Elsecar

Elsecar is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. Like many villages in the area, it was for many years a colliery village until the widespread pit closures during the 1980s. Elsecar is near the town of Hoyland and the villages of Jump and Wentworth. Elsecar is south of Hoyland, south of Barnsley and north-east of Sheffield. The village falls within the Barnsley MBC Ward of Hoyland Milton.Elsecar is unique as a name. It is thought to derive from the Old English personal name of Aelfsige (mentioned in Cartulary of Nostell Priory, 1259–66) and the Old Norse word kjarr, used to denote a marsh or brushwood.HistoryIn 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Elsecar as having a population of 1912 and 353 dwelling places.IndustryElsecar was nothing more than a series of farms up until the 18th century. Although coal had been mined in the area since the 14th century the first colliery, Elsecar Old, did not open until 1750. The first proper mine shaft was sunk in 1795 at Elsecar New Colliery. The village was formed to take advantage of the coal resources in the area, the seams of the Carboniferous Middle Coal Measures, the Kents Thick and Kents Thin coal seams. Many of the new buildings were built by the Earl Fitzwilliam, who resided in nearby Wentworth Woodhouse, to house their workers. By the end of the century several pits were opened.