Sheffield Archives and Local Studies: History Key Stage 2 Unit 7 (Local
History Study – How the local area has changed over time)
History of Sheffield
Lane Top
Population of Sheffield over the centuries…
1086
1600
1801
1851
1901
2011
150 - 200
3,000
60,095
161,475
451,195
552,700
Sheffield Lane Top
• Historically part of the parish of
Ecclesfield.
• People rented land from the Lord of
the Manor (at first the Earls of
Shrewsbury and later the Dukes of
Norfolk).
• The population was very small
throughout Victorian times.
• Lane Top was a tiny hamlet,
surrounded by fields, farmland and
countryside.
• In the 1841 census, the most
common jobs in Lane Top area were
farmers, agricultural workers and
fork makers.
Thomas Howard, Earl
of Arundel and Duke
of Norfolk (1585 - 1646)
(Sheffield Local Studies
Library Picture Sheffield:
s22507)
Satellite view of Sheffield Lane
Top today
(http://maps.google.co.uk/)
Map of Sheffield Lane
Top, 1890
(Sheffield Archives: OS
Map 288/12)
• The Pheasant Inn at
Lane Top can be
traced back to c.
1840s.
• It still stands today.
Pheasant Inn, Sheffield Lane
Top (above looking towards
Shiregreen, early 1900s; right,
1932)
(Sheffield Local Studies
Library Picture Sheffield:
V00708 and s13346)
1881 Census showing
Sheffield Lane Top,
Pheasant Inn etc.
(www.ancestry.com)
Hatfield House Farm, Hatfield
House Lane
(Sheffield Local Studies
Library Picture Sheffield:
s06386)
• Hatfield House
was actually a
small cluster of
farm houses in
Hatfield House
Lane back in
Victorian times.
• Who lived there
back in 1881?
1881 Census showing
Sheffield Lane Top,
Hatfield House, etc.
(www.ancestry.com)
1881 Census showing
Sheffield Lane Top,
Hadfield House, etc.
(www.ancestry.com)
Paddock Farm, Elm Lane
(showing horse “the King’s
Messenger”), c. 1910
(Sheffield Local Studies
Library Picture Sheffield:
u00511)
Sheffield Street Directory
(showing Elm Lane), 1935
(Sheffield Archives:
Searchroom Library)
• What was the name of the
farmer living at Paddock
Farm in 1935?
Grand Country Houses in the area
• There were
several large
country
houses in the
area.
• Cliffe House,
Elm Lane,
was built in
1805.
• Who lived
there in the
1880s?
Cliffe House, Elm Lane
(Sheffield Local Studies
Library Picture Sheffield:
s05981)
1881 Census
Showing Cliffe House,
Elm Lane
(www.ancestry.com)
Sheffield Street Directory
(showing Elm Lane), 1935
(Sheffield Archives:
Searchroom Library)
• By 1934, Cliffe House was no longer a
private home.
• Can you find out from the street
directory what it was used for?
• In 1938 a Fire Station was built on its
grounds.
• The house was demolished c. late
1950s to make way for a new fire
station.
Cliffe House, Elm Lane
(Sheffield Local Studies
Library Picture Sheffield:
s25119)
Norwood Hall and Grounds,
Piper Lane/Longley Lane
(Sheffield Local Studies
Library Picture Sheffield:
s05689)
Sheffield Street
Directory (showing
Piper Lane), 1906
(Sheffield Archives:
Searchroom Library)
• Norwood Hall was
built c. 1713.
• Between 1775
and 1915 it
became the home
of the Wheat
family.
• What did the
Wheat Family do
for a living?
Norwood Hall and Grounds
(Sheffield Local Studies
Library Picture Sheffield:
s05690)
• Between 1918 and
1959 Norwood Hall
became known as
“Bishopsholme”.
• Who do you think
lived there?
• Sheffield City
Council then used
it as a care hostel
(for people with
disabilities).
• Norwood Hall was
demolished in
1976.
Sheffield Street
Directory
(showing part of
Herries Road),
1935
(Sheffield Archives:
Searchroom
Library)
• Norwood Grange, Longley
Lane, was built in 1850s for
Thomas Fisher, a partner in
the Britannia metal
manufacturing company of
Shaw and Fisher.
• Norwood Grange was bought
by Sheffield City Council just
before the Second World War.
• During the war it was used as
a base for the Fire Service
and Air Raid Wardens.
Trade advert for Shaw and Fisher,
• In the 1990s the house
Manufacturers of Britannia Metal
became Norwood Grange
(from Sheffield Directory), 1852
Residential Care Home.
(Sheffield Archives: Searchroom Library)
Norwood Grange
Sale Catalogues
(following death of
Henry Fisher),
1888 - 1889
(Sheffield Archives:
TC2094)
Sheffield Street
Directory (showing
Shiregreen), 1906
(Sheffield Archives:
Searchroom Library)
• The Brushes was built
in 1790 by John Booth,
who made his wealth
through iron and steel.
• Brushes Farm had
stood on the site back in
the 1640s and its
owner, Captain Burley,
was executed in 1646
for supporting the King
against Parliament in
the English Civil War.
• In 1920 the building
became Firth Park
Grammar School.
• It was demolished in
2002-2003 and Longley
Park Sixth Form
College now stands in
its place.
The Brushes, Barnsley
Road, Firth Park
(Sheffield Local Studies
Library Picture Sheffield:
s05886)
Crowder House, Longley
(Sheffield Local Studies
Library Picture Sheffield:
u00471 and s05876)
• Crowder House,
Barnsley Road,
Longley, was home
of the Wilkinson
Family from c. 1400
until 1859 when
solicitor Bernard
Wake purchased it.
• It was demolished
in 1937 and modern
housing now stands
in its place (on what
is now Crowland
Road).
• The house had
large grounds,
some of which
became part of
Longley Park.
Longley Hall, Longley Lane,
1958
(Sheffield Local Studies
Library Picture Sheffield:
y02136 )
• Longley Hall was
built c. 1780 for
the lawyer
Kenyon Parker.
• Its lands were
later bought for
the Workhouse.
• The building still
stands, owned
by a private
landlord and run
as a care home.
Map of Sheffield Lane
Top, 1905
(Sheffield Archives: OS
Map 288/12)
Shiregreen housing estate
under construction, c. 1920s
(Sheffield Local Studies
Library Picture Sheffield: s12372 )
• In the 1920s and
1930s, as Sheffield
grew rapidly, the
area came within
the boundary of
Sheffield and was
used as site for
Council housing.
• This marked the
end of rural life for
the area. Longley housing estate, c. 1930
(Sheffield Local Studies Library
Picture Sheffield: s12368 )
Map of Sheffield Lane
Top, 1934
(Sheffield Archives: OS
Map 288/12)
Map of Fir Vale area,
1905
(Sheffield Archives: OS
Map 288/16)
Sheffield Union Workhouse
The poor in Sheffield, 1870
(Sheffield Local Studies
Library Picture Sheffield:
s03008)
• In Victorian times, poor people needing help
had to go into the Union Workhouse.
• The Sheffield Union Workhouse used to be
based in an old cotton mill on Kelham Street,
Sheffield (housed up to 600 inmates).
• With the Workhouse becoming increasingly
overcrowded, in 1881 a new workhouse was
built at Fir Vale (housed up to 1,662 inmates).
Why was the workhouse built at Fir Vale?
Sheffield Daily Telegraph
Newspaper, Wed 5 May 1880
(Sheffield Local Studies
Library: Newspaper Collection)
Sheffield Union Workhouse,
Fir Vale, 1900
(Sheffield Local Studies
Library Picture Sheffield:
y02028)
What was it like in the Workhouse?
• Conditions inside were very
harsh.
• Families were split up and
housed in different parts of the
workhouse.
• Strict rules to follow.
• Inmates were made to work
hard doing manual labour
such as breaking up stones.
Sheffield Union Workhouse,
Fir Vale, 1900
(Sheffield Local Studies
Library Picture Sheffield:
s00405)
“Dr Hunt, medical officer to the
Sheffield Local Register, Workhouse, informed the Sheffield
Guardians that the task of the stone
16 Sep 1896
breakers should be reduced or their
(Sheffield Local Studies
rations increased.”
Library: 942.74 S)
Sheffield Evening
Telegraph Newspaper,
Wed 6 Jul 1887
(Sheffield Local Studies
Library: Newspaper
Collection)
• According to the
newspaper
headline about
a court case at
Sheffield Town
Hall, what were
two pauper
inmates at the
workhouse
accused of?
Sheffield Union Workhouse
Punishment book entries,
1909
(Sheffield Archives: CA510/1)
Sheffield Union: Scattered Homes
• In Sheffield, it was eventually decided that poor children should not
be made to go into the workhouse.
• In 1893, the “scattered homes” system was used where, rather
than going into the workhouse, poor children were placed in foster
homes ‘scattered’ across Sheffield.
• The central headquarters home was at Smilter Lane (now Herries
Road).
“My visit [to The Scattered Homes]
showed evidence of what a sympathetic
system and humane instincts could
accomplish – a shining contrast to the
poor little tired, deserted ones who drag
out a melancholy existence in the great
workhouses of our land.”
Children of the State: Sheffield’s
Successful Experiment, 1898
(Sheffield Local Studies Library: 339.1S)
• What was name of the
foster mother in charge at
Sheffield Children’s
Homes, headquarters on
Herrie Road?
Sheffield Street
Directory (showing
part of Herries
Road), 1935
(Sheffield Archives:
Searchroom Library)
“A typical family’ in Sheffield
Union Scattered Homes’ for
poor children (149 and 151
Upperthorpe), 1890s
(Sheffield Local Studies Library
Picture Sheffield: y01176)
Map of Fir Vale area, 1934
(Sheffield Archives: OS
Map 288/16)
St Cecilia’s Church, Parson’s
Cross, marriage register,
1939 - 1940
(Sheffield Archives: PR45/2/1)
• The new housing estates of the 1920s
and 1930s soon faced a tough test.
• During the Second World War the
area was hit by the Sheffield Blitz –
when German enemy aircraft attacked
the city.
• The worst bombing attacks happened
in December 1940, killing over 700
people in Sheffield and destroying
thousands of homes.
• But the Lane Top area withstood the
attacks!
Sheffield City Council: Emergency
Planning Department Second
World War bomb damage index
card for Herries Road, 1940 - 1941
(Sheffield Archives: X293/1/4)
Sheffield Civil Defence Department
list of people killed in the Sheffield
Blitz, 1940 - 1941
(Sheffield Archives: 2010/155)
Recap…
• What did people do for jobs back in the area 100
years ago or more?
• What about if you lived in one of the big grand
Victorian houses?
• What happened to very poor people who couldn’t
look after themselves?
• What tough test did the
new housing estates of the
1920s and 1930s face
soon after being built?
Sheffield Archives and Local Studies
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