Civic Society's list to protect borough's buildings

Rotherham District Civic Society hopes the information in the Local List will help inform future planning decisions.

And members of the public are invited to add their own suggestions of places they feel should be included.

Society secretary Peter Hawkridge said: “The list has been compiled in response to the council’s Local Plan, which contains a commitment to keep a list of locally important buildings.

“If this list had been in existence in 2012, we may not have seen the demolition of Doncaster Gate Hospital.

“At the time, the council argued that the hospital was not listed and therefore not important.”

He added: “The Local List is not a finished document. We hope that people in villages in the borough will add their own special places.”

The Local List acknowledges that much of the industrial environment, such as the Walker ironworks, were destroyed during development of Rotherham in the 1950s and 60s.

Peter said: “Whilst society in general has become more aware and appreciative of the importance of the historic environment since this time, it is worth noting that of the 19 properties listed in the County Borough of Rotherham Development Plan from 1955 as being of special architectural of historic interest, only 12 survive.”

To be included in the Local List, buildings must date from before 1840 or, for later structures, be considered to be of high character or quality.

Among more than 60 included in the current list is the Civic Theatre, which was the Doncaster Road Congregational Church for nearly a century before being converted in 1957.

The Alma Tavern, on Westgate, is among several pubs on the list. It was rebuilt in 1909 by Sheffield architects Stubbs and Brown.

It was closed in 2005 and has fallen into disrepair but still bears reference to Bentleys Rotherham Ales above the door.

And the Mecca Bingo Hall on Corporation Street is included because of its previous guise as a cinema. 

It was called the Regal from its opening in 1934 to 1943, when it became the Odeon. The bingo hall was called the Scala when it closed in the 80s and was reopened as the Ritz Bingo and Social Club.

Hard copies of the Local List are £10 from Rotherham Visitor Centre or Hamby’s Antiques. The document is also available from rotherhamcivicsociety.org.