Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley

Borough of Barnsley
Borough of Barnsley
Metropolitan borough
	Barnsley, the largest settlement and administrative centre of the borough.
	Arms of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
	Barnsley Metropolitan Borough shown within South Yorkshire
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Ceremonial county	South Yorkshire
Admin. HQ	Barnsley
Government
• Type	Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
• Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
• Executive:	Labour
• MPs:	John Healey (Lab.),; Dan Jarvis (Lab.),; Stephanie Peacock (Lab.),; Marie Tidball (Lab.)
Area
• Total	127 sq mi (329 km2)
• Rank	114th
Population (2022)
• Total	246,482
• Rank	Ranked 76th
• Density	1,900/sq mi (750/km2)
Ethnicity (2021)
• Ethnic groups	List 96.9% White ; 0.9% Asian ; 0.9% Mixed ; 0.7% Black ; 0.5% other ;
Religion (2021)
• Religion	List 51.3% Christianity ; 42.1% no religion ; 5.2% not stated ; 0.6% Islam ; 0.4% other ; 0.2% % Buddhism ; 0.2% Hinduism ; 0.1% Sikhism ; 0.1% Judaism ;
Time zone	UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (British Summer Time)
ISO 3166-2	GB-BNS
ONS code	00CC (ONS); E08000016 (GSS)
Website	barnsley.gov.uk

The Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley is a metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England; the main settlement is Barnsley and other notable towns include Penistone, Wombwell and Hoyland.

The borough is bisected by the M1 motorway; it is rural to the west, and largely urban/industrial to the east. It is estimated that around 16% of the borough is classed as urban overall, with this area being home to the vast majority of its residents. Additionally, 68% of Barnsley's 32,863 hectares is green belt and 9% is national park land, the majority of which is west of the M1. In 2007, it was estimated that Barnsley had 224,600 residents, measured at the 2011 census as 231,221.^[2]

The neighbouring districts are Doncaster, Rotherham, Sheffield, High Peak, Kirklees and Wakefield.

History

The borough was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. It covered the whole area of 12 former districts and parts of another two, which were all abolished at the same time:^[3]^[4]

Barnsley County Borough
Cudworth Urban District
Darfield Urban District
Darton Urban District
Dearne Urban District
Dodworth Urban District
Hemsworth Rural District (part, being the parishes of Billingley, Brierley, Great Houghton, Little Houghton and Shafton)
Hoyland Nether Urban District
Penistone Rural District
Penistone Urban District
Royston Urban District
Wombwell Urban District
Worsbrough Urban District
Wortley Rural District (part, being the parishes of Tankersley and Wortley)

The county borough of Barnsley had been self-governing, whereas the other 13 districts were all lower-tier authorities where county-level services were provided by West Riding County Council.

From its creation in 1974 until 1986, the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley was a district-level authority, with county-level services provided by South Yorkshire County Council. The county council was abolished in 1986, since when Barnsley has been responsible for all local government services.^[5]

The borough forms part of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.

Governance

Elections to the council are held in three out of every four years, with one third of the 63 councillors being elected at each election. The council has been controlled by the Labour Party since its creation in 1974.

The borough council appoints one councillor to be the mayor every year. On the day of the mayor's appointment, a parade takes place in front of the town hall in honour of the new mayor.

Barnsley borough is represented by four MPs: Dan Jarvis for Barnsley Central (Labour), Marie Tidball for Penistone & Stocksbridge (Labour), Stephanie Peacock for Barnsley East (Labour) and John Healey for Wentworth and Dearne CC (Labour).

Towns, wards and villages

Ardsley, Athersley
Barnsley, Barugh, Barugh Green, Billingley, Birdwell, Bolton upon Dearne, Brierley
Cortonwood, Carlecotes, Carlton, Cawthorne, Cubley, Cudworth
Darfield, Darton, Dodworth, Dunford Bridge
Elsecar
Gawber, Gilroyd, Goldthorpe, Great Houghton, Grimethorpe
Haigh (part in Wakefield district), Hemingfield, High Hoyland, Higham, Honeywell, Hood Green, Hoyland, Hoylandswaine
Ingbirchworth
Jump
Kendray, Kexbrough, Kingstone
Little Houghton, Lundwood
Mapplewell, Millhouses, Millhouse Green, Monk Bretton
New Lodge
Old Town, Oxspring
Platts Common, Penistone, Pilley, Pogmoor
Royston, Redbrook
Shafton, Silkstone, Silkstone Common, Smithies, Staincross, Stairfoot
Tankersley, Thurgoland, Thurlstone, Thurnscoe
Ward Green, Wilthorpe, Woolley Colliery, Wombwell, Wortley, Worsbrough

There are many Hoylands in Barnsley – there is the village of Hoyland itself south-east of Barnsley on the road to Sheffield, which includes the former hamlets of Hoyland Common, Upper Hoyland and Hoyland Nether (nether being old English for "lower"). Hoylandswaine is located on the opposite side of the wide valley, and at almost 1000 feet above sea level has a wilder and bleaker feel than High Hoyland. The word Hoyland is derived from Norse, and at its simplest means "farm on a hill". Despite there being countless farms on hills around England, the majority of the Hoylands are concentrated in Barnsley.

Education

There are over 100 schools and colleges in the borough. State education is managed by Barnsley Local Education Authority. There are 14 state-run secondary schools and around 80 primary schools. There was an independent school, Hope House School. Post-16 education is provided at Barnsley College and the sixth form of Penistone Grammar School. An adult education college, Northern College, is located at Wentworth Castle in Stainborough. The University of Huddersfield has a campus in Barnsley town centre.