Neepsend is a suburb of the city of
Sheffield
Sheffield is a 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 historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
, it stands just north-west of the city centre. The main area of Neepsend covers the flood plain of the
River Don from
Lady's Bridge
Lady's Bridge is the oldest bridge across the River Don in the City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the central section of the city, linking the Wicker to the north with Waingate to the south.
History The first bridge
The original woo ...
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.
Etymology
The origin of the word Neepsend is believed to come from the
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...
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
A dry ski slope or artificial ski slope is a ski slope that mimics the attributes of snow using materials that are stable at room temperature, to enable people to skiing, ski, snowboarding, snowboard or Tubing (recreation)#Snow, snow tube in pla ...
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.
History
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. 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.
["''A History Of Neepsend''", Paul Hodkinson, (Booklet) Gives much of history and meaning of name.]
Industrialisation
![Neepsend Gas Holder](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Neepsend_Gas_Holder.jpg)
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
Tanning may refer to:
*Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather
*Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin
**Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun
**Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...
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
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.
The site
The island on which it is located is man-made, resulting from the construction of a ...
. 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
Owlerton () is a suburb of the city of Sheffield, it lies northwest of the city centre near the confluence of the River Don and River Loxley. Owlerton was formerly a small rural village with its origins in the Early Middle Ages; it became pa ...
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
Crucible steel is steel made by melting pig iron (cast iron), iron, and sometimes steel, often along with sand, glass, ashes, and other fluxes, in a crucible. In ancient times steel and iron were impossible to melt using charcoal or coal fires ...
for the cutlery industry. After being demolished, it was the subject of an archaeological dig in 2003 before apartments were built on the site.
["''Old Ordnance Survey Maps, Sheffield (Neepsend) 1903''", Notes by Trevor Lodge, Gives history.]["Information board at site gives details of Neepsend Rolling Mills.] Other industrial heritage buildings in the area are the
Globe Works and
Cornish Place
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 bu ...
, which have been converted into offices and apartments respectively while the
Green Lane Works
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 ''â ...
are at present disused.
In December 1845, the
Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway
The Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway was an early British railway company which opened in stages between 1841 and 1845 between Sheffield and Manchester via Ashton-under-Lyne. The Peak District formed a formidable barrier, and ...
opened, and Neepsend was a key point on the line with
Neepsend engine shed
Neepsend engine shed was an engine shed in Neepsend, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It was built by the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway to provide and service locomotives for passenger trains originating or changing at ...
being built to supply and overhaul locomotives for the nearby
Sheffield Victoria railway station
Sheffield Victoria was the main railway station in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, on the Great Central Railway, between Chesterfield and Penistone.
History
Early history
Engineered by Joseph Locke, the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manch ...
. 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.
Sheffield flood
The
Great Sheffield Flood
The Great Sheffield Flood was a flood that devastated parts of Sheffield, England, on 11 March 1864, when the Dale Dyke Dam broke as its reservoir was being filled for the first time. At least 240 people died and more than 600 houses were da ...
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.
[Mick Armitage's Sheffield Flood website.](_blank)
Gives details of flood victims by district.["''The Dramatic Story Of The Sheffield Flood''", Peter Machan, Gives details of Sheffield Flood at Neepsend.]
20th century
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
CEGB
The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s.
It was established on 1 Januar ...
s newer stations on the
River Trent
The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...
started to feed the national grid. The vertical boiler tank engine, ''
Neepsend
Neepsend is a suburb of the city of Sheffield, it stands just 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 ...
'', which spent its entire life working at the power station is preserved at the
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...
, where it is awaiting restoration into working order. In 1905 the electric
Sheffield Tramway
Sheffield Tramway was an extensive tramway network serving the English city of Sheffield and its suburbs.
The first tramway line, horse-drawn, opened in 1873 between Lady's Bridge and Attercliffe, subsequently extended to Brightside and Tins ...
route between the city centre and
Owlerton
Owlerton () is a suburb of the city of Sheffield, it lies northwest of the city centre near the confluence of the River Don and River Loxley. Owlerton was formerly a small rural village with its origins in the Early Middle Ages; it became pa ...
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
A ganister (or sometimes gannister ) is hard, fine-grained quartzose sandstone, or orthoquartzite,Jackson, J. A., 1997, ''Glossary of geology'', 4th ed. American Geological Institute, Alexandria. used in the manufacture of silica brick typically ...
and
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when ...
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
World War II
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 opposing ...
; 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.
Present day
Neepsend was designated as an area for industry after World War II 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 Con ...
, and its resident population was greatly reduced. This resulted in Boyland Street School closing in 1946 and Neepsend Hillfoot School closing in 1975.
[Sheffield Indexers.](_blank)
Gives details of Hillfoot School. 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. 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.
[Sheffield Ski Village website.](_blank)
Gives details of Ski Village. The Ski Village closed on 29 April 2012 when the main building was destroyed by a fire. On 28 November 2017 it was announced that developers wanted to rebuild on the site, and redevelop a ÂŁ22.5 million extreme sports centre.
Yellow Arch Studios
Yellow Arch Studios is a recording studio in situated in the heart of Kelham Island Quarter, Kelham Island and Neepsend, Sheffield, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. “Internally, the building includes a state-of-the art recording studio and ...
, a music
recording studio is situated on Burton Road in Neepsend, well known artists such as the
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, ...
,
Richard Hawley
Richard Willis Hawley (born 17 January 1967) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. After his first band Treebound Story (formed while he was still at school) broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longp ...
and
Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician and radio presenter. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp, he became a figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Following P ...
have all used the facilities at the studios, with Hawley and Cocker both recording albums there.
[ Yellow Arch Studios](_blank)
Gives details of studios and artists.
Neepsend formerly had many
public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...
s, but the Gardeners Rest and the Forest are the only ones remaining in the main part of Neepsend. The Kelham Island area, which is being regenerated to a fashionable residential district, has The Harlequin, The Riverside, The Fat Cat, The
Kelham Island Tavern
The Kelham Island Tavern is a public house in Sheffield. It is the only pub to have become the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) National Pub of the Year two years running.
The pub lies on Russell Street, in the Kelham Island area of the city. ...
and The Milestone as pubs.
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 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
Attercliffe is an industrial suburb of northeast Sheffield, England on the south bank of the River Don. The suburb falls in the Darnall ward of Sheffield City Council.
History
The name Attercliffe can be traced back as far as an entry i ...
(1826) and therefore has an old-fashioned look with thin pointed buttresses, a crenellated parapet and a square tower.
["''Pevsner Architectural Guides – Sheffield''", Ruth Harman & John Minnis, Gives details of buildings.]
![Sheffield Ski Village](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Sheffield_Ski_Village.jpg)
In June 2007, the Neepsend 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 ÂŁ680,000 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.
[ Sheffield Star – Sheffield’s new flood defences unveiled 21/9/12](_blank)
Gives details of 2012 flood defences and pocket park.
Other information
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. 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
The wood mouse (''Apodemus sylvaticus'') is a murid rodent native to Europe and northwestern Africa. It is closely related to the yellow-necked mouse (''Apodemus flavicollis'') but differs in that it has no band of yellow fur around the neck, h ...
.
References
{{Districts of Sheffield
Suburbs of Sheffield
History of Sheffield