How has Sheffield changed since my ancestors were around?

So in the past I’ve introduced you to my home city of Sheffield and this week I was wondering what had changed in the city that my ancestors would have known and that was no longer there or been adapted.

So the biggest change is in industry. Sheffield was synonymous with steel production, blade making and the cutlery industry. So much of this has now gone. Don’t get me wrong it does still take place in the city but not on the scale it did. When you went through the census returns the men were working in the steel mills, as blade forgers, blade grinders or making cutlery or even scissors. Even the women were working in the industry. So many of them worked as buffer girls which were the women who polished up the cutlers once it was made so it was ready for sale.

I was also thinking about the way the building in the city centre have changed. In my life time building have come and gone. I miss the Town Hall extension which was lovingly names the egg boxes. So what big changes have there been?

Sheffield Town Hall with the Egg Box extension. Copyright unknown

So one change my ancestor may notice happened to the City Hall. This is a massive performance venue in the city that hosts concerts, plays and so much more. It was completed in the 1930’s. Now during the WW2 a bomb exploded in the square outside the hall. If you visit look at the pillars that were once pristine but now they have shrapnel wounds in them. I always find it fitting that the war memorial for the city stands in the square where the bomb fell.

Another massive change would be to the churches in the city. The Cathedral had an extension in the 1960’s and it’s off the period. It’s so different from the medieval church building. It’s a very marmite addition (you either love it or you hate it). Another big change would be that St Paul’s church next to the Town Hall is no longer there. It was built in the early 1700’s as the other churches couldn’t cope with the growing population. By 1937 the church had virtually no congregation so it shut and was pulled down. My ancestors may even has gone there as some lived locally to it.

In 1905 King Edward VII and Queen Alexander opened Firth Court at the University of Sheffield. It is a grand building and my ancestors certainly would have known the building as again some lived in the area. By 1971 it had a new building next to it which was designed in the 1960’s. It was built using the same coloured bricks but the styles were completely different. 

The Firth building on the left and the new addition

Now I know this is a minor change but it’s a change no the less. In Sheffield next to the Town Hall is a police box. It was installed in 1928 and is still there and it’s even a listed building. The change is that it now says South Yorkshire Police on it instead of just Sheffield Police as it was when it was built. South Yorkshire didn’t exist until 1974 when it was formed from the West Riding of Yorkshire. So in a way another that’s another change. The city didn’t move but it moved county.

Our own Tardis, the Town Hall Police Box

There will be so many things throughout the City that have changed since my ancestors were around. The fact I’m even calling it a city is different as from 1297 to 1893 it was a town. So why not think about what has changed in your area that you ancestors would have known.

Halloween Hauntings

So this week I thought I tell you all about my home city of Sheffield, and the past residents who are still living there.

Growing up I always heard the stories of ghosts related to the city as 2 haunted places were within a few miles of where I lived. The first was around Beauchief Abbey a former monastery and the hall just up the road. There is a white lady who is associated with the grounds of both locations has been seen on the road and also on the golf course which is now on the land the monastery once stood on. There are also sightings of the monks still going about their daily lives.

So let’s move up to Norton and the second location I knew about as a child, Bunting Nook. This is a small road by the church which has at least 3 ghosts. Firstly is another grey lady who has been seen but she may be part of the second haunting which is supposedly a couple who were eloping to the church to marry and fell from their horse and died (Norton Church was well known for not asking any question and marrying people even if she was pregnant). Then there is the demonic dog that has been seen as just eyes or even a black mist.

Fancy wandering around the area surrounding the Cathedral? Voices are heard and faces seen. Is it the dead whose graves were moved in the 1990’s protesting?

The former graveyard in front of Sheffield Cathedral

Off to Mosborough now and the old hall which is a hotel these days. The grey lady governess can be seen here and the argument between her and her employer can be heard as she threatens to tell his wife of their dalliance. It’s alleged he murdered her to keep her quite.

Now fancy a visit to a haunted pub, Sheffield has you covered. There are several pubs in the Darnall area where apparitions are seen. In the area of Sheffield I’m from the Woodseats hotel is haunted by a man who has attacked staff. Or how about the former Old Harrow where apparitions were seen and things went missing and then reappeared sometime late. You could always try the Queens Head Inn, possibly the oldest building in Sheffield. You may come across the dog who likes sit by people, the white lady who sits and watches people, the civil war era solider who sits by the fire or even hear the voice of a little girl. Fancy a coffee from a chain then I dare you to try Carbrook Hall near Meadowhall. It’s though Oliver Cromwell’s close ally Colonel Bright can be seen on the stairs as well as another roundhead soldier. Also a spirit likes to throw things around. It may be worse now as it’s well documented that spirits don’t like change and renovations of their space.

Now do you fancy visiting the National Emergency Services Museum in the city? I’ve been years ago, I got a plastic fireman’s helmet. Many groups have been to the venue and seen and heard many unexplained phenomena. Things are thrown when there is no one else around, voices are heard and many believe there is a negative entity who has taken up residence, is it Charlie Peace who was hung for murder?

So do you want to meet Mary Queen of Scots then you need to go to Sheffield Manor Lodge. This is where Mary was held on and off for years. She is seen in a flowing black gown and appears to walk through walls.

Sheffield Manor the once jail of Mary Queen of Scots

Now no discussion about hauntings in the city would be complete without a mention of the Stocksbridge bypass just outside the city. It’s not the road that’s haunted but the land. Even when the road was being built in the 1980’s things were seen. Children where heard playing at night when the site was closed. They were sometimes seen to disappear right in front of people’s eyes. A figure was seen on the bridge being constructed over the road that again just disappeared. 2 policemen witness the torso of a person against the side of their car which move extremely fast to the other side of the car and then vanished. As they drove away the car shook and things were thrown at it but there was no one around. Others have heard what sounds like someone on the roof of the car as they drive along. Finally how about seeing the torso of a monk crossing the road, no legs just a torso, as they walk along at the height the land was at during their lifetime.

So how about a visit to Sheffield?  I’ve never seen anything in city but I’m not visiting the locations at night. I’ve seen things in Derbyshire though.

So happy Halloween and goodnight out there whatever you are! (If you know where this quote came from then you had an awesome childhood).