Longley, Sheffield

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Typical Longley estate housing on Piper Road. Longley housing.jpg
Typical Longley estate housing on Piper Road.

Longley is a suburb of the City of Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. It lies four km north of the city centre and is a residential neighbourhood made up mostly of housing built by Sheffield City Council in the late 1920s. The suburb falls within the Firth Park ward of the City.

Sheffield City and Metropolitan borough in England

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. With some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely industrial roots to encompass a wider economic base. The population of the City of Sheffield is 577,800 (mid-2017 est.) and it is one of the eight largest regional English cities that make up the Core Cities Group. Sheffield is the third-largest English district by population. The metropolitan population of Sheffield is 1,569,000.

South Yorkshire County of England

South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in England. It is the southernmost county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region and had a population of 1.34 million in 2011. It has an area of 1,552 square kilometres (599 sq mi) and consists of four metropolitan boroughs, Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. South Yorkshire was created on 1 April 1974 as a result of the Local Government Act 1972.Its largest settlement is Sheffield.

Sheffield City Council Local government body in England

Sheffield City Council is the city council for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently under Labour control and led by Julie Dore.

Contents

History

The recorded history of the Longley area goes back to the Late Middle Ages with the first mention being in 1366 when it was part of the parish of Ecclesfield. At that time it was a hamlet called “Longeley”, meaning “Long Clearing”, subsequent spellings over the years were “Longlegh” and “Longlee”. From the start of the 15th century the sparse population of Longley rented their land from the Earl of Shrewsbury who was Lord of the Manor. During this time the inhabitants were mostly employed in arable and livestock farming although there was also some small scale cutlery manufacturing.

Late Middle Ages Period of European history between 1250 and 1500 CE

The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from 1250 to 1500 AD. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period.

Earl of Shrewsbury countship

Earl of Shrewsbury is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the Peerage of England. The second earldom dates to 1442. The holder of the Earldom of Shrewsbury also holds the title of Earl of Waterford (1446) in the Peerage of Ireland and Earl Talbot (1784) in the Peerage of Great Britain. Shrewsbury and Waterford are the oldest earldoms in their peerages held by someone with no higher title, and as such the Earl of Shrewsbury is sometimes described as the premier earl of England and Ireland.

Cutlery eating utensils

Cutlery includes any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in Western culture. A person who makes or sells cutlery is called a cutler. The city of Sheffield in England has been famous for the production of cutlery since the 17th century and a train – the Master Cutler – running from Sheffield to London was named after the industry. Bringing affordable cutlery to the masses, stainless steel was developed in Sheffield in the early 20th century.

In 1617 Longley came under the ownership of Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, a member of the family who later became the Dukes of Norfolk. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution the agricultural nature of Longley became threatened as the farms found it harder to be profitable and the expanding industry of Sheffield came ever closer. In the early part of the 20th century Longley became within the boundary of the City of Sheffield and was earmarked as a site for a council housing estate and the rural life disappeared altogether.

Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel 17th-century English diplomat and art collector

Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel KG, was a prominent English courtier during the reigns of King James I and King Charles I, but he made his name as a Grand Tourist and art collector rather than as a politician. When he died he possessed 700 paintings, along with large collections of sculpture, books, prints, drawings, and antique jewellery. Most of his collection of marble carvings, known as the Arundel marbles, was eventually left to the University of Oxford.

Duke of Norfolk Dukedom in the Peerage of England

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 county of Norfolk. The current duke is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk. The dukes have historically been Catholic, a state of affairs known as recusancy in England.

Industrial Revolution Mid-20th-to-early-21th-century period; First Industrial Revolution evolved into the Second Industrial Revolution in the transition years between 1840 and 1870

The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Europe and the US, in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. This transition included going from hand production methods to machines, new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes, the increasing use of steam power and water power, the development of machine tools and the rise of the mechanized factory system. The Industrial Revolution also led to an unprecedented rise in the rate of population growth.

Significant historic buildings

The Longley area had a number of large country houses before it became part of Sheffield, most of these have now been demolished.

Longley Hall

Longley Hall is well screened from the road. Longley Hall.jpg
Longley Hall is well screened from the road.

Longley Hall stands on Longley Lane at its junction with Crowder Road, it was built around 1780 for Kenyon Parker a renowned and wealthy Sheffield law attorney. It is a Grade two listed building which became the target of vandals throughout the 1970s. In 1980 the hall was purchased by Business Advisory Services Ltd. who restored the building to a high standard inside and out. Today the Hall is owned by a private landlord, and operated as a Supported living project providing a home for people with a range of disabilities. It is surrounded by modern housing and well screened and is easily missed by the passer-by although there is a plaque on the wall on Longley Lane.

Listed building Collection of protected architectural creations in the United Kingdom

A listed building, or listed structure, is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, Cadw in Wales, and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency in Northern Ireland.

Longley Hall Farm was adjacent to the Hall on what is now Crowder Road. Between 1906 and the 1950s the farm produced fresh milk, meat and vegetables for the nearby Northern General Hospital. The farm was demolished in 1969 and its land was used for housing.

Northern General Hospital Hospital in South Yorkshire, England

The Northern General Hospital is a large teaching hospital and Major Trauma Centre in Sheffield, England. Its departments include Accident and Emergency for adults, with children being treated at the Sheffield Children's Hospital on Western Bank. The hospital is managed by the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Crowder House

Crowder House was situated on what is now Crowland Road, it had extensive grounds, some of which were incorporated into Longley Park. It is the oldest of Longley’s country houses with a history going back to at least 1402 when it was mentioned in the transfer of deeds. The house was the property of the Wilkinson family for over 300 years until May 1855 when the family were ejected, after a lessee went bankrupt. The family still had connections with the house until 1859 when Bernard Wake, a solicitor, purchased it. The house was demolished in 1935 being replaced by the new housing on Crowland Road.

Longley Park

Longley Park is a public park within the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The park lies between the suburbs of Longley and Firth Park, four km north of the city centre. It covers an area of just under 52 acres and is the third largest public park in Sheffield.

Longley Park 6th Form College now stands on the site of The Brushes. Longley Park 6th Form College.jpg
Longley Park 6th Form College now stands on the site of The Brushes.

The Brushes

The Brushes was located at the junction of Longley Lane and Barnsley Road. It was built in 1790, however Brushes Farm existed on the site in the 1640s, at the time of the English Civil War when its first resident Captain Burley was executed in 1646 for siding with the Royalists. The Booth family bought the farm in 1708 and John Booth who had made his wealth through iron and steel production built The Brushes mansion next to the farm in 1790. Charles Kayser became the owner in 1888 and he demolished the farm and built a castellated tower to complement the mansion. In 1920 the building became Firth Park Grammar School after being purchased by Sheffield Corporation for £22,000. The building was demolished in 2002-03 and Longley Park Sixth Form College now stands in its place. [1]

Norwood Grange

Norwood Grange stands at the junction of Herries Road and Longley Lane. It is a gabled house built in the 1850s for Thomas Fisher, a partner in the Britannia metal company of Shaw and Fisher. After a succession of owners the Grange was purchased by Sheffield Council just before World War II. During the conflict it was used by the Auxiliary Fire Service and Air Raid Wardens as a base. The house fell into a dilapidated state in the post war years. In the early 1990s the main house was restored and extended and turned into Norwood Grange Residential Home. Some of the outbuildings are still in a run down state.

Cliffe House

Norwood Grange has been renovated and is now a residential care home. Norwood Grange, Longley.jpg
Norwood Grange has been renovated and is now a residential care home.

Cliffe House stood on Elm Lane at the site which is now Elm Lane Fire Station. The house was built in 1805 by Sarah Booth of The Brushes. In 1934 it became The Cliffe Institute for Mental Defectives. In 1938 the Fire Station was built on the extensive grounds while the house remained standing and was used as quarters for the firemen. The house was demolished immediately after World War II and the land was used for housing, with the houses on Hereward Road being built on the site. [2]

Modern times

In the early part of the 1920s Sheffield City Council started buying up land in the area from local land-owners. On 10 June 1926 the Council’s plans for 2,000 new houses at Longley were endorsed and tenants started moving into the completed dwellings in 1927. A school was built for the new estate on Raisen Hall Road with the official opening ceremony taking place on 17 July 1930, it accommodated over 400 children when first opened. Longley Park was officially opened in 1929 to serve as a recreation area for the new estate.

Present day Longley has a population of 6,190 living in 2,642 households. 53.3% of Longley’s houses are rented from the local authority, well above Sheffield’s average of 26.5%. [3] One of the newest housing developments in Longley has been the building of 20 bungalows for the elderly on Everingham Place by the South Yorkshire Housing Association. The development which has two of the bungalows specifically designed for the disabled opened in December 2003. [4]

The National Blood Service has its regional headquarters in Longley, the centre on Longley Lane processes, tests and stores blood donations from the South Yorkshire area. The Longley area does not have any public houses strictly within its boundaries, the nearest one being the Devonshire Arms on Herries Road which is in the adjacent district of Shirecliffe. The area had its own ecclesial parish created in 1929 called St Leonards, Norwood. The foundation stone for a new church on Everingham Road was laid in July 1939, however because of World War II it was not completed and consecrated until May 1950. [5]

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References

  1. Firth Park Grammar School website. Archived 2008-07-24 at the Wayback Machine . Gives details of The Brushes.
  2. "It Was All Country Then", Sylvia Anginotti (editor), No ISBN, Gives history and details of old country houses.
  3. Longley Neighbourhood Profile 2005/06 . Archived 2011-10-07 at the Wayback Machine . Gives statistics for 2005/06.
  4. South Yorkshire Housing Association. Archived 2009-01-01 at the Wayback Machine . Gives details of development of Everingham Place.
  5. "A Home Of Our Own", Sylvia Anginotti (editor), No ISBN Gives modern history.

Coordinates: 53°25′02″N1°28′14″W / 53.4172°N 1.4706°W / 53.4172; -1.4706