Colliery in 1820. The first shaft of Orgreave Colliery was sunk in 1851. In the 20th century the Orgreave Coking Plant was established, and the colliery began to supply the plant. The National Coal Board closed Orgreave Colliery in 1981.

In the 1984–85 Miners' Strike, National Union of Mineworkers members picketed the coking plant to prevent employees and coal from entering or products from leaving. On 18 June 1984, three and a half months into the strike, a large number of South Yorkshire Police officers, including mounted units, were deployed against the pickets. There was large-scale violence between police and pickets, which became known as the Battle of Orgreave.

The coking plant closed in 1991. In 1995 British Coal Opencast was authorised to remove the spoil tip of the former colliery and conduct opencast coal mining on a site totalling 700 acres (280 ha). BCO removed some 12 million tonnes of spoil, extracted coal from it, and also realigned almost ³⁄₄ mile (1.2 km) of the River Rother. In 2005 BCO completed its work at Orgreave and handed over the land for redevelopment.

Redevelopment

100 acres (40 ha) of the site has been redeveloped as the Advanced Manufacturing Park. In 2008 Harworth Estates submitted a planning application to redevelop 300 acres (120 ha) as the Waverley community, which will include 4,000 homes and some commercial development. 222 acres (90 ha) is being restored as green space including recreation areas, parks, woods, three lakes and a reservoir.

References

1. "Area: Orgreave (Parish): Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
2. "Area: Orgreave CP (Parish): Parish Headcounts, 2001". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 31 August 2008.

External links

• Map sources for Orgreave, South Yorkshire
• Orgreave in the Domesday Book