Cawthorne


Cawthorne is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. The village was once the centre of a localised iron and coal mining industry, though today it is the centre of a very affluent commuter belt, west of Barnsley. At the 2001 census it had a population of 1,108, increasing to 1,151 at the 2011 Census.
The village has a choral society, a brass band, a museum, a stately home, and a Young Farmers Club. The local charitable club, Cawthorne wives holds meetings and raises money for local and national charities. Young people are catered for by the Grass Roots drama club which produces an annual play ranging from comedy to Shakespeare. Every four years the village produces a Community Drama in the grounds of Cannon Hall involving the band, choral society and 100 actors from the village. In 2000 this was One Breath and in 2004 Time and Chance. The village pub, the Spencer Arms is named from the village's association with the Spencer-Stanhope family who once owned large swathes of the local area. Their family home was Cannon Hall, the park of which borders the village. Cannon Hall is now a museum run by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council. Nearby visitor attractions include Cannon Hall Farm, as shown on Channel 5's weekly TV programme This Week on the Farm.
Two earlier residences in Cawthorne were Barnby Hall, home of the Barnby family, and Banks Hall, the seat of the Misses Spencer-Stanhope and of a branch of the Greene family.
Cawthorne is frequented by ramblers as many excellent walking routes start from the village.
The Victoria Jubilee Museum, built to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, was opened in 1889 and contains numerous unusual exhibits including a stuffed cheetah and a two-headed lamb.
All Saints Church overlooks the village, and there is a Methodist church on Darton Road. All Saints contains memorials to the Barnby and Spencer families, among others.