Portals to the Past

Many thanks to the project team which included:

Marcus Hurcombe (Rotherham Youth Service); Jackie Abrams

(Rotherham Youth Service); St Joseph’s Primary School,

Rawmarsh; Manor Farm Youth Group, Rawmarsh; Ray Hearne;

Steve Pool; Libby Hicken (Rotherham Libraries) and Christine

Evans (Rotherham Archives). Researchers from the University of

Sheffield supported the project, including: Hugh Escott (School

of English); Kate Pahl (School of Education); Kim Marwood,

Louisa Stokoe, Stephanie Liantzakis, Sara Farey, Rebecca

Hearne, Krissy Moore (Archaeology); Christine Wallis (School of

English) and Becky Fisher.

Special thanks to Deborah Bullivant (Inspire Rotherham),

Rebecca Hearne (University of Sheffield) and Libby Hicken

(Rotherham Libraries) for organising the final exhibition.

This booklet is a record of this wonderful

project, a celebration of the history of Rawmarsh,

and a useful resource for future time-travellers!

What do you know about the past? What

do you know about the people that were

here before? Can you imagine what it was

like? Can you travel through time?

Portals to the Past involved young people in

Rawmarsh re-imagining their pasts and their futures in very

different ways. A group of Year 6 children from St Joseph’s School

in Rawmarsh heard about the miner Arthur Eaglestone and his

book ‘From a Pitman’s Notebook’, written in Rawmarsh in the

1920s. They wrote mining poems and sang a Portal Song with Ray

Hearne, song writer and poet. They also did an archaeological

dig with experts from the School of Archaeology, University of

Sheffield and visited the Rotherham Archives for expert

information on Rawmarsh. They became Vikings with Marcus

Hurcombe, youth worker, and imagined Anglo Saxon worlds

through runes and maps with Anglo Saxon researchers from the

School of English, University of Sheffield. They worked with artist

Steve Pool to create films of better imagined pasts through the

portal. Young people from the surrounding area including Manor

Farm estate in Rawmarsh also took part in the project.

Portals to the Past

Vanish through a portal, it’s all imagining…

From the mouth of the lion through the eye and

back again…

Hurtle through a portal, I do it every day,

Every little mortal should always have their

say…

We learnt about the past by

singing songs…

and reading

books…

We found out about

Arthur Eaglestone, a

miner from Rawmarsh,

and what it was like to

go down the pit….

We found out about

the Anglo Saxons

through maps,

magic and

runes…

Activity – Make a map

What might be dwelling in the misty, green lands of Rosehill Park in Rawmarsh?

Step through the portal and create your own map.

Activity – HWAET! Telling stories

What’s happing in Old English Poetry?

Look at ‘Grendel’s Approach’ from Beowulf. Create your own scary story set in

Rawmarsh.

Activity – Shield Yourself! Healing Magic

What are Anglo Saxon Charms? Why did people believe in magic? Create your

own healing charm to use when you pass through the portal.

Activity - Hwaet sægest ðu? Language Detectives

Look at the Old English alphabet and sounds. See how the language has

changed over time. Do you recognise any words?

Iron Age Rotherham

800BC – 43 AD

There was a rich Iron Age

landscape in the area,

characterised by small

settlements and farming

communities. These were

absorbed into the Roman

Empire.

Romano-British Rotherham

43 AD – 700 AD

54 AD: Wincobank Hillfort was

extended and fortified by the

Brigantes to stop the Roman

advance – but they were

outflanked by a force of 24,000

men under Agricola and Cerialis.

550 AD: Rotherham was part of

the Romano-British kingdom of

Elmet – The ‘Rotherham Roman

Ridge’ may have defended

them against the Angles.

Viking Age Rotherham

793 AD – 1066 AD

‘Rawmarsh’ comes from the Old

“Scandinavian Norse rauthr (red)

and the Old English mersc

(marsh) – ‘Red Marsh’.

886 AD – 954 AD

During the Danelaw, the

northern part of Britain (including

Yorkshire) was under Viking

control

Anglo-Saxon Rotherham

550 AD – 1066 AD

Rotherham (‘the hamlet on

Rother

River’) is a Saxon name.

In 1066, the last Saxon

landholder of Rawmarsh was

Stori (Thorir), at the time of

Edward the Confessor. He is

listed in the Domesday Book

(1086), a survey of land after the

Norman Conquest.

We visited the local

Archives and the Museum to

find out more…what do

you know about the

history of Rawmarsh?

Can you add anything

to the timeline?

We became

Archaeologists by digging in our

school field.

Are there any objects

you can find?

What can objects tell us about the past?