Barker's Pool is a public

city square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

and street in the centre of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The focus of Barker's Pool is the

Grade II* listed 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, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

that was unveiled on 28 October 1925 to commemorate the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The Grade II* listed

Sheffield City Hall Sheffield City Hall is a Grade II* listed building in Sheffield, England in Barker's Pool, one of the city's central squares. It was built and is owned by Sheffield City Council but is now managed by the Sheffield City Trust, under a 99-year l ...

is on the north side of the plaza facing the Grade II listed former

John Lewis & Partners John Lewis & Partners (formerly and commonly known as John Lewis) is a brand of high-end department stores operating throughout United Kingdom, the UK, with concessions also located in the Republic of Ireland and Australia. The brand sells gene ...

department store.

History

One of the earliest known references to Barker's Pool comes from the records of the

Burgery of Sheffield The Sheffield Town Trust, formerly officially known as the Burgery of Sheffield,Robert Tittler, ''The Reformation and the Towns in England'' is a charitable trust operating in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Mediaeval period The Town Trust w ...

for 1570. The name ''Barker's Pool'' may derive from a "Barker of Balme" mentioned in a deed dating from 1434. At this time the area was known as Balm Green and was on the edge of the town. Sheffield historian Sidney Addy suggests that the name ''Balm Green'' indicates that this site was formerly used for the cultivation of the herb

lemon balm Lemon balm (''Melissa officinalis'') is a perennial herbaceous plant in the mint family and native to south-central Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, Iran, and Central Asia, but now naturalised elsewhere. It grows to a maximum height of . The l ...

. The reservoir was reconstructed and extended by Robert Rollinson before 1631, and was demolished in 1793. In addition to supplying drinking water, the location of Barker's Pool at the highest point in the town allowed water released from the reservoir to be guided through channels that ran along the centre of the town's streets: The Albert Hall which stood where the John Lewis building is today, was a theatre only in the broadest sense; a big rectangular hall built in 1867 by a group of

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...

businessmen and opened in 1873 for music recitals and a variety of light entertainments. As might be expected, the hall was principally noted for evangelistic meetings, orchestral, choral and vocal concerts, operas and brass band competitions. There were also minstrel and variety shows,

magic lantern The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. Because a si ...

and from 1896 moving picture shows. By 1919 it had a

proscenium A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

stage and about that time it became a more or less regular picture house with occasional variety, but it was subsequently steadily overtaken by purpose-built cinemas. The Albert Hall was gutted by fire in 1937 and demolished some years later. Terraced properties and shops which once occupied one side of the square were demolished in 1912 to make way for The Regent Cinema which opened the following year. The Regent Cinema continued at the same site, later to become the Gaumont (this has also since been demolished). Other terraced properties and shops at the other side of the square were demolished around 1923 to make way for the construction of the Sheffield City Hall, which opened in 1932. In 1925 a memorial was built to commemorate those fallen in the First World War. The Sheffield War Memorial was located on a traffic island in the middle of the road running across the front of the City Hall.

Pedestrianisation

In 1989 the road in front of the City Hall was closed to motor traffic and the area was made a permanently pedestrianised area. In 2005 the square was renovated and relaid in Yorkshire stone. Two glass-cased fountains (Chap Fountains) were installed outside the City Hall; these are illuminated at night, and several seated areas are also illuminated in colours that match the ground lighting of the nearby

Millennium Square Millennium Square may refer to: * Millennium Square, Bristol * Millennium Square, Leeds *Millennium Square, Sheffield Millennium Square is a modern city square in Sheffield, England. It was created as part of the Heart of the City project that b ...

. The renovation won Gold in the 2006 Town Centre Environment Awards,info in BCSC award from Sheffield City Council website
run by the BCSC, held on 7 November 2006 in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. Barkers Pool was one of two projects in

Sheffield City Centre Sheffield City Centre (referred to locally as simply Town) is a district of the Sheffield, City of Sheffield and is covered partly by the City ward, Sheffield, City ward of the City of Sheffield. It includes the area that is within a radius of ...

to be nominated, the other being the Station gateway at

Howard Street Howard Street may refer to: *Howard Street (Baltimore), a major street in Downtown Baltimore, Maryland **Howard Street Tunnel fire, a disaster that struck the freight railroad tunnel under Baltimore's Howard Street in 2001 *Howard Street (Sheffield ...

Women of Steel statue

The

Women of Steel ''Women of Steel'' is a bronze sculpture that commemorates the women of Sheffield who worked in the city's steel industry during the First World War and Second World War. A work of the sculptor Martin Jennings, it was unveiled in June 2016. ''Wo ...

statue, is located where Barker's Pool meets Holly Street, directly to the left of the

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

entrance steps. The statue was commissioned by

Sheffield City Council 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 No Overall Contr ...

in 2016 and was created by sculptor,

Martin Jennings Martin Jennings, FRBS (born 31 July 1957, in Chichester, West Sussex) a British sculptor who works in the figurative tradition, in bronze and stone. His statue of John Betjeman at St Pancras railway station was unveiled in 2007 and the statu ...

. The statue commemorates the women of

who worked in the city's steel factories during the

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

References

{{SheffieldCityCentre Squares in Sheffield History of Sheffield Sheffield City Centre

History

Pedestrianisation

Women of Steel statue

See also

References