Mexborough and Swinton Times, July 23, 1937

Sixty Years’ Growth
Ups and Downs of Mexborough District
Mexborough’s Early Importance.

As a town Mexborough had quite a considerable start over some of its near neighbours who have since made up a great deal of leeway. All the same the town maintains its pre-eminence in an area where civic importance is now, however, more evenly shared. Sixty years ago Mexborough was the most important place, other than the neighbouring boroughs, in this part of South Yorkshire, and as such was the obvious choice as the home of the weekly newspaper which the late Mr. Walter Turner, founder of the “Times,” contemplating starting.

In those days Mexborough, despite its comparative importance was little more than a village and large areas in and around the nucleus of the place were not built up. One had not to go very far from the Parish Church before one came into fields and pleasant open spaces far different from the present state of the environs of the town.

The census figures for 1871 give the population of the town as 5,011, and by 1881 the figure had increased to 6,270.

Collieries had by this time been sunk at Manvers Main and Denaby Main, but Wath and Denaby housed most of the workers at these pits.

Mexborough’s own population was largely occupied with the industries already established within its boundaries, glass bottle manufacture, pottery, quarrying, brick-making, lime-burning, boat-building, and railway and canal transport. Things have certainly changed since then, for the industries mentioned arc now practically extinct as far as Mexborough is concerned, and the surrounding collieries provide the chief outlet for the town’s labour.