Thanks to Ted for this potted history

High Green has it's little church of Mortomley St. Saviours because a brave man died.

On the 12th of december, 1866, a telegram from Barnsley was delivered to the office of a firm of Mining Engineers in Derby saying:

"The Oaks Pit is on fire. Come quickly."

Parkin Jeffcock, the younger partner inthe firm which had engineering responsibility for this pit, set off immediately by train to Barnsley. He discovered there had been a great explosion  followewd by fire and a great many dead were already being brought out  of the pit.

He straight away went down with a party of volunteers to assess the situation, worked through the night and well into the next day putting out fires, restoring ventilation and making explorations. It was then a further greater explosion occured killing Parkin and all but one volunteer.

The disaster claimed the lives of 361 men and boys, and over 40 ponies. Of the 340 persons in the pit on December 12th only 6 survivored. 27 were killed the following morning including Parkin Jeffcock.

Parkin's mothers fammily, the Parkins, had lived at Mortomley Hall since the time of Henry VIII and had given her eldest son the family name. He was a loyal member of the Church of England and had been elected Church warden at Druffild where he lived. He also ran Bible classes, Sunday School and many other activities.

He delighted in Church extensions and was involved in the building of Churches at Chapeltown and Hoxton., where his brother was vicar. On the Christmas of 1885 he had spoken to the vicar of the new parish of Chapeltown about the needs of the 2000 collier population of Mortomley. Following his death his father launched an appeal for the erection of a church to his memory and provided  a site immediately opposite Mortomley Hall.

The church was designed by James Brookes and dedicated on August 7th 1872 by the Archbishop of York in memory of the Savior of the World.

The the next 50 years St Saviour's was a daughter church of St John's in Chapeltown until in 1925 Mortomley became a parish in it's own right.

Since the second world war the population of the parish has increased considerably. To newcomers the old Parish name of Mortomley is almost unknown and the name of High Green covers the whole area. Surrounded by trees, flanked by a park and playing fields the church still forms a quiet oasis on the edge of a busy district.