Clayton, South Yorkshire
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Clayton is a village in the metropolitan borough of Doncaster (part of South Yorkshire, England), on the border with West Yorkshire. It lies to the north of Thurnscoe, and is located at approximately 53° 33' 40" North, 1° 19' West, at an elevation of around 80 metres above sea level.
Together with Frickley, it makes up the civil parish of Clayton with Frickley.
Clayton village is of historical significance for a number of reasons. Firstly, Clayton with Frickley All Saints Church is unusually situated about 1.5 miles from the main village in the middle of a field, with no obvious access. The reason for this unusual siting stems back to plague times, when the village was effectively burnt to the ground and resited on the top of the hill following a plague epidemic. The only proof that the village was ever anywhere else is the oddly sited church. Being the only stone building of the time, it was left where it was, and survives to this day as a place of worship. The church has some interesting 18th-19th century graves including that for someone "cruelly murdered on the highway between Clayton and Frickley". The church is a small ancient structure, with a tower, in the interior are some cylindrical columns, and between the nave and chancel is a handsome Norman arch.
From: 'Fremington - Fring', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 263-266. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50972&strquery=frickley. Date accessed: 18 March 2008.
Secondly, Frickley Colliery, (albeit actually located in the nearby mining town of South Elmsall), was the starting point of the infamous mining strikes of the 1980's. All that remains of the colliery now is a pleasant green grass hill clearly visible from the village as you look towards South Elmsall, and the onetime slag heap.
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