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Thorne, South Yorkshire facts for kids

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Thorne
Town and civil parish
Finkle Street, Thorne, Doncaster (2024).jpg
Thorne town centre
Thorne is located in South Yorkshire
Thorne
Thorne
Area 18.15 sq mi (47.0 km2)
Population 17,295 (2011 census)
• Density 953/sq mi (368/km2)
OS grid reference SE 687 132
Civil parish
  • Thorne
Metropolitan borough
  • City of Doncaster
Metropolitan county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Doncaster
Postcode district DN8
Dialling code 01405
Police South Yorkshire
Fire South Yorkshire
Ambulance Yorkshire
EU Parliament Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament
  • Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire
53°36′30″N 0°57′30″W / 53.6083°N 0.9583°W / 53.6083; -0.9583

Thorne is a lively market town located in South Yorkshire, England. It's part of the City of Doncaster. For a long time, Thorne was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. In 2011, about 17,295 people lived here.

Discovering Thorne's Past

Long, long ago, people from the Stone Age (Neolithic), Bronze Age, and Iron Age lived where Thorne is today. It became a settled town around the year 700 AD. Thorne is even mentioned in the famous Domesday Book! For many years, the main jobs in Thorne were coal mining and farming.

Thorne, Finkle Street - geograph.org.uk - 93485
Finkle Street in Thorne in 2005.

Thorne's Location and Landscape

Thorne is located east of the River Don. It sits right on the Stainforth and Keadby Canal. The town is about 5 meters (16 feet) above sea level. It's on the Yorkshire side of the border with Lincolnshire.

The area called Thorne and Moorends includes the village of Moorends to the north. It also has a part of the Thorne Moors moorland, known as Thorne Waste. A small piece of Thorne Waste is technically in North Lincolnshire. This means a tiny bit of the civil parish is split between South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

Fun Things to Do in Thorne

F.W.Jackson windmill Thorne 1911
The Windmill at Thorne, painted by F. W. Jackson in 1911.

Thorne Memorial Park is a great place to visit. It has the Thorne Memorial Park Miniature Railway, which is a fun miniature train ride. The park also hosts the yearly Thorne Festival. In the summer, you can enjoy free brass band concerts at the park's bandstand.

Thorne Community Wood is a special woodland. It was created from farmland by the Thorne-Moorends Town Council. The Peatlands Way is a walking path that goes around the wildlife areas of Thorne and Hatfield Moors. This path passes just north of the town.

Thorne also has a Farmers' Market every month. Here you can find fresh local produce and goods.

Jobs and Opportunities in Thorne

For many years, Thorne Colliery (a coal mine) was a very important place for jobs in Thorne. However, its history was quite difficult.

In recent times, more job opportunities have become available. A big change happened when Nimbus Park opened on the edge of town. The Range, a large retail company, opened a major distribution center there in 2012. This has created many new jobs for local people.

Exploring Thorne's Landmarks

St Nicholas Church, Thorne - geograph.org.uk - 450589
St Nicholas Church in Thorne.

Some important buildings in Thorne include the parish church and Peel Hill Castle. The parish church, dedicated to St Nicholas, has parts from the 12th to 15th centuries. It is a very old and important building.

Peel Hill Castle is what remains of an old Norman castle. It was built by the de Warenne family. Even though no buildings are left, you can still see the earthworks. These show that it had a round tower. It might have been used as a hunting lodge. Prisoners were even kept in its tower in the 1500s. The castle was taken down in the 1600s. Today, the Thorne-Moorends Town Council takes care of this historic site.

Thorne, The Old Darley Brewery. - geograph.org.uk - 89350
The Old Darley Brewery building.

You can also see bridges over local canals that look like those in the Netherlands. One example is the Wykewell bridge. There is one water tower left in Thorne, located on South End. Another water tower used to be on Field Road but was taken down in 2013. The empty land where it stood is now planned for a new supermarket.

Close to Thorne are the large Thorne Moors, which are important natural areas.

Getting Around Thorne

Staniland Marina - geograph.org.uk - 524762
The Marina in Thorne.

Thorne has two railway stations: Thorne North and Thorne South. It's also easy to reach by car, as it's near Junction 6 of the M18 and Junction 1 of the M180 motorways.

Four bus services run in the town, operated by First South Yorkshire. These buses connect Thorne with Doncaster and Moorends. There is also a local route that links Thorne and Moorends with the new retail park. The A614 road also goes through the town and crosses the canal.

Education in Thorne

In September 2005, a new school called Trinity Academy opened in Thorne. This school specializes in Business and Enterprise. It's a modern school that cost £24 million to build. It can teach 1250 students aged 11 to 18. Trinity Academy was named England's most improved academy in 2007!

This new academy replaced Thorne Grammar School. Many famous people went to Thorne Grammar School. These include opera singer Lesley Garrett and George Porter, a chemist who won a Nobel Prize.

Media and News in Thorne

Local news and TV shows for Thorne come from BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire. You can get TV signals from the Emley Moor TV transmitter.

There are several local radio stations you can listen to, such as BBC Radio Sheffield, Heart Yorkshire, and Capital Yorkshire. Thorne also has its own Community Radio station, TMCR 95.3.

The town has a local newspaper called the Thorne Times.

Sports and Activities

Thorne has a rugby league team called Moorends-Thorne Marauders RLFC. They play in different leagues throughout the year. The rugby union team, Thornensians RUFC, plays in Yorkshire Division 3. They have won the Yorkshire Cup twice! Their home ground is Coulman Road.

For football fans, there's the Moorends Hornets and Stingers Junior Football Club.

In 1930, speedway racing (also known as dirt track racing) took place on the southern edge of town. It was even called "The Wembley of the North"!

The Sea Cadet unit in Thorne, TS Gambia, offers fun watersports and other activities for young people in the town.

Famous People from Thorne

Many interesting people have come from Thorne, including:

  • Gillian Coultard, a footballer
  • Thomas Crapper, an industrialist and plumber
  • Lesley Garrett, an opera singer
  • George Porter, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist
  • Ted Sagar, a professional footballer
  • Connor Swift, a cyclist

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Thorne (South Yorkshire) para niños

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