Neepsend | |
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Little Kelham road | |
Location within Sheffield | |
Metropolitan borough | |
Metropolitan county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Places | List
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Post town | SHEFFIELD |
Postcode district | S3 |
Dialling code | 0114 |
Police | South Yorkshire |
Fire | South Yorkshire |
Ambulance | Yorkshire |
UK Parliament | |
Neepsend is a suburb of the city of Sheffield, it stands just 1 mile (1.6 km) north-west of the city centre. The main area of Neepsend covers the flood plain of the River Don from Lady's Bridge at the Wicker up to Hillfoot Bridge. The suburb falls within the Central Ward of the city. The adjacent district of Parkwood Springs is often regarded as part of the suburb.
The origin of the word Neepsend is believed to come from the Old Norse language, with the word "nypr" meaning a peak, the "end" part was added as Neepsend lies in the Don valley at the termination of a high ridge which descends from Shirecliffe and over Parkwood. The morphology of the ridge was changed when an artificial ski slope was created to form the Sheffield Ski Village. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Place Names gives the word "Nipa" as of Swedish and Norwegian origin and means a crag or steep river bank. In a 1297 subsidy roll the suburb was referred to as Nipisend and in 1637 as Nypysend.
There is no evidence of ancient settlement in Neepsend, the area being heavily forested with the steep ground to the north covered by the dense woodland of Old Park Wood, although a Late Bronze Age socketed axehead, found in 1921 close to Hillfoot Bridge does suggest ancient human activity in the area. [1] The Scandinavians arrived in the 10th century and started to clear the woodland and turn the valley floor by the River Don into fields and meadows. The wood was further cleared between the early 17th century and the mid 19th century for timber and by charcoal burners. A network of fields were left on the high ground and a local well or spring probably gave this district its name of Parkwood Springs. [2]
The 18th century brought the first industrial development for the area when the Sandbed Wheel of the Sandbed Tilt Company was constructed on the Don just upstream from Hillfoot Bridge. Further development continued when the Neepsend Tannery was opened in 1821, the 1853 OS map showing the Neepsend Tavern and a brewery on Rutland Road. The adjacent Kelham Island district was one of Sheffield's most important early industrial areas; it now houses the Kelham Island Museum. With a population explosion in Sheffield, Neepsend was radically changed in the second half of the 19th century. In 1852, Neepsend Gas Works, one of the area's most famous landmarks, was built by the newly formed Gas Consumers Company.
The neighbouring district of Owlerton was supplied with gas by the rival Sheffield United Gas Light Company, and eventually an amalgamation solved any problems between the two companies. The Neepsend Rolling Mills were established in 1876, just downstream from Neepsend Bridge, and produced crucible steel for the cutlery industry. After being demolished, it was the subject of an archaeological dig in 2003 before apartments were built on the site. [3] [4] Other industrial heritage buildings in the area are the Globe Works and Cornish Place, which have been converted into offices and apartments respectively while the Green Lane Works are at present disused.
In December 1845, the Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway opened, and Neepsend was a key point on the line with Neepsend engine shed being built to supply and overhaul locomotives for the nearby Sheffield Victoria railway station. The Neepsend shed even built a number of locomotives for the line. The Parkwood Springs district was developed as a housing area in the 1860s for the railway employees, and, in 1888, the Neepsend railway station was opened but closed to passengers in 1940.
The Great Sheffield Flood devastated the Neepsend area on 12 March 1864, killing approximately 77 people in the deluge. The whole locality was more or less flooded. The gas works suffered substantial damage losing more than 1,000 tons of coal as well as boilers and engines. Many of the industrial mills on the River Don were badly damaged and all the boundary walls by the river were swept away. The Neepsend Bridge managed to withstand the onslaught although a large amount of debris was piled up against it. Hillfoot Bridge, then made of timber, was swept away and later replaced by a stone structure. [5] [6]
The 20th century brought the opening of the Neepsend Power Station, erected on the site of the Old Parkwood brick works in 1902. It was ideally situated on the banks of the Don where water could be used for condensing purposes and close to the railway station which supplied coal. The power station was expanded on several occasions, a cooling tower was added in 1937 and a second in 1947. It became obsolete and was decommissioned in 1976 when the CEGBs newer stations on the River Trent started to feed the national grid. The vertical boiler tank engine Neepsend , which spent its entire life working at the power station, is preserved at the Great Central Railway, where it is awaiting restoration into working order. In 1905 the electric Sheffield Tramway route between the city centre and Owlerton opened and passed through Neepsend, going along Neepsend Lane.
The last remnants of the Old Park Wood were felled during the General Strike of 1926 for firewood. The Parkwood Ganister and Coal Mine operated between 1938 and 1963, the coal being sold to the power station and the ganister to make fire bricks. Neepsend suffered damage from air raids in 1940 during the Second World War; the gas works was severely damaged as three million cubic feet of gas stored in four gas holders was ignited. Neepsend Lane was badly damaged by bombing and the main gas main hit; nine cottages were destroyed by a large bomb in Parkwood Road.
The gas works reopened in 1943 after the bombing, but today gas is no longer produced at the works although the largest of the holders is still standing and is used to store North Sea gas.
After the Second World War the resident population was greatly reduced, resulting in Boyland Street School closing in 1946 and Neepsend Hillfoot School closing in 1975. [7]
In 1978 the Parkwood Springs estate was bulldozed and then landscaped, in 1988 the Sheffield Ski Village was opened on the site. The village included eight ski runs, ski lodge, retail shops and restaurants. [8] The Ski Village closed on 29 April 2012 when the main building was destroyed by a fire. [9] On 28 November 2017 it was announced that developers wanted to rebuild on the site, and redevelop a £22.5 million sports centre. [10]
In June 2007, the area was badly flooded when the River Don burst its banks. Many businesses and properties were affected. September 2012 saw the completion of new flood defences between Nursery Street and the River Don, the work costing £680,000 incorporates a pocket park into the design. The park has stepped levels sloping down to the river, which are designed to hold back any overflow. [11]
The Green Lane Works (Grade II* listed), Cornish Place Works and the Brooklyn Works (Grade II listed) are important industrial heritage sites. Aizlewood's mill is a grade two listed building and is a former six storey flour mill built in 1861 and it is on Nursery Street, close to the city centre. The derelict building was restored and opened as a business centre in 1990. The other building have also been converted away from industrial use. [12]
The area is home to an industrial museum, the Kelham Island Museum, including the famous River Don Engine. The once had Sheffield's last traditional hand-made scissor makers, Ernest Wright and Son Limited, [13] until their relocation to premises closer to the city centre in 2011.
Yellow Arch Studios, a music recording studio on Burton Road, well known artists such as the Arctic Monkeys, Richard Hawley and Jarvis Cocker have all used the facilities at the studios, with Hawley and Cocker both recording albums there. [14]
The New Testament Church of God also on Nursery Street is a Grade II listed building built by Flockton, Lee & Flockton it was financed by Anne and Elizabeth Harrison, who stipulated that it should be an exact copy of Christ Church in Attercliffe (1826) and therefore has an old-fashioned look with thin pointed buttresses, a crenellated parapet and a square tower. [15]
Neepsend has many public houses; the Gardeners Rest, the Forest, The Harlequin, Tye Chimney House, The Wellington, the Ship Inn, The Riverside, The Fat Cat, The Kelham Island Tavern and The Milestone. The area is home to the Kelham Island Brewery.
Kelham Island was created by the building of a goit (mill race) fed from the River Don to serve the water wheels powering the workshops of the areas' now former industry.
The Neepsend area, and in particular the old Gasworks site, is the main focus of the University of Sheffield's Integrated Design Project for 3rd year Civil and Structural Engineering Students. [16] It is also the focus of the University of Sheffield's Multi-disciplinary Design Project for final year Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Architecture and Landscape Architecture students.
In October 2017 a small mammal survey carried out by the Sorby Natural History Society found that the Parkwood Springs area was home to bank voles and wood mice. [17]
The River Don is a river in South Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It rises in the Pennines, west of Dunford Bridge, and flows for 69 miles (111 km) eastwards, through the Don Valley, via Penistone, Sheffield, Rotherham, Mexborough, Conisbrough, Doncaster and Stainforth. It originally joined the Trent, but was re-engineered by Cornelius Vermuyden as the Dutch River in the 1620s, and now joins the River Ouse at Goole. Don Valley is a UK parliamentary constituency near the Doncaster stretch of the river.
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.
Tillicoultry is a town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Tillicoultry is usually referred to as Tilly by the locals.
Wadsley Bridge is a suburb of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of the city centre. The area is a mixture of residential housing and small industrial and commercial premises. The suburb falls within the Hillsborough ward of the City.
Loxley is a village and a suburb of the city of Sheffield, England. It is a long linear community which stretches by the side of the River Loxley and along the B6077 for almost 2.5 miles (4 km). Loxley extends from its borders with the suburbs of Malin Bridge and Wisewood westward to the hamlet of Stacey Bank near Damflask Reservoir. The centre of the suburb is situated at the junction of Rodney Hill and Loxley Road where the old village green stands and this is located 3 miles (5 km) north west of Sheffield city centre. The suburb falls within the Stannington ward of the City of Sheffield.
City ward — which includes the districts of Highfield, Kelham Island and the city centre — is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It covers the central area of the city. The ward was created following the 2015 local government boundary review out of part of the old Central ward, which, with a population of 36,412, was the largest ward in the UK. City is one of the wards that make up the Sheffield Central constituency.
Oughtibridge is a residential village in the north of Sheffield within the bounds of Bradfield civil parish. The village stands about 5 miles (8 km) northwest of the city centre in the valley of the River Don.
Bridgehouses railway station was the terminal station of the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway from its opening in 1845 until the opening of the Wicker Arches, a 660-yard (600 m) long viaduct across the Don Valley, which supported the new Sheffield Victoria opened on 15 September 1851. On 1 January 1847 a half-mile connecting line to the Wicker station of the Midland Railway had been constructed in order to increase goods traffic and enable wagon transfers. This short steeply graded line, enclosed within a tunnel for almost its entire length was known locally as the Fiery Jack.
The Blackburn Brook is a stream in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which flows through the Blackburn Valley along the M1 and Ecclesfield Road and joins the River Don near the Meadowhall shopping centre. Downstream from the A61 road at Chapeltown the Blackburn Brook is defined as a main river by the Environment Agency, which requires new building development to be at least 26 feet (8 m) from the bank side as a flood defence measure and to allow access to the watercourse for maintenance.
Beeley Wood is a woodland in the north of the City of Sheffield, near Middlewood, South Yorkshire, England. It is one of 35 ancient woodland areas within the Sheffield city boundary. An ancient woodland is defined as a site that has been continuously occupied by woodland from the year 1600 or before.
The Stocksbridge Railway was a subsidiary of Samuel Fox and Company and linked the company's works at Stocksbridge, near Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, with the main line of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway at Deepcar. As the size of Fox's steelworks expanded, better transport links were needed, and the railway was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1874. It was completed in 1877, and remained an independent subsidiary until 1992, when it became part of the steelworks operation. When the Woodhead line was closed to the north of Deepcar, the line south to Sheffield was singled, and operates as a long siding.
The River Don Navigation was the result of early efforts to make the River Don in South Yorkshire, England, navigable between Fishlake and Sheffield. The Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden had re-routed the mouth of the river in 1626, to improve drainage, and the new works included provision for navigation, but the scheme did not solve the problem of flooding, and the Dutch River was cut in 1635 to link the new channel to Goole. The first Act of Parliament to improve navigation on the river was obtained in 1726, by a group of Cutlers based in Sheffield; the Corporation of Doncaster obtained an Act in the following year for improvements to the lower river. Locks and lock cuts were built and by 1751 the river was navigable to Tinsley.
The River Drone is a river which flows south from its source on the Sheffield, South Yorkshire, border. It flows through Dronfield, Unstone and Unstone Green in Derbyshire before merging at Sheepbridge to the north of Chesterfield with the Barlow Brook. Below the junction, it is often referred to as the River Whitting. It then flows south-east till it merges with the River Rother at Brimington Road North (B6050) at Chesterfield. It is one of the three main tributaries of the Rother.
Brightside is an industrial area of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England lying on a hill north of Attercliffe and the River Don.
Yellow Arch Studios is a recording studio in situated in the heart of Kelham Island and Neepsend, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. “Internally, the building includes a state-of-the art recording studio and rehearsal rooms”, the building also has a 200 capacity venue, a large warehouse, courtyard and Moroccan style Café Bar.
Cornish Place is a listed building situated in the Neepsend area of the City of Sheffield. The building was formerly the factory of James Dixon & Sons, a Britannia metal, Sheffield plate and Cutlery manufacturer. In the late 1990s the disused building was cleaned and converted into apartments, it is regarded as the most impressive cutlery works that still stands in Sheffield and rivals the cotton mills of Lancashire and the West Riding in terms of architectural quality and heritage. The east and west ranges of the structure are the most spectacular, with Grade II* listed classification, while the rest of the works receive the lower Grade II category. The "Cornish" in the buildings name is thought to derive from the manufacture of Britannia metal which is made up of 93% tin which came from Cornwall.
The Green Lane Works are a disused industrial facility situated in the City of Sheffield, England. The entrance gate to the works is particularly ornate and has been designated as a Grade II* listed building. Nikolaus Pevsner called the gate “the most spectacular survival of factory architecture in the city”. The works are situated in the suburb of Neepsend within the Kelham Island Quarter of the city and date from 1795 although there were extensive alterations in 1860.
The Brooklyn Works is a former site of steel, saw and file manufacture, it is situated on Green Lane in the Kelham Island Quarter of the City of Sheffield, England. In recent years the works have been converted into residential apartments and offices. The structure is a Grade II listed building because of its importance as an example of Sheffield’s industrial heritage. The works stand adjacent to the listed industrial buildings of the Green Lane Works and Cornish Place in what has been called, “the most coherent stretch of industrial landscape in inner Sheffield”
The Upper Don Trail formerly known as the Upper Don Walk is a 15 mile long recreational multi use trail which links the centre of Sheffield to the village of Oughtibridge. Various sections continue along the course of the upper Don to Dunford Bridge and along the Little Don from Deepcar out towards Stocksbridge and Langsett Reservoir. It follows the course of the River Don and partially the National Cycle Network route 627. Beyond Wortley the Trail forms part of the Trans Pennine Trail. The route is variable in quality, the first mile is well defined as it has been integrated into the newly developed quarters to the immediate north of the city centre. The section through Beeley Woods between Wadsley Bridge and Oughtibridge is heavily used by walkers and cyclists. The rest of the route is a mixture of path, road and woodland walking.
Neepsend power station supplied electricity to the City of Sheffield and the surrounding area from 1910 to 1976. The power station was owned and operated by the Sheffield Corporation Electricity Department prior to the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. It was operated in conjunction with Blackburn Meadows and Kelham power stations and was closed in 1976.