Village Life

The photographs taken by Frank Downing and others capture what life was like in Thurgoland 100 years ago.

Thurgoland is located on the A629, the major route from Sheffield to Huddersfield, which also connects outlying villages with the market towns of Penistone and Holmfirth. The village was originally an agricultural community, and Downing photographed farming scenes such as ploughing or feeding chickens.

The village, which extends down to the River Don in the south developed as the iron-making and wire-drawing industries expanded. Most local people lived in the cottages built in the 18th and 19th centuries and worked in the forges and mills, or the stone quarries. The railway provided improved communications and an alternative source of employment.