HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Owlerton () 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 lies northwest of the city centre near the confluence of the River Don and
River Loxley The River Loxley is a river in the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its source is a series of streams which rise some to the north-west of Sheffield on Bradfield Moors, flowing through Bradfield Dale to converge at Low Bradfield. I ...
. Owlerton was formerly a small rural village with its origins in the
Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
; it became part of Sheffield in the early 1900s as the city expanded. Owlerton stands just east of the adjacent suburb of Hillsborough and the division between the two districts is difficult to delineate. The suburb falls within the Hillsborough ward of the city. This is further complicated by the fact that certain buildings such as Hillsborough Stadium, Hillsborough Leisure Centre and Hillsborough College lie firmly within Owlerton. The name Owlerton is believed to come from the abundant growth of
alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...
trees in the area It was the home of Owlerton F.C., a football team in the 19th century.


History

Owlerton existed in Anglo-Saxon times when it was documented as an enclosed farmstead in the 9th century. In the early 12th century it became a small manor following the Norman conquest of England. The
Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...
created several of these small manors which were reliant on
Sheffield Castle Sheffield Castle was a castle in Sheffield, England, constructed at the confluence of the River Sheaf and the River Don, possibly on the site of a former Anglo-Saxon long house, and dominating the early town. A motte and bailey castle had been ...
and included ones at the nearby hamlets of
Wadsley Wadsley is a suburb of the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It stands north-west of the city centre at an approximate grid reference of . At the 2011 Census the suburb fell within the Hillsborough ward of the City. Wadsley was for ...
and Shirecliffe. The earliest written record of the settlement as a manor is from 1297 when it was recorded that Thomas de Schefeld, lord of the manor of Owlerton was one of the original witnesses of the establishment 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 ...
. There is no further record until 1534 when Thomas Creswyke built the
manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
(Owlerton Hall). The Creswykes were a prominent local family and had owned land in the area since 1339. Margaret Creswick married Thomas Steade in 1696; he later built Burrowlee House. Succeeding lords of Owlerton were the Staceys, the Southabys followed by the Bamforths who were lords of the manor until 1776, when the family name became extinct. It then passed to the Burgoyne family who held the title and land until 1926 when all manors ceased to exist as a result of a Property Act. Owlerton Hall, which stood at the present day junction of Penistone Road and Bradfield Road was converted to a row of cottages in the 18th century before being demolished in May 1931. In the eighteenth century, a well said to have curative properties was discovered in Owlerton. Situated below the confluence of the Rivelin and Loxley rivers the area suffered badly during the great flood of 1864. During the 19th and the first half of the 20th century Owlerton became industrialised, using the water power of the Rivers Loxley and
Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...
to drive machinery for steel and tool making, corn mills and paper mills. Owlerton became part of the City of Sheffield in 1901 with the new
tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
service from the city centre starting on 26 January 1901, running to the bottom of Parkside Road.www.hillsboroughowlertonlocalhistory.co.uk.
Gives meaning of the name Owlerton and some history.

Gives medieval history.
"''Historic Hallamshire''", David Hey, , Page 13 Gives history.


Present day

The face of present-day Owlerton was changed radically in the mid-1980s when the main A61 road (Penistone Road) was converted into a dual carriageway; this resulted in many of the old terraced houses and several
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 being demolished. An area of housing on the eastern side of the road was cleared to make way for the new Hillsborough Leisure Centre. The Victoria, Royal Hotel, Sportsmans Group, Cambridge Inn and Rose Inn pubs were all knocked down in the new developments along the new road in the ensuing few years. Remaining pubs in the area are the Old Crown, New Barrack Tavern and the Masons Arms on Capel Street (demolished in 2015). The redevelopment in the late 1980s and 90s resulted in the area getting a KFC,
Pizza Hut Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert a ...
, B&Q and two large franchised car dealers ( Citroën and
Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
). The area suffered in the
2007 floods 2007 floods may refer to: * 2006-2007 Malaysian floods * 2007 United Kingdom floods * 2007 South Asian floods * 2007 Sudan floods * June 2007 Hunter Region and Central Coast storms * 2007 Midwest flooding in the United States * 2007 Mozambican ...
with the Penistone Road area suffering when the Don and Loxley burst their banks, the Sheffield Wednesday ground was flooded along with many dwellings and the Wardsend bridge over the Don was swept away."''An Owlerton Camera''", JR Wrigley, , Gives modern day history.


Significant buildings and structures


Hillsborough Leisure Centre

Hillsborough Leisure Centre is situated on Penistone Road at grid reference . It was built in 1989 by the structural engineers William Saunders & Partners for the
1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...
World Student Games. The centre is run by
Sheffield International Venues SIV (formerly known as Sheffield International Venues) is a facilities management company based in Sheffield, England that operates a number of sporting and entertainment facilities in that city. It is a fully owned subsidiary of the not-for-p ...
and features a large leisure pool (slides, flumes, features etc.) and also a sizable teaching pool, a large sports hall and gymnasium. The swimming pool has a pioneering moving floor which allows it to be used for both competition and leisure swimming as well as a wave machine and water slides. The centre has received the award of UK Centre of the Year by the Fitness Industry Association (FIA) on four occasions. The building is of noteworthy design, featuring extensive glazing within the walls and roof trusses which are supported on external columns.Hillsborough Residents Association.
Gives some details on Leisure Centre.
Hillsborough Leisure Centre website.
Gives some details on Leisure Centre.


St. John the Baptist Church, Owlerton

St. John the Baptist church is also on Penistone Road () and was built by J.B. Mitchell-Withers at a cost of £6,300 in 1874. It was consecrated on 29 July by
William Thomson, Archbishop of York William Thomson, (11 February 1819 – 25 December 1890) was an English church leader, Archbishop of York from 1862 until his death. Biography Early life He was born the eldest son of John Thompson icof Kelswick House, near Whitehaven, ...
. It has a slender bell tower with wooden belfry and a pyramidal slate roof. The interior has a seating capacity of 600 and includes a high
chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...
arch, oak reredos installed in 1907 and various stained glass memorial windows.Story of St Philips Church.
Gives details of Owlerton Church.


Wardsend Viaduct

Is situated at and is popularly known as the Five Arches, it was constructed to carry 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 ...
which opened in 1845 over the Scraith Wood ravine. Herries Road (A6102) was constructed in the ravine in the 1920s and the viaduct now spans this road. The railway was once a busy inter-city line; it lost out to the Hope Valley Line after the 1960s as a route to
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 ...
. The last passenger train crossed the viaduct in 1983.


Hillsborough College

Situated on Livesey Street () this £27 million institute opened in 2006 and is part of
The Sheffield College The Sheffield College is a large general further education college in Sheffield, England. The college has six campuses across the city and has 13,500 students enrolled (including 2,501 apprentices) as of 2021. It provides academic, technical an ...
. Its design has large amounts of glass integrated into it and uses the
Pilkington Pilkington is a Japanese-owned glass-manufacturing company which is based in Lathom, Lancashire, United Kingdom. In the UK it includes several legal entities and is a subsidiary of Japanese company NSG Group. Prior to its acquisition by NSG ...
frameless glazing system.Pilkingtons website.
Gives some details of Hillsborough college.


Hillsborough Stadium

The stadium () is the home ground of
Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
who played their first game there in 1899. The ground was built on land formerly part of the
Hillsborough House Hillsborough House, later called Hillsborough Hall, is a large, stone-built mansion constructed in the Adam style in the latter part of the 18th century. It stands 2½ miles north-west of the centre of Sheffield at grid reference in the suburb ...
estate. The ground was called Owlerton Stadium until 1914 and gave Sheffield Wednesday their nickname of "The Owls".


Burrowlee House

Situated on Broughton Road (), it was built in 1711 and is the oldest building in the Owlerton and Hillsborough area.


Owlerton Stadium

The stadium () was opened on Easter Saturday, 30 March 1929 for the new craze of
Speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...
. In 1932 a 500-metre Greyhound racing track was constructed around the edge of the speedway track. There is a
casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
called Napoleon's built on the car park."''Pevsner Architectural Guides - Sheffield''", Ruth Harman & John Minnis, gives architectural information of buildings.


Local firms


George Bassett & Co. Ltd

The longest established and best known firm in Owlerton is the George Bassett & Co. Ltd sweet factory, made world-famous by the manufacture of
Liquorice Allsorts Liquorice allsorts are assorted liquorice confectionery sold as a mixture. Made of liquorice, sugar, coconut, aniseed jelly, fruit flavourings, and gelatine, they were first produced in Sheffield, England, by Geo. Bassett & Co Ltd. Allsorts ...
. The firm was established in Sheffield in 1842, but did not come to Owlerton until 1934 when Bassett's son in law Samuel Meggit Johnson built a large factory on Beulah Road (). The factory was enlarged in the inter-war period as new products such as
Jelly Babies Jelly Babies are a type of soft sugar jelly sweets in the shape of plump babies, sold in a variety of colours. They were first manufactured in Lancashire, England, in the nineteenth century. Their popularity waned before being revived by Basset ...
,
Wine Gum Wine gums (or winegums) are chewy, firm pastille-type sweets similar to gumdrops without the sugar coating, originating from the United Kingdom. All brands have their own recipes containing various sweeteners, flavourings, and colourings. Wine ...
s and Liquorice Novelties were added to the range. In April 1939 a huge fire damaged the building severely as hundreds of tons of sugar burned with ferocity. In 1989 Bassetts was purchased by the Cadbury Schweppes group and became part of its confectionery subsidiary Cadbury Trebor Bassett. On 19 January 2010, it was announced that Cadbury and Kraft Foods had reached a deal whereby Kraft would purchase Cadbury for £8.40 per share, valuing Cadbury at £11.5bn.


Swann-Morton Ltd

Swann-Morton Ltd are one of the top producers in the world of
scalpel A scalpel, lancet, or bistoury is a small and extremely sharp bladed instrument used for surgery, anatomical dissection, podiatry and various arts and crafts (either called a hobby knife or an X-acto knife.). Scalpels may be single-use dispos ...
s and surgical blades, manufacturing over 1.5 million blades a day. They export to over 100 countries around the world. Mr W.R. Swann, Mr J.A. Morton and Miss D. Fairweather founded the business in August 1932 and moved firstly to Bradfield Road and then after the war to a purpose built facility in Owlerton Green. (). The firm was originally a razor blade manufacturer but over the years emphasis was shifted to surgical blades which was a growing market. In 2000, the firm invested heavily and expanded the works to increase despatch, sterile storage, laboratories and production facilities. Further expansion took place in 2019, with the acquisition of premises on the opposite side of Penistone Road, to be named Woodland Works.Swann Morton website.
gives details and history of company.


Other businesses

Other prominent firms in Owlerton include Symmetry Medical on Beulah Road, a leading provider of implants, instruments and cases to orthopaedic device manufacturers. Hillfoot Steel is a steel forger and stockholder which has been in Owlerton since 1923. There are several other small engineering and steel companies."''The Complete Hillsborough By Her People''", Mick Drewry (Editor), gives general history and information.


References

{{Districts of Sheffield Suburbs of Sheffield History of Sheffield Hillsborough, South Yorkshire