History of Sheffield
Encyclopedia
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...
, can be traced back to the founding of a settlement in a clearing beside 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...
in the second half of the 1st millennium AD. The area now known as 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...
had seen human occupation since at least the last ice age, but significant growth in the settlements that are now incorporated into the city did not occur until the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
.
Following the Norman conquest of England
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
, Sheffield Castle
Sheffield Castle
Sheffield Castle was a castle in Sheffield, England, constructed at the confluence of the River Sheaf and the River Don, possibly on the site of a former Anglo-Saxon long house, and dominating the early town. A motte and bailey castle had been constructed on the site at some time in the century...
was built to control the Saxon settlements and Sheffield developed into a small town, no larger than Sheffield City Centre
Sheffield City Centre
Sheffield City Centre—often just referred to as town—is a district of the City of Sheffield, and part of the Sheffield Central ward. It includes the area that is within a radius of roughly of Sheffield Cathedral, and is encircled by the Inner Ring Road—a circular route started in the late 1960s...
. By the 14th century Sheffield was noted for the production of knives, and by 1600 it had become the main centre of cutlery
Cutlery
Cutlery refers to any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in the Western world. It is more usually known as silverware or flatware in the United States, where cutlery can have the more specific meaning of knives and other cutting instruments. This is probably the...
production in England, overseen by the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire
Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire
The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire is a trade guild of metalworkers based in Sheffield, England. It was incorporated in 1624 by an Act of parliament. The head is called the Master Cutler...
. In the 1740s 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 was improved by Sheffield resident 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...
, allowing a much better production quality. At about the same time, the silver plating process which produced Sheffield Plate
Sheffield plate
Sheffield plate is a layered combination of silver and copper that was used for many years to produce a wide range of household articles. These included buttons, caddy spoons, serving utensils, candlesticks and other lighting devices, tea and coffee services, serving dishes and trays, tankards and...
was discovered. The associated industries led to the rapid growth of Sheffield; the town was incorporated as a borough
Borough status in the United Kingdom
Borough status in the United Kingdom is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district...
in 1843 and granted a city charter
City status in the United Kingdom
City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarch to a select group of communities. The holding of city status gives a settlement no special rights other than that of calling itself a "city". Nonetheless, this appellation carries its own prestige and, consequently, competitions...
in 1893.
Sheffield remained a major industrial city throughout the first half of the 20th century, but the downturn in world trade following the 1973 oil crisis
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
, technological improvements and economies of scale, and a wide-reaching rationalisation in steel production throughout the European Economic Community
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
led to the closure of many of the steelworks from the early 1970s onward. Urban and economic regeneration schemes, initiated in the late 1980s, have since transformed the city.
Early history
Creswell Crags
Creswell Crags is a limestone gorge on the border between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, England near the villages of Creswell, Whitwell and Elmton...
to the east of the city. Artefacts and rock art found in caves at this site have been dated by archaeologists to the late Upper Palaeolithic period, at least 12,800 years ago. Other prehistoric remains found in Sheffield include a Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
"house"—a circle of stones in the shape of a hut-base dating to around 8000 BC, found at Deepcar, in the northern part of the city.
During the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
(about 1500 BC) tribes sometimes called the Urn people started to settle in the area. They built numerous stone circles, examples of which can be found on Moscar Moor, Froggatt Edge
Froggatt Edge
Froggatt Edge is a gritstone escarpment in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park, in Derbyshire, England and situated in close proximity to the villages of Froggatt, Calver, Curbar, Baslow and Grindleford...
and Hordron Edge. Two Early Bronze Age urns were found at Crookes
Crookes
Crookes ward—which includes the districts of Crookes, Steelbank, Crosspool, and Sandygate —is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the western part of the city and covers an area of 3.9 km2...
in 1887, and three Middle Bronze Age barrows found at Lodge Moor (both suburbs of the modern city).
In the Iron Age
British Iron Age
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron-Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, and which had an independent Iron Age culture of...
the area became the southernmost territory of the Pennine
Pennines
The Pennines are a low-rising mountain range, separating the North West of England from Yorkshire and the North East.Often described as the "backbone of England", they form a more-or-less continuous range stretching from the Peak District in Derbyshire, around the northern and eastern edges of...
tribe called the Brigantes
Brigantes
The Brigantes were a Celtic tribe who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England, and a significant part of the Midlands. Their kingdom is sometimes called Brigantia, and it was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire...
. It is this tribe who in around 500 BC are thought to have constructed the hill fort
Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...
that stands on the summit of a steep hill above the River Don at Wincobank
Wincobank (hill fort)
Wincobank is an Iron Age hill fort in the district of Sheffield, England of the same name. The fort stands on the summit of a steep hill above the River Don, it is oval in shape and covers about 10,000 square metres , surrounded by a ditch that was originally 1.5–2 m deep and a bank...
, in what is now northeastern Sheffield. Other Iron Age hill forts in the area are Carl Wark
Carl Wark
Carl Wark is a rocky promontory on Hathersage Moor in the Peak District National Park, just inside the boundary of Sheffield, England. The promontory is faced by vertical cliffs on all but one side, which is protected by a prehistoric embankment...
on Hathersage Moor to the southwest of Sheffield, and one at Scholes Wood, near Rotherham
Rotherham
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...
. The rivers Sheaf and Don may have formed the boundary between the territory of the Brigantes and that of a rival tribe called the Corieltauvi who inhabited a large area of the northeastern Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
.
The Roman invasion of Britain began in AD 43, and by 51 the Brigantes had submitted to the clientship of Rome, eventually being placed under direct rule in the early 70s. Few Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
remains have been found in the Sheffield area. A minor Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
linking the Roman forts at Templeborough
Templeborough
Templeborough is a suburb of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The area takes its name from the remains of the Roman fort found there which were mistakenly believed to be that of a Roman Temple.-Roman fort:...
and Brough-on-Noe possibly ran through the centre of the area covered by the modern city, and Icknield Street
Icknield Street
Icknield Street or Ryknild Street is a Roman road in Britain that runs from the Fosse Way at Bourton on the Water in Gloucestershire to Templeborough in South Yorkshire...
is thought to have skirted its boundaries. The routes of these roads within this area are mostly unknown, although sections of the former can still be seen between Redmires and Stanage
Stanage
Stanage Edge, or simply Stanage is a gritstone escarpment in the English Peak District, famous as a location for climbing. The northern part of the edge forms the border between the High Peak of Derbyshire and Sheffield in South Yorkshire. Its highest point is High Neb at above sea level...
, and remains possibly linked to the latter were discovered in Brinsworth
Brinsworth
Brinsworth is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated close to the River Rother between Rotherham and Sheffield . At the time of the 2001 census it had a population of 8,950.-History:Brinsworth is located about mile south...
in 1949. In April 1761, tablets dating from the Roman period were found in the Rivelin Valley south of Stannington
Stannington
Stannington Ward—which includes the districts of Loxley, Stannington, and Worrall, and also the small villages of Dungworth, High Bradfield, and Low Bradfield—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the western part of the city and covers an area...
, close to the likely course of the Templeborough to Brough-on-Noe road. In addition there have been finds dating from the Roman period on Walkley Bank Road, which leads onto the valley bottom. There have been small finds of Roman coins throughout the Sheffield area, for example 19 coins were found near Meadowhall in 1891, 13 in Pitsmoor
Pitsmoor
Pitsmoor is a former village, now a suburb of Sheffield. The name derives from Or-pits as, anciently, the main local industry was the mining of ore.-History:...
in 1906, and ten coins were found at a site alongside Eckington cemetery in December 2008. Roman burial urns were also found at Bank Street near Sheffield Cathedral
Sheffield Cathedral
Sheffield Cathedral is the cathedral church for the Church of England diocese of Sheffield, England. Originally a parish church, it was elevated to cathedral status when the diocese was created in 1914...
, which, along with the name of the old lane behind the church (Campo Lane), has led to speculation that there may have been a Roman camp at this site. However, it is unlikely that the settlement that grew into Sheffield existed at this time.
Following the departure of the Romans, the Sheffield area may have been the southern part of the Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic kingdom of Elmet
Elmet
Elmet was an independent Brythonic kingdom covering a broad area of what later became the West Riding of Yorkshire during the Early Middle Ages, between approximately the 5th century and early 7th century. Although its precise boundaries are unclear, it appears to have been bordered by the River...
, with the rivers Sheaf and Don forming part of the boundary between this kingdom and the kingdom of Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
. Gradually, Anglian
Angles
The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
settlers pushed west from the kingdom of Deira. The Britons of Elmet delayed this English expansion into the early part of the 7th century, however, an enduring Celtic presence within this area is evidenced by the settlements called Wales
Wales, South Yorkshire
Wales is a village and a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It is on the border of South Yorkshire and Derbyshire...
and Waleswood close to Sheffield—the word Wales derives from the Germanic word Walha
Walha
Walhaz is a reconstructed Proto-Germanic word, meaning "foreigner", "stranger", "Roman", "Romance-speaker", or "Celtic-speaker". The adjective derived from this word can be found in , Old High German walhisk, meaning "Romance", in Old English welisċ, wælisċ, wilisċ, meaning "Romano-British" and in...
, and was originally used by the Anglo-Saxons to refer to the native Britons.
The origins of Sheffield
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...
, whose name is a corruption of shed or sheth, meaning to divide or separate. Field is a generic suffix deriving from the Old English feld, meaning a forest clearing. It is likely then that the origin of the present-day city of Sheffield is an Anglo-Saxon settlement in a clearing beside the confluence of the rivers 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...
and Don founded sometime between the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in this region (roughly the 6th century) and the early 9th century. The names of many of the other areas of Sheffield likely to have been established as settlements during this period end in ley, which signifies a clearing in the forest, or ton, which means an enclosed farmstead. These settlements include Heeley
Heeley
Heeley is a former cluster of villages now a suburb in the south of the City of Sheffield, England. The village has existed at least since 1343, its name deriving from Heah Leah, High Lea then Hely, meaning a high, woodland clearing...
, Longley
Longley
Longley is a small district in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England between Newsome and Lowerhouses.The area is mainly made up of woodland and a 9 hole golf course .Longley Old Hall, a listed building, is also in the area....
, Norton, Owlerton
Owlerton
Owlerton is a suburb of the city of Sheffield, it lies northwest of the city centre near the confluence of the River Don and River Loxley. Owlerton was formerly a small rural settlement with its origins in the Early Middle Ages, it became part of Sheffield in the early 1900s as the city expanded...
, Southey, Tinsley
Tinsley, South Yorkshire
Tinsley is a suburb of northeastern part of Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Its name derives from the Old English Tingas-Leah, which means 'Field of Council'...
, Totley
Totley
Totley is a suburb on the extreme southwest of the City of Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. Lying in the historic county boundaries of Derbyshire, Totley was amalgamated into the city of Sheffield in 1935, and is today part of the Dore and Totley electoral ward in the city, though it remains...
, Wadsley
Wadsley
Wadsley is a suburb of the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It stands five km NW of the city centre at an approximate grid reference of...
, and Walkley
Walkley
Walkley is an electoral ward in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England.Walkley ward—which includes the districts of Netherthorpe, Upperthorpe, Walkley and parts of Neepsend—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the northwestern part of the city...
.
Sheffield Cross
The Sheffield Cross is an Anglo-Saxon Christian monument, dating from the early ninth century. It is the shaft of a stone cross that was rediscovered hollowed out and in use as a quenching trough in a cutler's workshop in the Park district of Sheffield. It is now in the British Museum...
dating from the early 9th century that was found in Sheffield in the early 19th century. This shaft may be part of a cross removed from the church yard of the Sheffield parish church (now Sheffield Cathedral) in 1570. It is now kept in the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. A document from around the same time, an entry for the year 829 in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
, refers to the submission of King Eanred
Eanred of Northumbria
Eanred was king of Northumbria in the early ninth century.Very little is known for certain about Eanred. The only reference made by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to the Northumbrians in this period is the statement that in 829 Egbert of Wessex...
of Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
to King Egbert
Egbert of Wessex
Egbert was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was Ealhmund of Kent...
of Wessex
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
at the hamlet of Dore
Dore
Dore is a village in South Yorkshire, England. The village lies on a hill above the River Sheaf, and until 1934 was part of Derbyshire, but it is now a suburb of Sheffield. It is served by Dore and Totley railway station on the Hope Valley Line...
(now a suburb of Sheffield): "Egbert led an army against the Northumbrians as far as Dore, where they met him, and offered terms of obedience and subjection, on the acceptance of which they returned home". This event made Egbert the first Saxon to claim to be king of all of England.
The latter part of the 9th century saw a wave of Norse
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
(Viking) settlers and the subsequent establishment of the Danelaw
Danelaw
The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , is a historical name given to the part of England in which the laws of the "Danes" held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. It is contrasted with "West Saxon law" and "Mercian law". The term has been extended by modern historians to...
. The names of hamlets established by these settlers often end in thorpe, which means a farmstead. Examples of such settlements in the Sheffield area are Grimesthorpe, Hackenthorpe, Jordanthorpe, Netherthorpe, Upperthorpe, Waterthorpe, and Woodthorpe. By 918 the Danes south of the Humber had submitted to Edward the Elder
Edward the Elder
Edward the Elder was an English king. He became king in 899 upon the death of his father, Alfred the Great. His court was at Winchester, previously the capital of Wessex...
, and by 926 Northumbria was under the control of King Athelstan
Athelstan of England
Athelstan , called the Glorious, was the King of England from 924 or 925 to 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder, grandson of Alfred the Great and nephew of Æthelflæd of Mercia...
.
In 937 the combined armies of Olaf III Guthfrithson
Olaf III Guthfrithson
Amlaíb mac Gofraid , a member of the Norse-Gael Uí Ímair dynasty, was King of Dublin from 934 to 941...
, Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
king of Dublin, Constantine
Constantine II of Scotland
Constantine, son of Áed was an early King of Scotland, known then by the Gaelic name Alba. The Kingdom of Alba, a name which first appears in Constantine's lifetime, was in northern Great Britain...
, king of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and King Owain
Eógan I of Strathclyde
Owen I, Ywain I or Eógan I was ruler of the Kingdom of Strathclyde for some period in the early tenth century....
of Strathclyde
Kingdom of Strathclyde
Strathclyde , originally Brythonic Ystrad Clud, was one of the early medieval kingdoms of the celtic people called the Britons in the Hen Ogledd, the Brythonic-speaking parts of what is now southern Scotland and northern England. The kingdom developed during the post-Roman period...
invaded England. The invading force was met and defeated by an army from Wessex and Mercia led by King Athelstan
Athelstan of England
Athelstan , called the Glorious, was the King of England from 924 or 925 to 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder, grandson of Alfred the Great and nephew of Æthelflæd of Mercia...
at the Battle of Brunanburh
Battle of Brunanburh
The Battle of Brunanburh was an English victory in 937 by the army of Æthelstan, King of England, and his brother Edmund over the combined armies of Olaf III Guthfrithson, the Norse-Gael King of Dublin, Constantine II, King of Scots, and Owen I, King of Strathclyde...
. The location of Brunanburh is unknown, but some historians have suggested a location between Tinsley
Tinsley, South Yorkshire
Tinsley is a suburb of northeastern part of Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Its name derives from the Old English Tingas-Leah, which means 'Field of Council'...
in Sheffield and Brinsworth
Brinsworth
Brinsworth is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated close to the River Rother between Rotherham and Sheffield . At the time of the 2001 census it had a population of 8,950.-History:Brinsworth is located about mile south...
in Rotherham, on the slopes of White Hill. After the death of King Athelstan in 939 Olaf III Guthfrithson invaded again and took control of Northumbria and part of Mercia. Subsequently, the Anglo-Saxons, under Edmund
Edmund I of England
Edmund I , called the Elder, the Deed-doer, the Just, or the Magnificent, was King of England from 939 until his death. He was a son of Edward the Elder and half-brother of Athelstan. Athelstan died on 27 October 939, and Edmund succeeded him as king.-Military threats:Shortly after his...
, re-conquered the Midlands, as far as Dore, in 942, and captured Northumbria in 944.
The Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086, which was compiled following the Norman Conquest of 1066, contains the earliest know reference to the districts around Sheffield as the manor of "Hallun" (or Hallam
Hallamshire
Hallamshire is the historical name for an area of South Yorkshire, England, in the current city of Sheffield.The origin of the name is uncertain. The English Place-Name Society describe "Hallam" originating from a formation meaning "on the rocks"...
). This manor retained its Saxon lord, Waltheof
Waltheof, 1st Earl of Northampton
Waltheof , 1st Earl of the Honour of Huntingdon and Northampton and last of the Anglo-Saxon earls was the only English aristocrat to be executed during the reign of William I.-Early life:...
, for some years after the conquest. The Domesday Book was ordered written by William the Conqueror so that the value of the townships and manors of England could be assessed. The entries in the Domesday Book are written in a Latin shorthand; the extract for this area begins:
- TERRA ROGERII DE BVSLI
- M. hi Hallvn, cu XVI bereuvitis sunt. XXIX. carucate trae
- Ad gld. Ibi hb Walleff com aula...
Translated it reads:
- LANDS OF ROGER DE BUSLI
- In Hallam, one manor with its sixteen hamlets, there are twenty-nine carucates [~14 km2] to be taxed. There Earl Waltheof had an "Aula" [hall or court]. There may have been about twenty ploughs. This land Roger de Busli holds of the Countess Judith. He has himself there two carucates [~1 km2] and thirty-three villeins hold twelve carucates and a half [~6 km2]. There are eight acres [32,000 m2] of meadow, and a pasturable wood, four leuvae in length and four in breadth [~10 km2]. The whole manor is ten leuvae in length and eight broad [207 km2]. In the time of Edward the Confessor it was valued at eight marks of silver [£5.33]; now at forty shillings [£2.00].
- In Attercliffe and Sheffield, two manors, Sweyn had five carucates of land [~2.4 km2] to be taxed. There may have been about three ploughs. This land is said to have been inland, demesne [domain] land of the manor of Hallam.
The reference is to Roger de Busli
Roger de Busli
Roger de Busli was a Norman baron who accompanied William the Conqueror on his successful conquest of England in 1066....
, tenant-in-chief in Domesday and one of the greatest of the new wave of Norman magnates. Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria had been executed in 1076 for his part in an uprising against William I. He was the last of the Anglo-Saxon earls still remaining in England a full decade after the Norman conquest. His lands had passed to his wife, Judith of Normandy
Judith of Lens
Countess Judith , was a niece of William the Conqueror. She was a daughter of his sister Adelaide of Normandy, Countess of Aumale and Lambert II, Count of Lens....
, niece to William the Conqueror. The lands were held on her behalf by Roger de Busli
Roger de Busli
Roger de Busli was a Norman baron who accompanied William the Conqueror on his successful conquest of England in 1066....
.
The Domesday Book refers to Sheffield twice, first as Escafeld, then later as Scafeld. Sheffield historian S. O. Addy suggests that the second form, pronounced Shaffeld, is the truer form, as the spelling Sefeld is found in a deed issued less than one hundred years after the completion of the survey. Addy comments that the E in the first form may have been mistakenly added by the Norman scribe.
Roger de Busli died around the end of the 11th century, and was succeeded by a son, who died without an heir. The manor of Hallamshire passed to William de Lovetot
William de Lovetot
William de Lovetot, Lord of Hallamshire, possibly descended from the Norman Baron Ricardus Surdus, was an Anglo-Norman Baron from Huntingdonshire, often credited as the founder of Sheffield, England....
, the grandson of a Norman baron who had come over to England with the Conqueror. William de Lovetot founded the parish churches of St Mary
St. Mary's Church, Handsworth, Sheffield
St. Mary's Church in Handsworth, a district in the east of Sheffield, England, was founded in the 12th. century.The Normans were very enthusiastic church builders and St. Mary's Church was constructed in order to satisfy the growing need of the local community for a permanent priest. It has...
at Handsworth
Handsworth, South Yorkshire
Handsworth is a suburb of south eastern Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. Handsworth has a population of approximately 15,000. It covers an overall area of approximately...
, St Nicholas
Church of St. Nicholas, Bradfield
The Church of St. Nicholas, Bradfield is situated in the small village of High Bradfield which is located north west of the centre of the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of only five Grade One Listed buildings in Sheffield...
at High Bradfield and St. Mary's
Church of St. Mary, Ecclesfield
The Church of St. Mary, Ecclesfield is situated on Church Street in the village of Ecclesfield, now a northern suburb of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It is situated seven kilometres north of the city centre. It is a Grade One listed building, one of only five within the Sheffield city...
at Ecclesfield at the start of the 12th century in addition to Sheffield's own parish church. He also built the original wooden Sheffield Castle, which stimulated the growth of the town.
Also dating from this time is 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 was founded by Robert FitzRanulf de Alfreton. The abbey was dedicated to Saint Mary and Saint Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
, who had been canonised in 1172. Thomas Tanner, writing in 1695, stated that it was founded in 1183. However, Samuel Pegge
Samuel Pegge
Samuel Pegge the elder was an antiquary.Born at Chesterfield, Derbyshire, he was the son of Christopher Pegge and his wife Gertrude, daughter of Francis Stephenson of Unstone, near Chesterfield...
in his History of Beauchief Abbey notes that Albinas, the abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
of Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
, who was one of the witnesses to the charter of foundation, died in 1176, placing foundation before that date.
Mediaeval Sheffield
Following the death of William de Lovetot, the manor of Hallamshire passed to his son Richard de Lovetot and then his son William de Lovetot before being passed by marriage to Gerard de FurnivalGerard de Furnival
Gerard de Furnival was a Norman knight and Lord of Hallamshire and Worksop. De Furnival's father was also called Gerard de Furnival, and had fought with Richard I at the Siege of Acre....
in about 1204. The de Furnivals held the manor for the next 180 years. The fourth Furnival lord, Thomas de Furnival, supported Simon de Montfort
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, 1st Earl of Chester , sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from other Simon de Montforts, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. He led the barons' rebellion against King Henry III of England during the Second Barons' War of 1263-4, and...
in the Second Barons' War
Second Barons' War
The Second Barons' War was a civil war in England between the forces of a number of barons led by Simon de Montfort, against the Royalist forces led by Prince Edward , in the name of Henry III.-Causes:...
. As a result of this, in 1266 a party of barons, led by John de Eyvill, marching from north Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
to Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
passed through Sheffield and destroyed the town, burning the church and castle. A new stone castle was constructed over the next four years and a new church was consecrated by William II Wickwane the Archbishop of York
Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...
around 1280. In 1295 Thomas de Furnival's son (also Thomas) was the first lord of Hallamshire to be called to Parliament, thus taking the title Lord Furnivall
Baron Furnivall
Baron Furnivall is an ancient title in the Peerage of England. It was originally created when Thomas de Furnivall was summoned to the Model Parliament of 1295 as Lord Furnivall. The barony eventually passed to Thomas Nevill, who had married the first baron's descendant Joan de Furnivall, and he...
. On 12 November 1296 Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
granted a charter for a market to be held in Sheffield on Tuesday each week. This was followed on 10 August 1297 by a charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
from Lord Furnival establishing Sheffield as a free borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
. The Sheffield Town Trust
Sheffield Town Trust
The Sheffield Town Trust, formerly officially known as the Burgery of Sheffield, is a charitable trust operating in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England.-Mediaeval period:...
was established in the Charter to the Town of Sheffield, granted in 1297. De Furnival, granted land to the freeholder
Freeholder
A freeholder can refer to:* one who is in freehold* one who holds title to real property in Fee simple* an official of county government in the U.S. state of New Jersey...
s of Sheffield in return for an annual payment, and a Common Burgery administrated them. The Burgery originally consisted of public meetings of all the freeholders, who elected a Town Collector. Two more generations of Furnivals held Sheffield before it passed by marriage to Sir Thomas Nevil and then, in 1406, to John Talbot
John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury
John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and 1st Earl of Waterford KG , known as "Old Talbot" was an important English military commander during the Hundred Years' War, as well as the only Lancastrian Constable of France.-Origins:He was descended from Richard Talbot, a tenant in 1086 of Walter Giffard...
, the first Earl of Shrewsbury
Earl of Shrewsbury
Earl of Shrewsbury is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the peerage of England.-First creation, 1074:The first creation occurred in 1074 for Roger de Montgomerie, one of William the Conqueror's principal counselors...
.
Sheffield Cathedral
Sheffield Cathedral is the cathedral church for the Church of England diocese of Sheffield, England. Originally a parish church, it was elevated to cathedral status when the diocese was created in 1914...
. Other notable surviving buildings from this period include the Old Queen's Head pub
Old Queen's Head, Sheffield
The Old Queen's Head is a public house on Pond Hill in the City of Sheffield, England that occupies the oldest domestic building in the city. This timber framed building is thought to date from c.1475, although the earliest known written record of it is in an inventory compiled in 1582 of the...
in Pond Hill, which dates from around 1480, with its timber frame still intact, and Bishops' House
Bishops' House
Bishops' House is a half-timbered house in the Norton Lees district of the City of Sheffield, England. It was built c. 1500 and is located at , on the southern tip of Meersbrook Park...
and Broom Hall
Broom Hall
Broom Hall is a historic house in the City of Sheffield, England that gives its name to the surrounding Broomhall district of the city. The earliest part of the house is timber-framed; it has been tree-ring dated to c1498, and was built by the de Wickersley family, whose ancestral home was at...
, both built around 1500.
The fourth Earl of Shrewsbury, George Talbot
George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury
George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, 4th Earl of Waterford, 10th Baron Talbot, 9th Baron Furnivall, KG was the son of John Talbot, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury and Lady Catherine Stafford, daughter of the 1st Duke of Buckingham....
took up residence in Sheffield, building the Manor Lodge
Sheffield Manor
Sheffield Manor, also known as the Manor Lodge or Manor Castle, is a lodge built about 1516 in what then was a large deer park east of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK, to provide a country retreat and further accommodate George Talbot, the 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, and his large family...
outside the town in about 1510 and adding a chapel to the Parish Church c1520 to hold the family vault. Memorials to the fourth and sixth Earls of Shrewsbury can still be seen in the church. In 1569 George Talbot
George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury
George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, 6th Earl of Waterford, 12th Baron Talbot, KG, Earl Marshal was a 16th century English statesman.-Life:...
, the sixth Earl of Shrewsbury, was given charge of Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary was regarded as a threat by Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, and had been held captive since her arrival in England in 1568. Talbot brought Mary to Sheffield in 1570, and she spent most of the next 14 years imprisoned in Sheffield Castle
Sheffield Castle
Sheffield Castle was a castle in Sheffield, England, constructed at the confluence of the River Sheaf and the River Don, possibly on the site of a former Anglo-Saxon long house, and dominating the early town. A motte and bailey castle had been constructed on the site at some time in the century...
and its dependent buildings. The castle park extended beyond the present Manor Lane, where the remains of Manor Lodge are to be found. Beside them is the Turret House, an Elizabethan building, which may have been built to accommodate the captive queen. A room, believed to have been the queen's, has an elaborate plaster ceiling and overmantle, with heraldic decorations. During the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, Sheffield changed hands several times, finally falling to the Parliamentarians
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
, who demolished the Castle in 1648.
The Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
brought large-scale 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...
making to Sheffield in the 18th century. Much of the mediaeval town was gradually replaced by a mix of Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
and Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
buildings. Large areas of Sheffield's city centre
Sheffield City Centre
Sheffield City Centre—often just referred to as town—is a district of the City of Sheffield, and part of the Sheffield Central ward. It includes the area that is within a radius of roughly of Sheffield Cathedral, and is encircled by the Inner Ring Road—a circular route started in the late 1960s...
have been rebuilt in recent years, but among the modern buildings, some old buildings have been retained.
Industrial Sheffield
Ganister
A ganister is hard, fine-grained quartzose sandstone, or orthoquartzite, used in the manufacture of silica brick typically used to line furnaces...
, and millstone grit for grindstones—made it an ideal place for water-powered
Hydropower
Hydropower, hydraulic power, hydrokinetic power or water power is power that is derived from the force or energy of falling water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Since ancient times, hydropower has been used for irrigation and the operation of various mechanical devices, such as...
industries to develop. 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...
s were often built for the milling of corn
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, but many were converted to the manufacture of blades. As early as the 14th century Sheffield was noted for the production of knives:
By 1600 Sheffield was the main centre of cutlery production in England outside of London, and in 1624 The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire
Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire
The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire is a trade guild of metalworkers based in Sheffield, England. It was incorporated in 1624 by an Act of parliament. The head is called the Master Cutler...
was formed to oversee the trade. Examples of water-powered blade and cutlery workshops surviving from around this time can be seen at the Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet
Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet
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...
and 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...
museums in Sheffield.
Around a century later, Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
in his book A tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain
A tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain
A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain is an account of his travels by English author Daniel Defoe, first published in three volumes between 1724 and 1727....
, wrote:
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...
, a clock maker in Handsworth
Handsworth, South Yorkshire
Handsworth is a suburb of south eastern Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. Handsworth has a population of approximately 15,000. It covers an overall area of approximately...
, invented a form 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 for making a better quality of steel than had previously been available. At around the same time Thomas Boulsover
Thomas Boulsover
Thomas Boulsover , Sheffield cutler and the inventor of Sheffield Plate, was born in what is now the Ecclesfield district of the city and died at his home at Whiteley Wood Hall, on the River Porter....
invented a technique for fusing a thin sheet of silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
onto a copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
ingot producing a form of silver plating that became known as Sheffield plate
Sheffield plate
Sheffield plate is a layered combination of silver and copper that was used for many years to produce a wide range of household articles. These included buttons, caddy spoons, serving utensils, candlesticks and other lighting devices, tea and coffee services, serving dishes and trays, tankards and...
. In 1773 Sheffield was given a silver assay office
Sheffield Assay Office
The Sheffield Assay Office is one of the four remaining Assay Offices in the UK.- Overview :In 1773, Sheffield's silversmiths joined with those of Birmingham to petition Parliament for the establishment of Assay Offices in their respective cities...
. In the late 18th century, Britannia metal
Britannia metal
Britannia metal or britannium is a pewter-type alloy favoured for its silvery appearance and smooth surface. The composition is approximately 93% tin, 5% antimony, and 2% copper....
, a pewter-based alloy similar in appearance to silver, was invented in the town.
Huntsman's process was only made obsolete in 1856 by Henry Bessemer
Henry Bessemer
Sir Henry Bessemer was an English engineer, inventor, and businessman. Bessemer's name is chiefly known in connection with the Bessemer process for the manufacture of steel.-Anthony Bessemer:...
's invention of the Bessemer converter. Bessemer had tried to induce steelmakers to take up his improved system, but met with general rebuffs, and finally was driven to undertake the exploitation of the process himself. To this end he erected steelworks in Sheffield. Gradually the scale of production was enlarged until the competition became effective, and steel traders generally became aware that the firm of Henry Bessemer & Co. was underselling them to the extent of £20 a ton. One of Bessemer's converters can still be seen at Sheffield's Kelham Island Museum
Kelham Island Museum
The Kelham Island Museum is an industrial museum on Alma Street, alongside the River Don, in the centre of Sheffield, England. It was opened in 1982.-The site:...
.
In 1857 the World's first football team was formed called Sheffield FC. This saw a rapid growth of football teams in the area. It was after Sheffield FC played a exhibition match in London that the Football Association was started.
Stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
was discovered by Harry Brearley
Harry Brearley
Harry Brearley is usually credited with the invention of "rustless steel" in the anglophone world.-Life:...
in 1912, at the Brown Firth Laboratories in Sheffield. His successor as manager at Brown Firth, Dr William Hatfield
William Herbert Hatfield
Dr William Herbert Hatfield FRS was a metallurgist who contributed to the development of stainless steel.- Early life :...
, continued Brealey's work. In 1924 he patented '18-8 stainless steel', which to this day is probably the widest-used alloy of this type.
Bowie knife
A Bowie knife is a pattern of fixed-blade fighting knife first popularized by Colonel James "Jim" Bowie in the early 19th Century. Since the first incarnation was created by James Black, the Bowie knife has come to incorporate several recognizable and characteristic design features, although its...
were mass produced and shipped to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population of the town increased rapidly. In 1736 Sheffield and its surrounding hamlets held about 7000 people, in 1801 there were around 60,000 inhabitants, and by 1901, the population had grown to 451,195.
This growth spurred the reorganisation of the governance of the town. Prior to 1818, the town was run by a mixture of bodies. The Sheffield Town Trust
Sheffield Town Trust
The Sheffield Town Trust, formerly officially known as the Burgery of Sheffield, is a charitable trust operating in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England.-Mediaeval period:...
and the Church Burgesses
Church Burgesses
The Church Burgesses, formerly known officially as the Twelve Capital Burgesses and Commonalty of the Town and Parish of Sheffield, are a charitable organisation in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire....
, for example, divided responsibility for the improvement of streets and bridges. By the 19th century, however, both organisations lacked funds and struggled even to maintain existing infrastructure. The Church Burgesses organised a public meeting on 27 May 1805 and proposed to apply to Parliament for an act to pave, light and clean the city's streets. The proposal was defeated. but the idea of a Commission was revived in 1810, and later in the decade Sheffield finally followed the model adopted by several other towns in petitioning for an Act to establish an Improvement Commission. This eventually led to the Sheffield Improvement Act 1818
Sheffield Improvement Act 1818
The Sheffield Improvement Act 1818 is an Act of Parliament passed in 1818 regarding the administration of the town of Sheffield in the West Riding of Yorkshire.Prior to 1818, the town was run by a mixture of bodies...
, which established the Commission and included a number of other provisions. In 1832 the town gained political representation
Sheffield (UK Parliament constituency)
Sheffield was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom 1832 to 1885. It elected two Members of Parliament by the bloc vote system of elections....
with the formation of a Parliamentary borough
Parliamentary borough
Parliamentary boroughs are a type of administrative division, usually covering urban areas, that are entitled to representation in a Parliament...
. A municipal borough
Municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...
was formed by an Act of Incorporation in 1843, and this borough was granted the style and title of "City
City status in the United Kingdom
City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarch to a select group of communities. The holding of city status gives a settlement no special rights other than that of calling itself a "city". Nonetheless, this appellation carries its own prestige and, consequently, competitions...
" by Royal Charter in 1893.
Sheffield Old Town Hall
Sheffield Old Town Hall stands on Waingate in central Sheffield, England, opposite Castle Market.The building was commissioned to replace Sheffield's first town hall, which had opened in 1700 to a design by William Renny...
and the present Cutlers' Hall
Cutlers' Hall
Cutlers' Hall is a Grade II* listed building in Sheffield, England that is the headquarters of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire. It is located on Church Street opposite Sheffield Cathedral.-History:...
were among the major works of the 19th century. The town's water supply was improved by the Sheffield Waterworks Company, who built a number of reservoirs around the town. Parts of Sheffield were devastated when, following a five year construction project, the Dale Dyke dam collapsed on Friday 11 March 1864, resulting in the Great Sheffield Flood
Great Sheffield Flood
Not to be confused with the floods in Sheffield in 2007.The Great Sheffield Flood was a flood that devastated parts of Sheffield, England, on 11 March 1864, when the Dale Dyke Dam broke.- Collapse of Dale Dyke Dam :...
.
Sheffield's transport infrastructure was also improved. In the 18th century turnpike
Turnpike trust
Turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal highways in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries...
roads were built connecting Sheffield with Barnsley, Buxton, Chesterfield, Glossop, Intake, Penistone, Tickhill, and Worksop. In 1774 a 2 miles (3.2 km) wooden tramway was laid at the Duke of Norfolk's Nunnery Colliery. The tramway was destroyed by rioters, who saw it as part of a plan to raise the price of coal. A replacement tramway, laid by John Curr in 1776, that used L-shaped rails was one of the earliest cast-iron railways. The Sheffield Canal
Sheffield Canal
The Sheffield Canal is a canal in the City of Sheffield, England. It runs from Tinsley, where it leaves the River Don, to the Sheffield Canal Basin in the city centre, passing through 11 locks.- Early history :...
opened in 1819 allowing the large-scale transportation of freight. This was followed by the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway
Sheffield and Rotherham Railway
The Sheffield and Rotherham Railway was a short railway between Sheffield and Rotherham and the first in the two towns.In the early nineteenth century, when news broke of the building of the North Midland Railway, it was clear that George Stephenson would follow the gentle gradient of the Rivers...
in 1838, the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway
Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway
The Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway was an early British railway company which opened in stages between 1841 and 1845 between Sheffield and Manchester via Ashton-under-Lyne...
in 1845, and the Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
in 1870. The Sheffield Tramway
Sheffield Tramway
Sheffield Tramway was an extensive tramway network serving the English city of Sheffield and its suburbs.The first tramway line, horse-drawn, opened in 1873 between Lady's Bridge and Attercliffe, subsequently extended to Brightside and Tinsley...
was started in 1873 with the construction of a horse tram route from Lady's Bridge to Attercliffe. This route was later extended to Brightside and Tinsley, and further routes were constructed to Hillsborough, Heeley, and Nether Edge. Due to the narrow medieval roads the tramways were initially banned from the town centre. An improvement scheme was passed in 1875; Pinstone Street and Leopold Street were constructed by 1879, and Fargate was widened in the 1880s. The 1875 plan also called for the widening of High Street, but disputes with property owners delayed this until 1895.
Steel production in the 19th century involved long working hours, in unpleasant conditions that offered little or no safety protection. Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels was a German industrialist, social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of Marxist theory, alongside Karl Marx. In 1845 he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research...
in his The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844
The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844
The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 is one of the best-known works of Friedrich Engels.Originally written in German as Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England, it is a study of the working class in Victorian England. It was also Engels' first book, written during his stay in...
described the conditions prevalent in the city at that time:
Sheffield became one of the main centres for trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
organisation and agitation in the UK. By the 1860s, the growing conflict between capital and labour provoked the so-called 'Sheffield Outrages
Sheffield Outrages
Sheffield's early success in steel production had involved long working hours, in desperately unpleasant conditions which offered little or no safety protection. quotes a local doctor, Dr. Knight, regarding the so-called "Grinder's Asthma" suffered by the Sheffield cutlery workers in the mid 19th...
', which culminated in a series of explosions and murders carried out by union militants. The Sheffield Trades Council organised a meeting in Sheffield in 1866 at which the United Kingdom Alliance of Organised Trades—a forerunner of the Trades Union Congress
Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade unions...
(TUC)—was founded.
The 20th century to the present
In 1914 Sheffield became a dioceseDiocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, and the parish church became a cathedral
Sheffield Cathedral
Sheffield Cathedral is the cathedral church for the Church of England diocese of Sheffield, England. Originally a parish church, it was elevated to cathedral status when the diocese was created in 1914...
. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
the Sheffield City Battalion
Sheffield City Battalion
The Sheffield City Battalion was a Pals battalion during the First World War .Raised in 1914, it was designated as the 12th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment.- Recruits :...
suffered heavy losses at the Somme
Somme
Somme is a department of France, located in the north of the country and named after the Somme river. It is part of the Picardy region of France....
and Sheffield itself was bombed by a German zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
. The recession of the 1930s was only halted by the increasing tension as World War II
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...
loomed. The steel factories of Sheffield were set to work making weapons and ammunition for the war. As a result, once war was declared, the city once again became a target for bombing raids. In total there were 16 raids over Sheffield, however it was the heavy bombing over the nights of 12 December and 15 December 1940 (now 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....
) when the most substantial damage occurred. More than 660 lives were lost and numerous buildings were destroyed.
Following the war, the 1950s and 1960s saw many large scale developments in the city. The Sheffield Tramway was closed, and a new system of roads, including the Inner Ring Road, were laid out. Also at this time many of the old slum
Slum
A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
s were cleared and replaced with housing schemes such as the Park Hill flats, and the Gleadless Valley
Gleadless Valley
Gleadless Valley ward—which includes the districts of Gleadless Valley , Heeley, Lowfield, and Meersbrook—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the southern part of the city and covers an area of 4.5 km2...
estate.
The building of the Meadowhall
Meadowhall
Meadowhall is an indoor shopping centre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It lies three miles north east of Sheffield city centre and four miles from Rotherham town centre....
shopping centre on the site of a former steelworks in 1990 was a mixed blessing, creating much needed jobs but speeding the decline of the city centre. Attempts to regenerate the city were kick-started by the hosting of the 1991 World Student Games
1991 Summer Universiade
The 1991 Summer Universiade, also known as the XVI Summer Universiade, took place in Sheffield, England. In the host country it was generally referred to as the World Student Games....
and the associated building of new sporting facilities such as the Sheffield Arena, Don Valley Stadium
Don Valley Stadium
The Don Valley Stadium is a stadium in Sheffield, England and is the home of Rotherham United F.C.. The stadium is an athletics stadium which has hosted major UK Athletic events and the 1991 World Student Games. Sheffield Eagles RLFC and Parramore Sports FC also use the stadium. It was designed by...
and the Ponds Forge
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:...
complex. Sheffield began construction of a tram
Sheffield Supertram
The Supertram, officially called the Stagecoach Supertram, is a light rail tram system in the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England...
system in 1992, with the first section opening in 1994. Starting in 1995, the Heart of the City Project has seen a number of public works in the city centre: the Peace Gardens
Sheffield Town Hall
Sheffield Town Hall is a building in the City of Sheffield, England. The building is used by Sheffield City Council, and also contains a publicly displayed collection of silverware. The current building, Sheffield's fourth town hall, is located on Pinstone Street. It was designed by the...
were renovated in 1998, the Millennium Galleries
Millennium Galleries
The Millennium Galleries is an art gallery in the City of Sheffield, England. Opened in April 2001 as part of Sheffield's Heart of the City project, it is located in the city centre close to the city library, Sheffield Hallam University, and the city's theatre district...
opened in April 2001, and a 1970s town hall extension was demolished in 2002 to make way for the Winter Gardens
Sheffield Winter Gardens
Sheffield Winter Garden in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire is one of the largest temperate glasshouses to be built in the UK during the last hundred years, and the largest urban glasshouse anywhere in Europe. It is home to more than 2,000 plants from all around the world...
, which opened on 22 May 2003. A number of other projects grouped under the title Sheffield One
Sheffield One
Sheffield One is an urban redevelopment company created in 2000 to regenerate Sheffield city centre. In April 2007, it was merged into Creative Sheffield, a newly created city economic development company.-Projects:*Castlegate Quarter*Cathedral Quarter...
aim to regenerate the whole of the city centre.
On 25 June 2007, flooding caused millions of pounds worth of damage to buildings in the city and led to the loss of two lives.
See also
- Timeline of Sheffield historyTimeline of Sheffield historyThis timeline of Sheffield history summarises key events in the history of Sheffield, a city in England. The origins of the city can be traced back to the founding of a settlement in a clearing beside the River Sheaf in the second half of the 1st millennium AD...
- History of YorkshireHistory of YorkshireYorkshire is a historic county of England, centred on the county town of York. The region was first occupied after the retreat of the ice age around 8000 BC. During the first millennium AD it was occupied by Romans, Angles and Vikings. Many Yorkshire dialect words and aspects of pronunciation...
- History of DerbyshireHistory of DerbyshireDerbyshire was traditionally divided into six hundreds, namely Appletree, High Peak, Morleyston and Litchurch, Repton and Gresley, Scarsdale, Wirksworth. These were based on the seven earlier wapentakes recorded in the Domesday Book, with the merging of Repton and Gresley wapentakes.Derbyshire had...
- History of EnglandHistory of EnglandThe history of England concerns the study of the human past in one of Europe's oldest and most influential national territories. What is now England, a country within the United Kingdom, was inhabited by Neanderthals 230,000 years ago. Continuous human habitation dates to around 12,000 years ago,...