Thornhill, West Yorkshire
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Thornhill is a former village, now suburb of Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on a hill on the south side of the River Calder, and has extensive views of Dewsbury and Wakefield. It is known for its collection of Anglo-Saxon crosses. The area has also been frequently used by dialect researchers as an example of an area with a distinctive local accent and dialect.
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History
Thornhill is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, but the Anglo-Saxon crosses and other remains indicate that there was a settlement here by the ninth century. In the reign of Henry III Thornhill was the seat of the Thornhill family, who intermarried with the De Fixbys and Babthorpes in the reigns of Edward I and Edward II. In the reign of Edward III, Elizabeth Thornhill, the only child of Simon Thornhill, married Sir Henry Saville. This extinguished the family line of Thornhills of Thornhill which now passed down the Saville line. Thornhill now became the seat of the emerging and powerful Savile family. [1] Image:Thornhill coat of arms.jpg
The Savilles remained here until the English Civil War when the house was besieged, (having been previously fortified by Sir William Saville, the third baronet of the family), taken, and demolished by the forces of Parliament. Some ruins of the house and the moat still remain at Thornhill Rectory Park.[2]This large house had a secret underground passage, that lead to Thornhill Parish Church. [3] just a few hundred yards away from the park. The passage remained until the early 1990's when it was filled in due to safety reasons. Monuments to members of both the Thornhill and Saville families are on view in Thornhill Parish Church. [4]
One thing that sets Thornhill apart from the rest of Dewsbury is its closer ties to coal-mining. In 1893 the Combs Pit Mining Disaster killed 139 local coal miners. Thornhill colliery resulted from the mergining of Inghams and Combs colliery in 1948. It closed in 1971. The nearest pit from then on was Caphouse Colliery, just to the south, which closed after the miners strike of 1985.
Schools
The Thornhill area has two junior schools: Overthorpe Junior and Infants and Thornhill Junior and Infants School. The Community Science College @ Thornhill (formerly Thornhill High School) is the area's secondary school, with a GCSE pass rate of 30% (2005). Recently the high school has undergone various modifications, and is now a Science College. The science block has been fully refurbished and the humanities block was demolished and a new one built. There are also plans to add a sports centre to the high school grounds. Image:Thorhillhigh.jpg
Entertainment
Thornhill has many public houses for its size. The Black Horse is a small public house in the south of Thornhill. The Scarborough Pub is a medium sized traditional public house on the edge of Frank Lane, serving traditional Yorkshire food and is a preferred drinking spot for most of the older residents of Thornhill. The Flat Top is a small public house on the corner of Albion Road, serving traditionaly brewed local ales.
Sports
Thornhill is home to the Thornhill Trojans, a rugby league team who are currently in the National Conference League Premier Division.[5] The area also boasts a football team and several rugby league youth teams. The Thornhill rugby club, located in Thornhill Park, houses the changing rooms for the local rugby and football teams.
Community facilities open to the public include a football pitch, rugby pitch and basketball court. There is also a mini rugby pitch frequently used by the rugby club itself for the under tens junior team.
Amenities
There are a number of local shops and off-licences in Thornhill, and numerous takeaways, ranging from traditional english to italian cuisine . The nearest large supermarkets are in Dewsbury, the largest supermarkets are the Asda and the newly built Lidl. The area is also served by two post offices with limited services. The Overthorpe post office has recently undergone building work to extend it and is now a larger mini supermarket, named Londis.