Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet
Encyclopedia
Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet is an industrial museum
in the south of the City of Sheffield
, England. The museum forms part of a former steel
-working site on the River Sheaf
, with a history going back to at least the 13th century. It consists of a number of dwelling
s and workshop
s that were formerly the Abbeydale Works—a scythe
-making plant that was in operation until the 1930s—and is a remarkably complete example of a 19th century works. The works are atypical in that much of the production process was completed on the same site (in a similar manner to a modern factory
). A more typical example of water powered works in the area can be found at Shepherd Wheel
.
The site is a scheduled ancient monument
, the works are Grade I listed and the workers' cottages, counting house
, and manager's house are Grade II* listed.
forging
for 500 years, although there is evidence of other metal
working prior to 1200 AD
. Its early history is intimately tied with the nearby Beauchief Abbey
, which operated a smithy (blacksmith
's shop) in the vicinity as well as number of mills along the River Sheaf.
A 1725 map shows that the fields, subsequently flooded to provide the dam at the site, had been called "Sinder Hills", the cinders referring to the waste resulting from prior lead
smelting
activities in the area in the 16th. and early 17th. centuries. However, the "Abbey Dale Works" as such, the buildings of which now form the Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, are first formally recorded in 1714 (though it may have derived directly from the "New Wheel" operated by Hugh Stephenson, as detailed in rent books from 1685).
Development of the site continued with :
From the 17th century onwards, the site primarily operated as a scythe works until, in 1933, it was closed by Tyzak Sons and Turner (tenants since 1849). In 1935 it was bought by the Alderman J. G. Graves Trust
, which donated the site to the city. The works was briefly reopened during the Second World War
to aid in Britain's war effort
.
The Council for the Conservation of Sheffield Antiquities explored and initiated the restoration of Abbeydale Works in 1964. They discovered the remains of 6 buildings in addition to those still standing. These were identified from a1924 map of the site as :
Following the complete restoration the works were finally opened as a museum in 1970. Sheffield City Council closed the museum in 1997 as a cost cutting measure. It was then leased to the Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust
who reopened the museum in 1998.
, then refining this steel using techniques that originated with Benjamin Huntsman
's invention of the crucible steel
process. The river provides water power via a water wheel
. There are several wheels on the site for driving a tilt hammer
, for the initial forging of the scythe blade
s; grinding
machine
ry, which also has steam installed as backup for times of drought
, and a set of bellows. The blades were also hand forged for finishing.
The museum is free to the public Sunday to Thursday between April and October.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
in the south of the City of Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, England. The museum forms part of a former steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
-working site on the River Sheaf
River Sheaf
The River Sheaf is a river in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its source is the union of the Totley Brook and the Old Hay Brook in Totley, now a suburb of Sheffield. It flows northwards, past Dore, through the valley called Abbeydale and north of Heeley...
, with a history going back to at least the 13th century. It consists of a number of dwelling
Dwelling
Dwelling, as well as being a term for a house, or for living somewhere, or for lingering somewhere, is a philosophical concept which was developed by Martin Heidegger. Dwelling is about making yourself at home where the home itself is a building that is a house...
s and workshop
Workshop
A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...
s that were formerly the Abbeydale Works—a scythe
Scythe
A scythe is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass, or reaping crops. It was largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor machinery, but is still used in some areas of Europe and Asia. The Grim Reaper is often depicted carrying or wielding a scythe...
-making plant that was in operation until the 1930s—and is a remarkably complete example of a 19th century works. The works are atypical in that much of the production process was completed on the same site (in a similar manner to a modern factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
). A more typical example of water powered works in the area can be found at Shepherd Wheel
Shepherd Wheel
Shepherd Wheel is a working museum in a former water-powered grinding workshop situated on the Porter Brook in the south-west of the City of Sheffield, England. One of the earliest wheels on the River Porter, it is one of the few remaining—and effectively complete—examples of this kind of...
.
The site is a scheduled ancient monument
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorized change. The various pieces of legislation used for legally protecting heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term...
, the works are Grade I listed and the workers' cottages, counting house
Counting house
A counting house, or compting house, literally is the building, room, office or suite in which a business firm carries on operations, particularly accounting. By a synecdoche, it has come to mean the accounting operations of a firm, however housed...
, and manager's house are Grade II* listed.
History
The site was used for ironIron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
forging
Forge
A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...
for 500 years, although there is evidence of other metal
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
working prior to 1200 AD
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
. Its early history is intimately tied with the nearby Beauchief Abbey
Beauchief Abbey
Beauchief Abbey is a former abbey in Sheffield, England. Beauchief is prounounced bee-chiff.-History:The abbey was founded by Robert FitzRanulf de Alfreton. Thomas Tanner, writing in 1695, stated that it was founded in 1183...
, which operated a smithy (blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
's shop) in the vicinity as well as number of mills along the River Sheaf.
A 1725 map shows that the fields, subsequently flooded to provide the dam at the site, had been called "Sinder Hills", the cinders referring to the waste resulting from prior lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
smelting
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
activities in the area in the 16th. and early 17th. centuries. However, the "Abbey Dale Works" as such, the buildings of which now form the Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, are first formally recorded in 1714 (though it may have derived directly from the "New Wheel" operated by Hugh Stephenson, as detailed in rent books from 1685).
Development of the site continued with :
- 1777 enlargement of the dam
- 1785 construction of the tilt hammer
- 1793 construction of the workmen's cottages
- 1817 construction of the grinding hull
- 1838 construction of the manager's house
- 1840 construction of the coach house and stabling
- 1876 construction of the first storey warehouse (above the blacking shop).
From the 17th century onwards, the site primarily operated as a scythe works until, in 1933, it was closed by Tyzak Sons and Turner (tenants since 1849). In 1935 it was bought by the Alderman J. G. Graves Trust
John George Graves
John George Graves was a successful English entrepreneur and public benefactor. He became Sheffield's Lord Mayor and an Alderman in 1926 and he was given Freedom of the City in 1929. He was born in Lincolnshire in 1866 and died in 1945, after having settled in Sheffield.Graves moved to Sheffield...
, which donated the site to the city. The works was briefly reopened during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to aid in Britain's war effort
War effort
In politics and military planning, a war effort refers to a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force...
.
The Council for the Conservation of Sheffield Antiquities explored and initiated the restoration of Abbeydale Works in 1964. They discovered the remains of 6 buildings in addition to those still standing. These were identified from a1924 map of the site as :
- a "disused hardening shop"
- a "disused open furnace shed"
- a "lime and coke shed"
- a "boiler house and chimney"
- the "housing for the steam engine"
- a "store for clay and anvils"
Following the complete restoration the works were finally opened as a museum in 1970. Sheffield City Council closed the museum in 1997 as a cost cutting measure. It was then leased to the Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust
Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust
The Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust is an independent charitable trust based in Sheffield, England, that runs the Sheffield City Council-owned Kelham Island, Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, and Shepherd Wheel museums....
who reopened the museum in 1998.
The museum
Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet is run as a working museum, with works and buildings dating from between 1714 and 1876. The museum demonstrates the process making blister steel from iron and cokeCoke (fuel)
Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...
, then refining this steel using techniques that originated with Benjamin Huntsman
Benjamin Huntsman
Benjamin Huntsman was an English inventor and manufacturer of cast or crucible steel.-Biography:Huntsman was born the third son of a Quaker farmer in Epworth, Lincolnshire. His parents were Germans who had emigrated only a few years before his birth.Huntsman started business as a clock, lock and...
's invention of the crucible steel
Crucible steel
Crucible steel describes a number of different techniques for making steel in a crucible. Its manufacture is essentially a refining process which is dependent on preexisting furnace products...
process. The river provides water power via a water wheel
Water wheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of free-flowing or falling water into useful forms of power. A water wheel consists of a large wooden or metal wheel, with a number of blades or buckets arranged on the outside rim forming the driving surface...
. There are several wheels on the site for driving a tilt hammer
Trip hammer
A trip hammer, also known as a helve hammer, is a massive powered hammer used in:* agriculture to facilitate the labor of pounding, decorticating and polishing of grain;...
, for the initial forging of the scythe blade
Blade
A blade is that portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with a cutting edge and/or a pointed tip that is designed to cut and/or puncture, stab, slash, chop, slice, thrust, or scrape animate or inanimate surfaces or materials...
s; grinding
Grinding (abrasive cutting)
Grinding is an abrasive machining process that uses a grinding wheel as the cutting tool.A wide variety of machines are used for grinding:* Hand-cranked knife-sharpening stones * Handheld power tools such as angle grinders and die grinders...
machine
Machine
A machine manages power to accomplish a task, examples include, a mechanical system, a computing system, an electronic system, and a molecular machine. In common usage, the meaning is that of a device having parts that perform or assist in performing any type of work...
ry, which also has steam installed as backup for times of drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
, and a set of bellows. The blades were also hand forged for finishing.
The museum is free to the public Sunday to Thursday between April and October.