Fitzalan Square is a municipal square

Town square

A town square is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town used for community gatherings. Other names for town square are civic center, city square, urban square, market square, public square, and town green.Most town squares are hardscapes suitable for open markets,...

 situated in the city centre 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...

 in South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The present day square is one of the busiest areas of the city centre with traffic and pedestrians continually moving through the area. It has a Sheffield Supertram

Sheffield Supertram

The Supertram, officially called the Stagecoach Supertram, is a light rail tram system in the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England...

 stop and a taxi rank.

This area of the city had been the market

Market

A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...

 quarter since the medieval era and the modern square takes its name from the Fitzalan Market Hall, which stood near the site from 1786 to 1930. The Fitzalans were a lesser branch of the Howard family, Dukes of Norfolk

Duke of Norfolk

The Duke of Norfolk is the premier duke in the peerage of England, and also, as Earl of Arundel, the premier earl. The Duke of Norfolk is, moreover, the Earl Marshal and hereditary Marshal of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the...

 and the major local landowners at that time.

Location

The square is located in the city centre at 53°22′58"N 1°27′53"W; to the south of the eastern end of High Street. It is rectangular in shape, formed by the staggered intersections of Flat Street and Haymarket with High Street from the south and north respectively. Commercial Street and Bakers Hill leave the square to the east. Norfolk Street used to intersect with Flat Street at the south-western corner of the square, but it was cut off from the square when Arundel Gate was constructed in 1968.

History

Fitzalan Square was created in 1881 when Market Street and its buildings were demolished, the early square had a substantial cab stand and clock. However, this was demolished in 1913 to make way for a bronze statue of King Edward VII

Edward VII of the United Kingdom

Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...

 by Alfred Drury

Alfred Drury

Alfred Briscoe Drury, was an English architectural sculptor and figure in the New Sculpture movement.Born in London, Drury studied under Edouard Lanteri and Jules Dalou, with whom he worked between 1881 and 1885, and then became assistant to Joseph Boehm.Drury is best represented at the Victoria...

 (1857–1944). This was unveiled by the Duke of Norfolk on 27 October 1913, and stands to this day.

Sheffield's Head Post Office operated in the square for almost ninety years. Built in 1910 as an addition to the 1897 post office building on Flat Street, it closed in 1999, with the main post office moving to new premises within the Co-op store on Angel Street. The Grade II listed Post Office building was up for sale for a considerable time before finally been sold for development in early 2006. On the west side of the square is the Grade II listed White Building. Built in 1908 by Gibbs and Flockton, it is faced in faience

Faience

Faience or faïence is the conventional name in English for fine tin-glazed pottery on a delicate pale buff earthenware body, originally associated with Faenza in northern Italy. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip...

, which was intended to resist the soot that blackened many of Sheffield's buildings at the time. The early square also had the Electra Palace Cinema, which opened February 1911. It became the News Theatre in 1945 and the Classic Cinema in 1962. It closed in 1982, and the building was destroyed by a fire in 1984. The site is now occupied by an amusement arcade. Next door to the cinema was the Bell Hotel public house, which is now a gift shop. Another public house, the Elephant Inn, stood on the corner where Norfolk Street entered the square. This closed in the late 1960s; it later became a branch of Halfords and then a charity shop. The well known Sheffield company of Wigfalls also had a shop in the square for many years, this is now a betting shop. However, the best-known structure in Fitzalan Square is the “Marples” building.

The Marples tragedy

The building at the corner of the square as it joins High Street was first occupied by a hotel in 1870; John Marples became the proprietor in 1886 and named the establishment the London Mart however it was always known locally as “The Marples”.

On the night of Thursday 12 December 1940, 280 German bombers attacked Sheffield in what has become known as the Sheffield Blitz

Sheffield Blitz

The Sheffield Blitz is the name given to the worst nights of German Luftwaffe bombing in Sheffield, England during the Second World War. It took place over the nights of 12 December and 15 December 1940....

. Their target was the steel works producing armaments in the east end of the city, however a mistake in navigation caused the city centre to become the main target. Fire bombs caused widespread panic, and many people took shelter in the Marples’ extensive cellars, believing they were safe under the robust seven-storey building. At 11:44 p.m. the Marples building took a direct hit from a bomb which plunged through the building and detonated just above the cellars, killing approximately 70 people and reducing the building to a 15 feet (4.6 m) pile of rubble. The next day seven men were dug out of the rubble still alive, as a small section of cellar roof had, amazingly, withstood the impact.

The Marples site stood derelict until 1959 when the brewing company John Smith opened a new public house on the site, this time officially called “The Marples”. The pub closed in 2002 and is now occupied by the Hein Gericke motorcycle clothing and accessory outlet.

Present day

Fitzalan Square received a facelift during the summer of 2003. The Edward VII statue was cleaned, protected from pigeons, and lights added to illuminate it at night. New sandstone paving and steel benches were installed, the trees were pruned back and improved street lighting put in. In addition to the motorcycle accessory shop, amusement arcade and gift shop, the square contains two betting shops from national chains, a few insurance companies and a small newsagents. In the inner part of the square there is also a fast food hut named @Marples and a small police cabin.

Sheffield Supertram stop

Fitzalan Square/Ponds Forge is a central station on the Supertram

Sheffield Supertram

The Supertram, officially called the Stagecoach Supertram, is a light rail tram system in the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England...

 tram

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

way in 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...

, serving the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre

Ponds Forge

Ponds Forge International Sports Centre is a leisure complex in the City of Sheffield, England that contains an Olympic-sized swimming pool with seating for 2,600 spectators, family and kids pools, water slides and other sports facilities.-Brief history:...

. It is one of only three stations served by all three of the system’s lines.