Goldthorpe was a small hamlet that existed from the medieval period (mentioned in Domesday Book) although the name suggests Viking origins. At the beginning of the 20th century large numbers of terraced houses were built north of this historic core. These were to house the workforce at the large collieries in the immediate area (Hey 1981, 360). By 1930 housing has expanded across this polygon replacing most of the earlier farm buildings with terraces and some semi detached houses. There are a small number of 18th century buildings remaining giving fragmentary legibility of the previous hamlet but the area is fairly well subsumed by the colliery housing.