Firbeck | |
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Firbeck shown within South Yorkshire | |
Population | 299 (2011) |
Civil parish |
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Metropolitan borough | |
Metropolitan county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | WORKSOP |
Postcode district | S81 |
Dialling code | 01709 |
Police | South Yorkshire |
Fire | South Yorkshire |
Ambulance | Yorkshire |
EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
UK Parliament | |
Firbeck is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England, on the border with Nottinghamshire. It lies between Maltby and Oldcotes, off the A634 and B6463 roads. Firbeck has a population of 317, reducing to 299 at the 2011 Census.
Village amenities include The Black Lion public house, and St Martin's Church.
The place name Firbeck is said to derive from 'Friebec, meaning "a vacant stream".
An oval field in the village marks what was once the private racecourse of 18th century racehorse owner Anthony St Leger, who originated the St. Leger Stakes. While the first "St. Leger" race was held on Cantley Common in Doncaster in 1776, and was not so named until over a year later, local legend holds that the race was being run in Firbeck prior to this.
Anthony St Leger's Park Hill estate in Firbeck also gave its name to a race in the Doncaster calendar.
Firbeck Hall was formerly the home of 19th-century architect and writer Henry Gally Knight who is assumed to have been a principal information source for Walter Scott during the writing of Ivanhoe. Firbeck Hall was built in 1594 by William West, who made a fortune practising law and serving as an associate to Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury from 1580 to 1594. West was the author of a legal textbook called Symbolaeographia. In his will of 1598, West stipulated that "a grave stone be set for me and my said wife in Firbeck Church, and ingraven with our arms and names and some posy."