Sparrow Barracks, Silkstone Common
WHY ARE SOUTH YORKSHIRE BUILDINGS KNOWN AS THE
BARRACKS OR SPARROW BARRACKS
South Yorkshire Buildings in Silkstone Common have been
known as Sparrow Barracks or simply The Barracks by generations of locals
going back to when they were built in the 1870s.
I had always thought that the name was peculiar to the
cottages in Silkstone Common but there were also “Sparrow Barracks” in
other areas – notably Mexborough and Deepcar in South Yorkshire and Newark,
Notts and Hampton-In Arden in the West Midlands.
The name Sparrow Barracks is
not a recent nickname, and was used for the South Yorkshire Buildings way back
in time. In a speech by the Chairman of The Penistone and District
Education Sub Committee, Dr ACJ Wilson, in 1913 at the official opening of the new school at Silkstone Common, he
recalled his first visit to the village 35 years previously. He had been asked
to visit a poor patient who lived in the South Yorkshire Buildings. He had
remarked that that was rather a “high sounding name”, but was told to just ask
for Sparrow Barracks and he would find them. If his memory was correct that
would put his story back to 1878.
So if the name Sparrow Barracks was used in a number of other places
in addition to Silkstone Common and way back in the 1870s, where does the name
come from ?
The cottages themselves were originally built by the South Yorkshire Coal and Iron
Company to house men working for that company hence the official name of South Yorkshire Buildings. The name of the company is built into a gable on the front row of cottages.
Barracks was a name used at the time to describe housing built specifically to house workers (as well as those built to house the military). The term Sparrow Barracks seems to have been used, then, to describe small houses in several clusters where the residents lived in close quarters to each other, much like sparrows in a hedgerow. This does seem to be the most likely explanation and does probably describe how locals would have seen the new South Yorkshire Buildings when they were first built back in the day.
A SHORT HISTORY
The above notice to builders etc wishing to tender for the erection of 56 cottages and other buildings on Silkstone Common appeared in newspapers in June 1873, so the completion of these houses must have been around 1873 - 1874. It appears from the notice that the South Yorkshire Steel and Iron Company already had offices set up in the village. The cottages were to be built specifically to house men working for that company.
There are a few references to South Yorkshire Buildings in Victorian newspapers some relating to the requirement to improve sanitary conditions and the prevelance of contagious diseases such as scarlet fever. These stories were district wide and not just related to SYB or Silkstone Common. In December 1877 it was reported that six families were affected by "scarlatina" - all but one contained in the north half of the two long rows. Scarlet fever was amongst the top causes of death of children at that time and until the advent of antibiotics in the 20th Century there was no effective medical treatment.
The above map from the 1890s shows South Yorkshire Buildings, railway and Throstle Nest Farm
By 1902 all 56 cottages were owned by a Mr Allright. In June that year he had been in the village to inspect his properties with a view to carrying out a "thorough repair". This was just before the planned Coronation of King Edward VII and rumours amongst the tenants was that their landlord was to treat them to a "knife and fork tea" at the Primitive Methodist Chapel in the village to celebrate the Coronation. Mr Allright's agent denied this rumour saying that it was "all wrong" and in fact due to the repairs the rent was to be increased by 6d per week !
We bought No 6 in 1987 and lived there until 1992. The property register for this particular cottage lists a sale in Oct 1959 when the property was purchased by Percy Rodgers and Edna May Rodgers from Marion Isabel Gelder, the wife of Albert Edward Gelder who was a well known resident of Silkstone Common, and Philip Ollerenshaw Walker & others. This could be the first time that No 6 came into private hands. It would be interesting to know if any other properties were previously owned by the same people and sold to private owners around this time.
In 1901 No 8 was a grocery shop run by Mr and Mrs Senior. By 1911 Mr Senior was a widower, working down the mines and his grocery business sadly was no more though he still lived in the cottage with his daughter and her family.
By 1921 No 8 contained a fish and chip shop and a confectionery business run by Mrs Sarah Ann Garside. She had three sons who served in the First World War one of which, James Henry Garside, was killed in action in France in 1916. Another son Sgt HD Garside was awarded the Military Medal in 1917 for bravery on the battlefield.
No 8 has in recent years been the studio and home of local artist Granville (Danny) Clarke. There was a general provisions shop in one of the other properties which was still open in the early 1990s.
Does anyone have any recollections of South Yorkshire Buildings or old photographs that they wish to share. Please email heritagesilkstone21@gmail.com or andyhorsfield63@gmail.com with photographs or your stories.
Text and Research Andy Horsfield Heritage Silkstone March 2026
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