Wales, South Yorkshire

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 53.33
longitude= -1.29
map_type= South Yorkshire
official_name= Wales
population =
metropolitan_borough= Rotherham
region= Yorkshire and the Humber
metropolitan_county = South Yorkshire
post_town= SHEFFIELD
postcode_district = S26
postcode_area= S
dial_code= 01909
os_grid_reference=
constituency_westminster= Rother Valley

Wales is a village and a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England.

It is on the border of Yorkshire and Derbyshire. It constitutes the villages of Wales and neighbouring Kiveton Park. According to the 1991 census, the combined parish has a population of around 6,000, 4,500 of whom live in the larger, Kiveton.

Geography

The village of Wales itself is located at approximately coord|53|20|30|N|1|16|45|W|, at an elevation of around 100 metres above sea level. It lies on the A618 and B6059 roads. The M1 motorway bisects the parish, while the southern boundary is partly marked by the Chesterfield Canal whose Norwood Tunnel runs under meadowland to the south. To the west of the village is Rother Valley Country Park.

History

Wales shares its name with the nation of Wales, and the derivation may well be the same: the name "Wales" coming from a Germanic root meaning "stranger". The suggestion, therefore, is that there was a continued Celtic presence here following the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons at the turn of the 6th century. The earliest reference to Wales is in 1002, when Wolfric Spot, a Saxon thegn, is recorded as owning "Walesho".

Sir William Hewet, Lord Mayor of London in 1559, was born in Wales, and his descendants, the Dukes of Leeds, would come to dominate the area.

Education and Employment

Education in Wales is provided by Wales Primary School and Wales High School.The industrial estate at "Wales Common" continues to be a large source of employment (not least the food manufacturer Greencore Prepared Foods).