Sheffield is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

, 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 History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

part of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

and some of its southern suburbs were transferred from

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

to the city council. It is the largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The city is in the eastern foothills of the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commo ...

and the valleys of the River Don with its four tributaries: the Loxley, the

Porter Brook The Porter Brook is a river which flows through the City of Sheffield, England, descending over from its source on Burbage Moor to the west of the city to its mouth where it joins the River Sheaf in a culvert beneath Sheffield railway statio ...

, the Rivelin and the Sheaf. Sixty-one per cent of Sheffield's entire area is green space and a third of the city lies within the

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southe ...

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

. There are more than 250 parks, woodlands and gardens in the city, which is estimated to contain around 4.5 million trees. The city is south of

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, east of

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 ...

, and north of

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

. Sheffield played a crucial role in the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

, with many significant inventions and technologies having developed in the city. In the 19th century, the city saw a huge expansion of its traditional cutlery trade, when

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

and crucible steel were developed locally, fuelling an almost tenfold increase in the population. Sheffield received its

municipal charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document (''charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally the granting of a charter ...

in 1843, becoming the City of Sheffield in 1893. International competition in iron and steel caused a decline in these industries in the 1970s and 1980s, coinciding with the collapse of coal mining in the area. The Yorkshire ridings became counties in their own right in 1889, the

county was disbanded in 1974. The city then became part of the county of

; this has been made up of separately-governed unitary authorities since 1986. The 21st century has seen extensive redevelopment in Sheffield, consistent with other British cities. Sheffield's gross value added (GVA) has increased by 60% since 1997, standing at £11.3 billion in 2015. The economy has experienced steady growth, averaging around 5% annually, which is greater than that of the broader region of Yorkshire and the Humber. Sheffield had a population of 556,500 at the 2021 census, making it the second largest city in the

Yorkshire and the Humber Yorkshire and the Humber is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The population in 2011 was 5,284,000 with its largest settlements being Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Hull, and York. It is ...

region. The Sheffield Built-up Area, of which the Sheffield sub-division is the largest part, had a population of 685,369 also including the town of

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

. The district borough, governed from the city, had a population of at the mid-2019 estimate, making it the most populous district in England. It is one of eleven British cities that make up the Core Cities Group. In 2011, the unparished area had a population of 490,070. The city has a long sporting heritage and is home both to the world's oldest football club, Sheffield F.C., and the world's oldest football ground, Sandygate. Matches between the two professional clubs, Sheffield United and

Sheffield Wednesday 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 ...

, are known as the

Steel City derby The Steel City Derby (also known as the Sheffield Derby) is a local derby that takes place between Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday, the two professional football league teams based in the city of Sheffield, England. It is widely consi ...

. The city is also home to the World Snooker Championship and the Sheffield Steelers, the UK's first professional ice hockey team.

Etymology

The name, ''Sheffield'', has its origins in Old English and derives from the name of a principal river in the city, the River Sheaf. This name, in turn, is a corruption of ''shed'' or ''sheth'', which refers to a ''divide'' or ''separation''. The second half of the name Sheffield refers to a field, or forest clearing. Combining the two words, it is believed that the name refers to an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

settlement in a clearing by the confluence of the River Don and River Sheaf.

History

Early history

The area now occupied by the City of Sheffield is believed to have been inhabited since at least the late Upper Paleolithic, about 12,800 years ago. The earliest evidence of human occupation in the Sheffield area was found at Creswell Crags to the east of the city. In the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

the area became the southernmost territory of the Pennine tribe called the

Brigantes The Brigantes were Ancient Britons who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England. Their territory, often referred to as Brigantia, was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire. The Greek geogr ...

. It is this tribe who are thought to have constructed several hill forts in and around Sheffield. Following the departure of the Romans, the Sheffield area may have been the southern part of the Brittonic kingdom of

Elmet Elmet ( cy, Elfed), sometimes Elmed or Elmete, was an independent Brittonic kingdom between about the 5th century and early 7th century, in what later became the smaller area of the West Riding of Yorkshire then West Yorkshire, South Yorkshir ...

, with the rivers Sheaf and Don forming part of the boundary between this kingdom and the kingdom of

Mercia la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era=Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , ye ...

. Gradually, Anglian settlers pushed west from the kingdom of Deira. A Britonnic presence within the Sheffield area is evidenced by two settlements called

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and Waleswood close to Sheffield. The settlements that grew and merged to form Sheffield, however, date from the second half of the first millennium, and are of

and

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

origin. In Anglo-Saxon times, the Sheffield area straddled the border between the kingdoms of

and

Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

. The ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...

'' reports that Eanred of Northumbria submitted to Egbert of Wessex at the hamlet of Dore (now a suburb of Sheffield) in 829, a key event in the unification of the kingdom of England under the House of Wessex. After the

Norman conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...

, Sheffield Castle was built to protect the local settlements, and a small town developed that is the nucleus of the modern city. By 1296, a market had been established at what is now known as

Castle Square Castle Square may refer to: *Castle Square, Sheffield, England *Castle Square, Warsaw Castle Square ( pl, plac Zamkowy) is a historic square in front of the Royal Castle – the former official residence of Polish monarchs – located in Wars ...

, and Sheffield subsequently grew into a small

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

. In the 14th century, Sheffield was already noted for the production of knives, as mentioned in

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...

's ''

The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''Masterpiece, ...

'', and by the early 1600s it had become the main centre of

cutlery Cutlery (also referred to as silverware, flatware, or tableware), 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 Sheffie ...

manufacture in England outside London, overseen by the

Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire is a trade guild of metalworkers based in Sheffield, England. It was incorporated in 1624 by an Act of Parliament. The head is called the Master Cutler. Its motto is french: 1=Pour Y Parvenir a Bonne Foi, ...

. From 1570 to 1584,

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

, was imprisoned in Sheffield Castle and Sheffield Manor.

Industrial Revolution

13th December 1940- Sheffield blitz - NARA - 196508

During the 1740s, a form of the crucible steel process was discovered that allowed the manufacture of a better quality of steel than had previously been possible. In about the same period, a technique was developed for fusing a thin sheet of silver onto a copper ingot to produce silver plating, which became widely known as

Sheffield plate Sheffield plate is a layered combination of silver and copper that was used for many years to produce a wide range of household articles. Almost every article made in sterling silver was also crafted by Sheffield makers, who used this manufactur ...

. These innovations spurred Sheffield's growth as an industrial town, but the loss of some important export markets led to a recession in the late 18th and early 19th century. The resulting poor conditions culminated in a

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

epidemic that killed 402 people in 1832. The population of the town grew rapidly throughout the 19th century; increasing from 60,095 in 1801 to 451,195 by 1901. The

Sheffield and Rotherham railway The Sheffield and Rotherham Railway was a railway line in England, between the named places. The North Midland Railway was being promoted but its route was planned to go through Rotherham and by-pass Sheffield, so the S&RR was built as a connecti ...

was constructed in 1838, connecting the two towns. The town was incorporated as a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

in 1842, and was granted city status by

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

in 1893. The influx of people also led to demand for better water supplies, and a number of new reservoirs were constructed on the outskirts of the town. The collapse of the dam wall of one of these reservoirs in 1864 resulted in 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 ...

, which killed 270 people and devastated large parts of the town. The growing population led to the construction of many back-to-back dwellings that, along with severe pollution from the factories, inspired

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

in 1937 to write: "Sheffield, I suppose, could justly claim to be called the ugliest town in the

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...

Blitz

The Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

hit the city in the 1930s, but as international tensions increased and the

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 ...

became imminent; Sheffield's steel factories were set to work manufacturing weapons and ammunition for the war effort. As a result, the city became a target for bombing raids, the heaviest of which occurred on the nights of 12 and 15 December 1940, now known as the Sheffield Blitz. The city was protected by barrage balloons managed from RAF Norton. More than 660 people died and many buildings were destroyed or left badly damaged, including the Marples Hotel, which was hit directly by a 500lb bomb, killing over 70 people.

Post-Second World War

In the 1950s and 1960s, many of the city's slums were demolished, and replaced with housing schemes such as the

Park Hill flats Park Hill is a housing estate in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It was built between 1957 and 1961, and in 1998 was given Grade II* listed building status. Following a period of decline, the estate is being renovated by developers Urban ...

. Large parts of the city centre were also cleared to make way for a new system of roads. In February 1962, the city was devastated by the

Great Sheffield Gale The Great Sheffield Gale is the name given to an intense European windstorm which crossed the United Kingdom in mid-February 1962, devastating the city of Sheffield in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Nine people were killed across the country ...

; winds of up to killed four people and damaged 150,000 houses, more than two-thirds of the city's housing stock at the time. Increased automation and competition from abroad resulted in the closure of many steel mills. The 1980s saw the worst of this run-down of Sheffield's industries, along with those of many other areas of the UK. The building of the

Meadowhall Centre Meadowhall is an indoor shopping centre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It lies north-east of Sheffield city centre, and from Rotherham town centre. It is the largest shopping centre in Yorkshire, and currently the eleventh-largest i ...

on the site of a former steelworks in 1990 was a mixed blessing, creating much-needed jobs but hastening the decline of the city centre. Attempts to regenerate the city were kick-started when the city hosted the 1991

World Student Games In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

, which saw the construction of new sporting facilities such as the

Sheffield Arena Sheffield Arena, known for sponsorship purposes as Utilita Arena Sheffield, is a multi-purpose arena located in Sheffield, England. It is situated near Meadowhall and lies between Sheffield city centre and Rotherham town centre. Opened in 1991 ...

, Don Valley Stadium and the

Ponds Forge Ponds Forge International Sports Centre is a leisure complex in Sheffield, England, that contains an Olympic-sized swimming pool with seating for 2,600 spectators, family and children's pools (50 m Competition pool and 25 m diving p ...

complex.

21st century

Sheffield Peace Gardens (geograph 7124524)

Sheffield is changing rapidly as new projects regenerate some of the more run-down parts of the city. One such, the ''Heart of the City Project'', has initiated a number of public works in the city centre: the

Peace Gardens The Peace Gardens are an inner city square in Sheffield, England. The Gardens themselves front onto Sheffield's gothic town hall, not to be confused with Sheffield City Hall (a concert venue), or the Sheffield Old Town Hall at Castle Market ...

were renovated in 1998, the

Millennium Galleries The Millennium Gallery is an art gallery and museum in the centre of Sheffield, England. Opened in April 2001 as part of Sheffield's Heart of the City project, it is located in the city centre close to the mainline station, the Central Library ...

opened in April 2001, the Winter Gardens were opened in May 2003, and a public space to link these two areas, the

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 ...

, was opened in May 2006. Additional developments included the remodelling of Sheaf Square, in front of the refurbished railway station. The square contains "The Cutting Edge", a sculpture designed by Si Applied Ltd and made from Sheffield steel. Sheffield was particularly hard hit during the

2007 United Kingdom floods A series of large floods occurred in parts of the United Kingdom during the summer of 2007. The worst of the flooding occurred across Scotland on 14 June; East Yorkshire and the Midlands on 15 June; Yorkshire, the Midlands, Gloucestershire, Here ...

and the 2010 'Big Freeze'. Many landmark buildings such as Meadowhall and the

Hillsborough Stadium Hillsborough Stadium is a 39,732-capacity association football stadium located in Owlerton, a north-western suburb of Sheffield, Yorkshire, England. It has been the home of Sheffield Wednesday since its opening in 1899. The ground has been sub ...

flooded due to being close to rivers that flow through the city. In 2010, 5,000 properties in Sheffield were identified as still being at risk of flooding. In 2012 the city narrowly escaped another flood, despite extensive work by the Environment Agency to clear local river channels since the 2007 event. In 2014 Sheffield Council's cabinet approved plans to further reduce the possibility of flooding by adopting plans to increase water catchment on tributaries of the River Don. Another flood hit the city in 2019, resulting in shoppers being contained in Meadowhall Shopping Centre. Between 2014 and 2018, there were disputes between the city council and residents over the fate of the city's 36,000 highway trees. Around 4,000 highway trees have since been felled as part of the ‘Streets Ahead’

Private Finance Initiative The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 199 ...

(PFI) contract signed in 2012 by the city council,

Amey plc Amey plc, previously known as Amey Ltd and Amey Roadstone Construction, is a United Kingdom-based infrastructure support service provider. Amey was founded by William Charles Amey in 1921. The firm grew rapidly during the Second World War via g ...

and the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

to maintain the city streets. The tree fellings have resulted in many arrests of residents and other protesters across the city even though most felled trees in the city have been replanted, including those historically felled and not previously replanted. The protests eventually stopped in 2018 after the council paused the tree felling programme as part of a new approach developed by the council for the maintenance of street trees in the city. In May 2022, Sheffield was named a " Tree City of the World" in recognition of its work to sustainably manage and maintain urban forests and trees.

Governance

Local authority

Sheffield is governed at the local level by Sheffield City Council and is led by Councillor Terry Fox (Assumed office 19 May 2021). It consists of 84 councillors elected to represent 28

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

: three councillors per ward. Following the 2019 local elections, the distribution of council seats is

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

49, Liberal Democrats 26, the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

8 and UKIP 1. The city also has a Lord Mayor; though now simply a ceremonial position, in the past the office carried considerable authority, with executive powers over the finances and affairs of the city council. The position of Lord Mayor is elected on an annual basis. For much of its history the council was controlled by the Labour Party, and was noted for its

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

sympathies; during the 1980s, when Sheffield City Council was led by David Blunkett, the area gained the epithet the "

Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire "People's Republic of South Yorkshire" or "Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire" were nicknames often given to South Yorkshire under the left-wing local governments of the 1980s, especially the municipal socialist administration of Sheffield C ...

". However, the Liberal Democrats controlled the Council between 1999 and 2001 and took control again from 2008 to 2011. The majority of council-owned facilities are operated by independent charitable trusts.

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 ...

runs many of the city's sporting and leisure facilities, including

and the English Institute of Sport.

Museums Sheffield Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust, known as Museums Sheffield is a charity created in 1998 to run Sheffield City Council’s non-industrial museums and galleries. Museums Sheffield currently manages three sites in the city: Graves Art Galle ...

and the

Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust The Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust (SIMT) is an independent charitable trust based in Sheffield, England, that runs the Sheffield City Council-owned Kelham Island, Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, and Shepherd Wheel museums. The trust was create ...

take care of galleries and museums owned by the council.

Combined authority

The city of Sheffield is part of the wider South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, headed by mayor

Oliver Coppard Oliver James Coppard (born 1981) is a British Labour Co-op politician, serving as the Mayor of South Yorkshire since May 2022. Political career Coppard was the Labour candidate for Sheffield Hallam at the 2015 general election. In the 2 ...

since 2022. The combined authority covers the former 1974–1986

South Yorkshire County Council The South Yorkshire County Council (SYCC) — also known as South Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council — was the top-tier local government authority for the metropolitan county of South Yorkshire from 1 April 1974 to 31 March 1986. A strategic ...

area which functions either went to local or regional authorities. In 2004, as part of the ''Moving Forward:

The Northern Way The Northern Way was a collaboration initiated in February 2004 between the three northern regional development agencies (RDAs), Northwest Development Agency, One NorthEast and Yorkshire Forward at the instigation of the then Deputy Prime Minist ...

'' document, city regions were created in a collaboration with the three northern regional development agencies. These became independent Local Enterprise Partnerships in 2011. The area's partnership retains the Sheffield City Region name, covering the South Yorkshire authorities, as well as

Bolsover District Bolsover District is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. It is named after the town of Bolsover, which is near the geographic centre of the district, but the council is based in Clowne. At the 2011 Census, the district had a pop ...

, Borough of Chesterfield,

Derbyshire Dales Derbyshire Dales ( ) is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 71,116. Much of it is in the Peak District, although most of its population lies along the River Derwent. The borough borders ...

North East Derbyshire North East Derbyshire is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. It borders the districts of Chesterfield, Bolsover, Amber Valley and Derbyshire Dales in Derbyshire, and Sheffield and Rotherham in South Yorkshire. The population ...

and Bassetlaw District. In 2014, the ''Sheffield City Region Combined authority'' was formed by the South Yorkshire

local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

with the other councils as non-constituent members and the partnership integrated with the authority structure. In September 2020, the authority changed to its current name.

Parliamentary Representation

The city returns five members of parliament to the House of Commons, with a sixth, the Member of Parliament for Penistone and Stocksbridge representing parts of Sheffield and Barnsley. The former Deputy Prime Minister

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicepr ...

was an MP for Sheffield, representing Sheffield Hallam from

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

until he was unseated

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, when the seat returned a Labour MP for the first time in its history.

Geography

Sheffield is located at . It lies directly beside

, from which it is separated largely by the M1 motorway. Although

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough The Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley is a metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England; the main settlement is Barnsley and other notable towns include Penistone, Wombwell and Hoyland. The borough is bisected by the M1 motorway; it is rural ...

also borders Sheffield to the north, the town itself is a few miles further away. The southern and western borders of the city are shared with

; in the first half of the 20th century Sheffield extended its borders south into Derbyshire, annexing a number of villages, including

Totley Totley is a suburb on the extreme southwest of the Sheffield, City of Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. Lying in the Historic counties of England, historic county boundaries of Derbyshire, Totley was amalgamated into the city of Sheffield ...

, Dore and the area now known as Mosborough Townships. Rivelin Valley - geograph

Sheffield is a geographically diverse city. It nestles in the eastern foothills of the

, between the main upland range and Peak District National Park to the west, and the lower-lying

South Yorkshire Coalfield The South Yorkshire Coalfield is so named from its position within Yorkshire. It covers most of South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and a small part of North Yorkshire. The exposed coalfield outcrops in the Pennine foothills and dips under Permian ro ...

to the east. It lies at the confluence of five rivers:

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 ...

, Sheaf, Rivelin, Loxley and Porter. As such, much of the city is built on hillsides with views into the city centre or out to the countryside. Blake Street, in the S6 postcode area, is the third steepest residential street in England, with a gradient of 16.6°. The highest point in the City of Sheffield is near

High Stones High Stones, at , is the highest point within the boundaries of both the City of Sheffield and South Yorkshire, England. High Stones lies on the Howden Moors towards in the northern Peak District National Park, between Langsett Reservoir to the ...

and

Margery Hill Margery Hill is a hill on the Howden Moors in South Yorkshire, England. It lies towards the northern boundary of the Peak District National Park, between Langsett Reservoir to the northeast and Howden Reservoir to the southwest. The area is ma ...

. The city's lowest point is just above sea level near

Blackburn Meadows Blackburn Meadows is an area of land just inside the Sheffield city border at Tinsley, England. It became the location of the main sewage treatment works for the city in 1884, and is now one of the largest treatment works in Britain. The treat ...

. However, 79% of the housing in the city is between above sea level. This variation of altitudes across Sheffield has led to frequent claims, particularly among locals, that the city was built on Seven Hills. As this claim is disputed, it likely originated as a joke referencing the Seven Hills of Rome.It is often stated that Sheffield is built on seven hills (for an example, see

's '' The Road to Wigan Pier''). However
a study by J.G.Harston
found there to be eight. Gleadless Valley view

Estimated to contain around 4.5 million trees, Sheffield has more trees per person than any other city in Europe and is considered to be one of the greenest cities in England and the UK, which was further reinforced when it won the 2005 Entente Florale competition. With more than 250 parks, woodlands and gardens, it has over 170 woodlands (covering ), 78 public parks (covering ) and 10 public gardens. Added to the of national park and of water this means that 61% of the city is greenspace. Despite this, about 64% of Sheffield householders live further than from their nearest greenspace, although access is better in less affluent neighbourhoods across the city. Sheffield also has a very wide variety of

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

, comparing favourably with any city in the United Kingdom: urban, parkland and woodland, agricultural and arable land, moors, meadows and freshwater-based habitats. There are six areas within the city that are designated as sites of special scientific interest. The present city boundaries were set in 1974 (with slight modification in 1994), when the former

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...

of Sheffield merged with

Stocksbridge Stocksbridge is a town and civil parish, in the City of Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies just to the east of the Peak District. The town is located in the steep-sided valley of th ...

Urban District Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

and two parishes from the

Wortley Rural District Wortley was a rural district in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1894 to 1974, situated to the north-west of the county borough of Sheffield. It was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, with the parishes of Bradfield and E ...

. This area includes a significant part of the countryside surrounding the main urban region. Roughly a third of Sheffield lies in the Peak District National Park. No other English city had parts of a national park within its boundary, until the creation in March 2010 of the South Downs National Park, part of which lies within Brighton and Hove.

Climate

Under the Köppen classification, Sheffield has an oceanic climate type (Cfb). Like the rest of the United Kingdom, the climate in Sheffield is generally

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

. The uplands of the

to the west can create a cool, gloomy and wet environment, but they also provide shelter from the prevailing westerly winds, casting a "rain shadow" across the area. Between 1971 and 2000 Sheffield averaged of rain per year; December was the wettest month with and July the driest with . July was also the hottest month, with an average maximum temperature of . The highest temperature ever recorded in the city of Sheffield was , on 19 July 2022. The average minimum temperature in January and February was , though the lowest temperatures recorded in these months can be between , although since 1960, the temperature has never fallen below , suggesting that urbanisation around the Weston Park site during the second half of the 20th century may prevent temperatures below occurring. The coldest temperature to be recorded was in 2010. (Note: The official Weston Park Weather Station statistics, which can also be viewed at

Sheffield Central Library Sheffield Central Library is a public library in Sheffield, England. It houses the city library service's single largest general lending and reference collection, as well as Graves Art Gallery, on the third floor, and a theatre in the basement ...

, has the temperature at , recorded on 20 December, and states that to be the lowest December temperature since 1981.) The coldest temperature ever recorded in the city of Sheffield at Weston Park, since records began in 1882, is , registered in February 1895. The lowest daytime maximum temperature in the city since records began is , also recorded in February 1895. More recently, was recorded as a daytime maximum at Weston Park, on 20 December 2010 (from the Weston Park Weather Station statistics, which also can be viewed at Sheffield Central Library.) On average, through the winter months of December to March, there are 67 days during which ground frost occurs. The Weston Park Weather station, established in 1882, is one of the longest running weather stations in the United Kingdom. It has recorded weather for more than 125 years, and a 2008 report showed that the climate of Sheffield is warming faster than it has at any time during this period, with 1990 and 2006 being the hottest years on record. In collaboration with the Stockholm Environment Institute, Sheffield developed a

carbon footprint A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Greenhouse gases, including the carbon-containing gases carbo ...

(based on 2004–05 consumption figures) of 5,798,361 tonnes per year. This compares to the UK's total carbon footprint of 698,568,010 tonnes per year. The factors with the greatest impact are housing (34%), transport (25%), consumer (11%), private services (9%), public services (8%), food (8%) and capital investment (5%). Sheffield City Council has signed up to the 10:10 campaign.

Green belt

Sheffield is within a

green belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...

region that extends into the wider surrounding counties, and is in place to reduce

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

, prevent the towns and areas in the Sheffield built-up area conurbation from further convergence, protect the identity of outlying communities, encourage

brownfield In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land prev ...

reuse, and preserve nearby countryside. This is achieved by restricting inappropriate development within the designated areas, and imposing stricter conditions on permitted building. The main urban area and larger villages of the borough are exempt from the green belt area, but surrounding smaller villages, hamlets and rural areas are 'washed over' with the designation. A subsidiary aim of the green belt is to encourage recreation and leisure interests, with many rural landscape features and facilities included.

Subdivisions

Sheffield is made up of many suburbs and neighbourhoods, many of which developed from villages or hamlets that were absorbed into Sheffield as the city grew. These historical areas are largely ignored by the modern administrative and political divisions of the city; instead it is divided into 28 electoral

, with each ward generally covering 4–6 areas. These electoral wards are grouped into six

parliamentary constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region Administra ...

. Sheffield is largely unparished, but Bradfield and Ecclesfield have parish councils, and

has a town council.

Demographics

The

United Kingdom Census 2001 A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

reported a resident population for Sheffield of 513,234, a 2% decline from the 1991 census. The city is part of the wider Sheffield urban area, which had a population of 640,720. In 2011 the racial composition of Sheffield's population was 84%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

(81%

White British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population wa ...

, 0.5% White Irish, 0.1%

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

or Irish Traveller, 2.3%

Other White The term Other White is a classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom and has been used in documents such as the 2011 UK Census to describe people who self-identify as white (chiefly European) persons who are not of the English, Welsh, S ...

), 2.4% of mixed race (1.0% White and Black Caribbean, 0.2% White and Black African, 0.6% White and Asian, 0.6% Other Mixed), 8%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

(1.1%

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

, 4% Pakistani, 0.6%

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...

, 1.3%

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

, 1.0% Other Asian), 3.6%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

(2.1% African, 1%

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, 0.5%

Other Black A number of different systems of classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom exist. These schemata have been the subject of debate, including about the nature of ethnicity, how or whether it can be categorised, and the relationship betw ...

), 1.5%

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

and 0.7% of other ethnic heritage. In terms of religion, 53% of the population are Christian, 6% are Muslim, 0.6% are Hindu, 0.4% are Buddhist, 0.2% are Sikh, 0.1% are Jewish, 0.4% belong to another religion, 31% have no religion and 7% did not state their religion. The largest

quinary Quinary (base-5 or pental) is a numeral system with five as the base. A possible origination of a quinary system is that there are five digits on either hand. In the quinary place system, five numerals, from 0 to 4, are used to represent an ...

group is 20- to 24-year-olds (9%) because of the large university student population. The

served as a catalyst for considerable population growth and demographic change in Sheffield. Large numbers of people were driven to the city as the

and steel industries flourished. The population continued to grow until the mid-20th century, at which point, due to industrial decline, the population began to contract. However, by the early 21st century, the population had begun to grow once again. The population of Sheffield peaked in 1951 at 577,050, and has since declined steadily. However, the mid-2007 population estimate was 530,300, representing an increase of about 17,000 residents since 2001. Although a city, Sheffield is informally known as "the

largest village in England Several places claim to be the largest village in England. This title is disputed as there is no standard definition of a village as distinct from a town and 'largest' can refer to population or area. A typical contender is Lancing in West Sus ...

", because of a combination of topographical isolation and demographic stability. It is relatively geographically isolated, being cut off from other places by a ring of hills. Local folklore insists that, like Rome, Sheffield was built "on seven hills". The land surrounding Sheffield was unsuitable for industrial use, and now includes several protected

areas. These topographical factors have served to restrict urban spread, resulting in a relatively stable population size and a low degree of mobility.

Economy

After many years of decline, the Sheffield economy is going through a strong revival. The 2004

Barclays Bank Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

Financial Planning study revealed that, in 2003, the Sheffield district of Hallam was the highest ranking area outside London for overall wealth, the proportion of people earning over £60,000 a year standing at almost 12%. A survey by Knight Frank revealed that Sheffield was the fastest-growing city outside London for office and residential space and rents during the second half of 2004. This can be seen in a surge of redevelopments, including the City Lofts Tower and accompanying

St Paul's Place St Paul's Place is part of the Heart of the City project in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It encompasses the new office blocks surrounding the Peace Gardens, the car park and is linked to the St. Pauls Tower. According to the St Pauls P ...

Velocity Living Velocity is the directional speed of an object in motion as an indication of its rate of change in position as observed from a particular frame of reference and as measured by a particular standard of time (e.g. northbound). Velocity is a ...

and the Moor redevelopment, the forthcoming

NRQ Heart of the City II is a mixed-use development under construction in Sheffield city centre, England between the Devonshire Quarter and The Moor Gateway. The project was previously given the marketing name Sevenstone, prior to Hammerson, the ...

and the Winter Gardens,

and many projects completed under the

Sheffield One 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 and ...

redevelopment agency. The Sheffield economy grew from £5.6 billion in 1997 (1997 GVA) to £9.2 billion in 2007 (2007 GVA). The "UK Cities Monitor 2008" placed Sheffield among the top ten "best cities to locate a business today", the city occupying third and fourth places respectively for best office location and best new

call centre A call centre ( Commonwealth spelling) or call center (American spelling; see spelling differences) is a managed capability that can be centralised or remote that is used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of enquiries by telephone. ...

location. The same report places Sheffield in third place regarding "greenest reputation" and second in terms of the availability of financial incentives.

Heavy industries and metallurgy

Sheffield has an international reputation for metallurgy and steel-making. The earliest official record of cutlery production, for which Sheffield is particularly well known, is from 1297 when a tax return for 'Robert the Cutler' was submitted. A key reason for Sheffield's success in the production of cutlery lies in its geographic makeup. The abundance of streams in the area provided water power and the geological formations in the Hope Valley, in particular, provided sufficient grit stones for grinding wheels. In the 17th century, the

, which oversaw the booming cutlery industry in the area and remains to this day, was established and focused on markets outside the Sheffield area, leading to the gradual establishment of Sheffield as a respected producer of cutlery. this gradually developed from a national reputation into an international one. Playing a crucial role in the

, the city became an industrial powerhouse in the 18th century, and was dubbed "

Steel City The Steel City is a common nickname for many cities that were once known for their production of large amounts of steel. With industrial production also in developing countries, like those in Eastern Europe and Asia, most of these cities do n ...

". Many innovations in these fields have been made in Sheffield, for example Benjamin Huntsman discovered the

crucible technique 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 ...

in the 1740s at his workshop in Handsworth. This process was rendered obsolete in 1856 by

Henry Bessemer Sir Henry Bessemer (19 January 1813 – 15 March 1898) was an English inventor, whose steel-making process would become the most important technique for making steel in the nineteenth century for almost one hundred years from 1856 to 1950. He ...

's invention of the

Bessemer converter The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel from molten pig iron before the development of the open hearth furnace. The key principle is removal of impurities from the iron by oxidation with ...

Thomas Boulsover Thomas Boulsover (1705 – 9 September 1788), was a Sheffield cutler who is best remembered as the inventor of Sheffield Plate. He made his fortune manufacturing various items, but especially buttons using the process, he later diversified into ...

invented

Sheffield Plate Sheffield plate is a layered combination of silver and copper that was used for many years to produce a wide range of household articles. Almost every article made in sterling silver was also crafted by Sheffield makers, who used this manufactur ...

(silver-plated copper) in the early 18th century. Harry Brearley

Stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

was invented by Harry Brearley in 1912, bringing affordable

to the masses. The work of F. B. Pickering and T. Gladman throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s was fundamental to the development of modern high-strength low-alloy steels. Further innovations continue, with new advanced manufacturing technologies and techniques being developed on the

Advanced Manufacturing Park The Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) is a manufacturing technology park in Waverley, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. It was partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund, and developed by thHarworth Group previously the prope ...

, situated just over the boundary in the borough of Rotherham, by Sheffield's universities and other independent research organisations. Organisations located on the AMP include the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC, a research partnership between the Boeing Company and the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

), Castings Technology International (CTI), The Welding Institute (TWI), Rolls-Royce plc and

McLaren Automotive McLaren Automotive (formerly known as McLaren Cars) is a British luxury automotive manufacturer based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England. The main products of the company are supercars, which are produced in-house in designated ...

Forgemasters, founded in 1805, is the sole remaining independent

steel works A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

in the world and dominates the north-east of Sheffield around the

Lower Don Valley The Lower Don Valley, or historically the East End of Sheffield, is the mainly industrial north-east quarter of Sheffield, England. Located on the River Don, it encompasses the areas of Attercliffe, Brightside, Darnall, Tinsley and Wincobank. ...

. The firm has a global reputation for producing the largest and most complex steel forgings and castings and is certified to produce critical nuclear components, with recent projects including the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

's submarines. The firm also has the capacity for pouring the largest single ingot (570 tonnes) in Europe and is currently in the process of expanding its capabilities. In July 2021 Forgemasters was bought outright by the UK

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

for £2.56 million, with the intention of investing a further £400 million over the next decade. The decision was based on the important role Forgemasters plays in the construction of the UK nuclear submarine fleet as well other vessels for the

. While iron and steel have long been the main industries of Sheffield,

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

has also been a major industry, particularly in the outlying areas, and the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...

in London was built using

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

from quarries in the nearby village of

Anston Anston is a civil parish in South Yorkshire, England, formally known as North and South Anston. The parish of Anston consists of the settlements of North Anston and South Anston, divided by the Anston Brook. History Anston, first recorded as ...

Public sector

Sheffield has a large public sector workforce, numbering 77,500 workers. During the period 1995 – 2008 (a period of growth for the city and many others in the UK), the number of jobs in the city increased by 22% and 50% of these were in the public sector. Major public sector employers include the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

The University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate Cr ...

, and numerous government departments and agencies including the Home Office (Visas & Immigration),

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Department ...

& Department for Business, Innovation & Skills. Recently developed offices in St Paul's Place and

Riverside Exchange The Riverside Quarter, or Riverside Exchange, is one of Sheffield's 11 designated City Centre Quarters, situated by the River Don. Its borders are West Bar, Coulston Street, Bridge Street, Castlegate, Exchange Place and the Parkway to its so ...

play host to the aforementioned government departments. Sheffield City Council, which is also a major public sector employer in the city, employs over 8,000 people, spread across four different sections (known as portfolios). Sheffield City Council is also the

Local Education Authority Local education authorities (LEAs) were local councils in England that are responsible for education within their jurisdiction. The term was used to identify which council (district or county) is locally responsible for education in a system wit ...

(LEA) and as such manages all states schools and their associated staff. As part of its mandate to provide public services, Sheffield City Council maintains contracts with three private contractors -

Amey Amey may refer to: * Amey plc, a UK infrastructure support company, subsidiary of the Spanish company Grupo Ferrovial People * Colin Amey, Canadian singer * Jessica Amey (born 1976), Canadian swimmer * Otis Amey (born 1981), American footballer * ...

, Veolia & Capita (contract ending in 2020). Together, these contractors provide additional employment in the city.

Leisure and retail

City Centre

Sheffield is a major retail centre, and is home to many High Street and

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

s as well as designer boutiques. The main shopping areas in the city centre are on The Moor precinct,

Fargate Fargate is a pedestrian precinct and shopping area in Sheffield, England. It runs between Barker's Pool and High Street opposite the cathedral. It was pedestrianised in 1973. Fargate also holds a Continental Market approximately 4 times a year, ...

Orchard Square Orchard Square is a small open-air court shopping centre located in Sheffield, England. It opened in 1987 and contains several stores, notably Schuh, Clarks, Waterstone's (with its own instore coffee house), Subway, The Body Shop and TK Maxx ( ...

and the

Devonshire Quarter The Devonshire Quarter is an area in the centre of Sheffield, England. Its heart is the Division Street and Devonshire Street shopping areas, known for their small independent shops and variety of pubs and bars. The district also has ''The Forum ...

. Department stores in the city centre include

Marks and Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

and

Atkinsons Atkinsons is a family-owned department store located on The Moor in Sheffield, England. The store has been trading for around 150 years and sells an extensive range of merchandise including fashion, furniture, lighting, gifts, cosmetics & frag ...

. Sheffield's main market was once

Castle Market Castle Market was an indoor market in Sheffield city centre, England. The building lay in the north east of the present city centre, by the River Don, and was built on top of the remains of Sheffield Castle, which could still be seen via guided ...

, built above the remains of the castle. This has since been demolished.

Sheffield Moor Market 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 and ...

opened in 2013 and became the main destination for fresh produce. The market has 196 stalls and includes local and organic produce, as well as international fusion cuisine such as Russian, Jamaican and Thai. In March 2021 it was announced that the Sheffield branch of John Lewis would close due to falling sales and a move to online shopping, which had increased because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. John Lewis received £3 million of public funding from Sheffield City Council in 2020 to keep the local store open. The local Debenhams branches are expected to re-open ofter the lifting of the 2021 COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, but only to clear existing stock, after which it is expected the stores will close. With the decline in high street shopping around the UK, efforts have been made to rejuvenate Sheffield City Centre and improve the retail and leisure offering. Major developments include

Leopold Square Leopold Square is a mixed-use development in Sheffield's West End, England, located at the corner of Leopold Street and West Street. The development, by Ask Developments and Gleeson's in collaboration with local architects AXIS Architecture, co ...

, The Moor, St Paul's Place (a mixed use development) and the Heart of the City I & II projects. In March 2022 Sheffield City Council announced that a new leisure hub would be constructed at the southern end of Fargate. The £300,000 hub will feature cafes, shops and large screen TVs for sports events. The development is also related to other efforts to rejuvenate the Fargate area, such as a new mixed-use events and coworking hub at 20-26 Fargate, also overseen by Sheffield City Council.

Shopping centres

Meadowhall shopping centre, located to the north of Sheffield close to the boundary with

and next to the M1 motorway, is a major regional shopping destination and currently ranked eleventh largest in the UK with a floorspace of . Attracting over 30 million visitors a year (up from 19 million in its first year), the centre hosts 270 shops, 37 restaurants and a cinema. Many nationally renowned brands have a presence at the centre including

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

, Hugo Boss and Jaeger. The centre is connected to the city centre by rail, Supertram and bus services. Prior to the opening of Meadowhall, the site was occupied for East Hecla (steel) works, a major employer in the north-east of the city. The opening of Meadowhall in 1990 marked the beginning of major rejuvenation in the

as the steel industry contracted. In a 2010 survey of forecast expenditure at retail centres in the United Kingdom, Meadowhall was ranked 12th and Sheffield City Centre 19th. Ikea, Sheffield

To the south of Meadowhall shopping centre is Meadowhall Retail Park, a 190,500 sq ft retail park with 13 retail and food units. Next to the retail park is the Sheffield

IKEA IKEA (; ) is a Dutch multinational conglomerate based in the Netherlands that designs and sells , kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA has been t ...

store, opened in 2017. The opening ceremony was attended by dignitaries including the Swedish Ambassador to the UK. The Sheffield store was the 20th opened in the UK and led to the creation of 480 new local jobs. The second largest shopping centre in Sheffield is Crystal Peaks, located in the south-east of the city, alongside Drakehouse Retail Park. Both the shopping centre and the retail park opened in 1988 and now attract around 11 million visitors a year. In total there are 101 retailers (including eateries) at Crystal Peaks and Drakehouse, including a range high street brands. Crystal Peaks also includes a travel interchange which serves as the hub for bus travel in the east and south-east of Sheffield.

Suburbs

Beyond the city centre there are numerous other leisure and shopping areas. To the south-west of the city centre is Ecclesall Road, a major thoroughfare connecting the south-western suburbs to the city centre and lined with bars, restaurants and cafes, as well as housing. The area has a large student community owing to the presence of the

Collegiate Campus adjacent to Ecclesall Road. The leisure section of the road is approximately long, with the south-western end becoming Ecclesall Road South and a predominantly residential area. Another popular shopping and leisure area is London Road, to the south of the city centre. The road is famous for its multicultural community which has led to an abundance of international cuisines being served at restaurants along the road. To the west of the city centre is Broomhill, a student-centric neighbourhood which also caters for school students as well local

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

students and NHS staff. To the north-west of the city centre are

Hillsborough Hillsborough may refer to: Australia *Hillsborough, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake Macquarie Canada *Hillsborough, New Brunswick *Hillsborough Parish, New Brunswick * Hillsborough, Nova Scotia, in Inverness County *Hillsborough (electoral d ...

, a large retail and sports hub, and

Fox Valley, a modern leisure and retail centre built on a brownfield industrial site. In the late 2010s and early 2020s several new developments began to the north of the city centre in the

Kelham Island Quarter Kelham Island is one of Sheffield's eleven designated Quarters. Formerly an industrial area, the island itself was created by the building of a goit, or mill race, fed from the River Don to serve the water wheels powering the workshops of th ...

, an increasingly popular mixed-use development. The area has become known for its independent cafes, restaurants and pubs and has seen significant residential development in recent years.

Tourism

Tourism plays a major role in the city's economy on account of numerous attractions - namely the Peak District, sports events (in particular, the

Snooker World Championships The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the wealthiest, with total prize money in 2022 of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927, i ...

) and musical festivals (such as

Tramlines The Tramlines Festival is an annual music festival held in Sheffield, UK. The festival was originally free to attend, but now requires tickets. The line-up consists of national and local artists. The festival was curated and organised by a pan ...

). In 2019, the tourism industry in Sheffield was valued at £1.36 billion and supported 15,000 jobs. In 2012,

Sheffield City Region Enterprise Zone The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority is the combined authority for South Yorkshire in England, with powers over transport (public transport and major trunk roads only), economic development and regeneration. It covers a total area of 3 ...

was launched to promote development in a number of sites in Sheffield and across the wider region. In March 2014 additional sites were added to the zone.

Transport

Cars, coachs and cycling

Motorways near the city are the M1 and M18.

Sheffield Parkway The Sheffield Parkway is a major dual carriageway which runs between the City of Sheffield and junction 33 of the M1 in South Yorkshire, England. The road was opened in 1974. Route The route runs east of the City, connecting Park Square in t ...

connects the city centre to the motorways. The M1 skirts the city's north-east and crossing

Tinsley Viaduct Tinsley Viaduct is a two-tier road bridge in Sheffield, England; it was the first of its kind in the United Kingdom. It carries the M1 and the A631 for a distance of over the Don Valley, from Tinsley to Wincobank, also crossing the Sheffield ...

near Rotherham. The M18 branches from the M1 close to Sheffield, linking the city with

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

and ending at Goole. The A57 and

A61 road A61 or A-61 may refer to: * A61 road (England), a road connecting Derby and Thirsk * A61 motorway (France), a road connecting Narbonne and Bordeaux * A61 motorway (Germany), a road connecting Venlo and Hockenheim * Benoni Defense The Benoni Defense ...

s are the major trunk roads through Sheffield. These run east–west and north–south respectively, crossing in the city centre, from where the other major roads generally radiate spoke-like. An inner

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

, mostly constructed in the 1970s and extended in 2007 to form a complete ring, allows traffic to avoid the city centre, and an outer ring road runs to the east, south-east and north, nearer the edge of the city, but does not serve the western side of Sheffield. Sheffield Interchange 2

Sheffield Interchange Sheffield Interchange is the main bus station in central Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The facility is served by buses operating across the Sheffield region, as well as National Express coaches that connect Sheffield with destinations ac ...

is the city's bus main hub; other bus stations are at

Halfway Halfway or Half Way may refer to: Places Canada *Halfway, New Brunswick, a community in Durham Parish * Halfway, Ontario, a community in Madawaska Valley Ireland *Halfway, County Cork, a village in the Republic of Ireland United Kingdom * Halfwa ...

and Meadowhall. After deregulation in 1986, there were multiple new service providers. Current providers are First South Yorkshire, Stagecoach Yorkshire,

TM Travel TM Travel is a bus operator based in Halfway, Sheffield, operating bus services in South Yorkshire and Derbyshire. Founded in 1995 as a family-owned operation with one bus, by March 2008 it had expanded to become the largest independent operator ...

Hulleys of Baslow Hulleys of Baslow is a bus company based in Baslow, Derbyshire, England. History The origins of Hulleys can be traced back to 1914 when Henry Hulley purchased a Ford Model T taxi. In 1921 a bus was purchased to operate a service from Bakewell ...

and

Sheffield Community Transport 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 and ...

. First South Yorkshire, is the largest bus operator. There is also the

Bus Rapid Transit North Bus Rapid Transit North is a bus rapid transit scheme introduced by the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive in England. It consists of one route operated by First South Yorkshire between Sheffield and Rotherham. History In November 2 ...

route between Sheffield and Maltby via Rotherham. It was planned as two routes: the Northern route to Rotherham via Meadowhall and Templeborough, and the southern route via the developing employment centre and Waverley. The northern route opened in September 2016; it involved an 800m Tinsley Road Link to be built between Meadowhall and the A6178 road.

Yorkshire Terrier The Yorkshire Terrier (often shortened as Yorkie) is one of the smallest dog breeds of the terrier type and indeed of any dog breed. The breed developed during the 19th century in Yorkshire, England.Yorkshire Traction formerly operated in the city and were taken-over by

Stagecoach Sheffield Stagecoach Yorkshire is an operating division of Stagecoach Group. It was formed in 2005 to take over the former Traction Group fleets in Yorkshire by Stagecoach Group, which took over Traction from Frank Carter on 14 December 2005; Yorkshi ...

Stagecoach Group Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses, express coaches and a tram service in the United Kingdom. History Stagecoach was born out of deregulation of the British express coach market in the early ...

also operates the Supertram and has an integrated ticketing system with buses and tram.

Coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

services running through Sheffield are operated by National Express and to a lesser extent

Megabus Megabus may refer to: *Megabus (Europe), a low-cost coach service with services in Europe owned by ComfortDelGro. *Megabus (North America) Megabus, branded as megabus.com, is an intercity bus service of Coach USA/Coach Canada operating in the eas ...

and Flixbus. National Express services call at

, Meadowhall Interchange and Meadowhead Bus Stop. Megabus and Flixbus services only call at Meadowhall. National Express services 564, 560, 350, 320, 310 and 240 call at Sheffield, as do others on a less frequent basis. The 560/564 service is a direct connection to London Victoria Coach Station via Chesterfield and

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

, operating 12 times a day in both directions. The 350 and 240 services connect Sheffield to

Manchester Airport Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those n ...

and

Heathrow Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...

/ Gatwick Airports respectively. Two Megabus services, the M12 and M20, call at Sheffield en route to London from

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

and

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

respectively. Although hilly, Sheffield is compact and has few major trunk roads, therefore cycling in Sheffield is a popular method of transport. It is on the

Trans-Pennine Trail The Trans Pennine Trail is a long-distance path running from coast to coast across Northern England entirely on surfaced paths and using only gentle gradients (it runs largely along disused railway lines and towpath, canal towpaths). It forms ...

, a National Cycle Network route running from West to East from Southport in Merseyside to Hornsea in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

and North to South from

in West Yorkshire to

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

in Derbyshire. There are many cycle routes going along country paths in the woods surrounding the city, and an increasing number of cycle lanes in the city itself.

Trams, trains and tramtrains

Meadowhall - Interchange and Don Footbridge

Train services in Sheffield are operated by

East Midlands Railway Abellio East Midlands Limited, trading as East Midlands Railway (EMR), is a train operating company in England, owned by Abellio, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise. History In March 2017, the Department for Transport a ...

CrossCountry CrossCountry (legal name XC Trains Limited) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Arriva UK Trains, operating the Cross Country franchise. The CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport (DfT) ...

, TransPennine Express and

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

. Major railway routes through

Sheffield station Sheffield station, formerly ''Pond Street'' and later ''Sheffield Midland'', is a combined railway station and tram stop in Sheffield, England; it is the busiest station in South Yorkshire. Adjacent is Sheffield station/Sheffield Hallam Unive ...

include the Midland Main Line (to London via the East Midlands), the

Cross Country Route A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

(which runs between eastern Scotland and south-west England) and the lines linking Liverpool and Manchester with and

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

. With the redevelopment of completed, Sheffield has a direct connection to

continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

, via the

, to St Pancras and the Eurostar to France and Belgium. East Midlands Railway also operates three premium trains: the ''

Master Cutler The Master Cutler is the head of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire established in 1624. Their role is to act as an ambassador of industry in Sheffield, England. The Master Cutler is elected by the freemen of the company on the first Monday of ...

'', the ''

Sheffield Continental The ''Sheffield Continental'' is one of the four flagship named passenger trains operated by East Midlands Railway. There is only a south-bound ''Sheffield Continental'' service which is the 0647 train from Sheffield to London St Pancras. The ...

'' and the ''

South Yorkshireman The ''South Yorkshireman'' is a British named passenger train. In its modern version it is one of four named expresses operated by East Midlands Railway, and runs between and . The original ''South Yorkshireman'' was a train in the post-WW2 er ...

''.

High Speed 2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...

is planned to serve a city centre station in Sheffield as a spur from the main HS2 line. Proposals for the HS2 station's location have been considered, including: Sheffield station, (on the location of the former station of the same name) and Meadowhall Interchange. It is scheduled to be operational by 2033. There will be four trains an hour serving the station, with journey times to London and Birmingham reduced to 1 hour 19 minutes and 48 minutes respectively. In November 2021, the UK government published the ''Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands'' in which it announced HS2's eastern spur route (between the East Midlands and Leeds) had been cancelled, which had been planned to include Sheffield. The document announced upgrades to the Midland Mainline, with HS2 trains able to run on this upgraded and electrified route. There are several local rail routes running along the city's valleys and beyond, connecting it with other parts of

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

and

. These local routes include the

Penistone Line The Penistone Line is operated by Northern Trains in the West Yorkshire Metro and Travel South Yorkshire areas of northern England. It connects Huddersfield and Sheffield via Penistone and Barnsley, serving many rural communities. Metrocards ( ...

, the Dearne Valley Line, the Hope Valley Line and the

Hallam Line The Hallam Line is a railway connecting Leeds and Sheffield via Castleford in the West Yorkshire Metro area of northern England. It is a slower route from Leeds to Sheffield than the Wakefield line. Services on this line are operated by Nort ...

. As well as the main stations 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 ...

and Meadowhall, there are five suburban stations at Chapeltown, Darnall, Woodhouse and Dore & Totley. As part of improvements to rail services along the Hope Valley Line between Sheffield and Manchester, a new platform, station facilities and track are being built at Dore & Totley Station with the expanded station due to open in 2023. Sheffield Supertram - Tram Train 399 204 (geograph 5940823)

Sheffield Supertram - Tram Train 399 204 (geograph 5940823)

The Sheffield Supertram (not derived from the previous tramways), opened in 1994 and is operated by

Stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

. The opening was shortly after the similar Metrolink scheme in Greater Manchester. The Supertram network consists of of track and four lines (with all lines running via the city centre): from Halfway to

Malin Bridge Malin Bridge is a suburb of the city of Sheffield, England. It is located at grid reference and stands 2½ miles north-west of the city centre where the rivers Loxley and Rivelin meet. Malin Bridge is only a small district centred on the roa ...

(Blue Line), from Meadowhall to Middlewood (Yellow Line), from Meadowhall to

Herdings Park Gleadless Valley ward—which includes the districts of Gleadless Valley (Hemsworth, Herdings), Heeley, Lowfield, and Meersbrook—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the southern part of th ...

(Purple Line), and the from

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

to Rotherham Parkgate (Black Line). The system contains both on-street and segregated running, depending upon the section and line. The Black Line opened in 2018, with ''tram-trains''; these are trams that are able to share a line with conventional heavy rail trains between Sheffield and Rotherham.

Canal

The Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation (S&SY) is a system of navigable inland waterways (

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

s and canalised rivers) in Yorkshire and

. Chiefly based on the River Don, it runs for a length of and has 29 locks. It connects Sheffield,

and

with the

River Trent The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...

Keadby __NOTOC__ Keadby is a small village in North Lincolnshire, England. It is situated just off the A18, west of Scunthorpe, and on the west bank of the River Trent. Keadby is in the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire. The appropriate civil p ...

and (via the

New Junction Canal The New Junction Canal is a canal in South Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation (S&SYN), although it was jointly funded by the Aire and Calder Navigation, and was opened in 1905. It links the River Don ...

) the Aire & Calder Navigation. The terminus of the canal is at

Victoria Quays Victoria Quays (formerly Sheffield Canal Basin) is a large canal basin in Sheffield, England. It was constructed 1816–1819 as the terminus of the Sheffield Canal (now part of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation) and includes the former ...

, a redevelopment mixed-used area adjacent to Park Square in Sheffield City Centre.

Air

The closest airports are in

Leeds Bradford Leeds Bradford Airport is located in Yeadon, in the City of Leeds Metropolitan District in West Yorkshire, England, about northwest of Leeds city centre, and about northeast from Bradford city centre. It serves Leeds and Bradford and th ...

Humberside Humberside () was a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in Northern England from 1 April 1974 until 1 April 1996. It was composed of land from either side of the Humber Estuary, created from portions of the East Riding of Yorkshire, West ...

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...

(within an hour's drive of the city),

(hourly direct service by South TransPennine). Due to the topographical nature of the city, Sheffield was not served by its own airport. In 1997, Sheffield City Airport was opened on land close to the M1 and the Sheffield Parkway. The airport was operated on STOLPORT model similar to

London City Airport London City Airport is a regional airport in London, England. It is located in the Royal Docks in the Borough of Newham, approximately east of the City of London and east of Canary Wharf. These are the twin centres of London's financial ...

and operated a limited range of short range business focused flights to destinations in the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The airport fell into decline with the growth of low cost airlines in the late 1990s and the last scheduled flight took place in 2002. The airport closed and lost its

CAA CAA may refer to: Law * Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 of India ** Citizenship Amendment Act protests, Protests regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act * Copyright transfer agreement, Copyright assignment agreement, to transfer copyright to ...

license in 2008. Following the closure of Sheffield City Airport (also known as Robin Hood Airport) in 2008, the closest international airport to Sheffield is

Doncaster Sheffield Airport Doncaster Sheffield Airport , formerly named and commonly referred to as Robin Hood Airport, is an unscheduled international airport closed to passenger traffic. The airport is located in Finningley near Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. ...

which located from the city centre and closed on 4 November 2022. It opened on 28 April 2005 on the former

RAF Finningley Royal Air Force Finningley or RAF Finningley was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station at Finningley, in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The station straddled the historic county boundaries of both ...

site and is served mainly by charter and budget airlines, with about one million passengers a year. A link road, called the Great Yorkshire Way, connects Doncaster Sheffield Airport to the M18 motorway, reducing the journey time from Sheffield city centre from 40 to 25 minutes.

Education

Within the city of Sheffield there are two universities, 141 primary schools and 28 secondary schools.

Museums

Sheffield's museums are managed by two distinct organisations.

manages the

Weston Park Museum Weston Park Museum is a museum in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It is one mile west of Sheffield city centre within Weston Park. It is Sheffield's largest museum and is housed in a Grade II* listed building and managed by Museums Sheffie ...

(a Grade II*listed Building),

and

Graves Art Gallery Graves Art Gallery is an art gallery in Sheffield, England. The gallery is located above the Central Library in Sheffield city centre. It houses permanent displays from the city’s historic and contemporary collection of British and European ar ...

. These museums constitute the oldest extant museums in the city, with Graves Art Gallery and Weston Park Museum being gifted to the city by industrialist philanthropists in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Millennium Galleries, being established in the early 2000s, is one of the newest museums and constitutes part of the Heart of the City development, connecting directly to the Winter Garden and Millennium Square. All three museums host a broad range of exhibits which reflect Sheffield's history and numerous other themes, including exhibitions on loan from other major galleries and museums.

manages the museums dedicated to Sheffield's industrial heritage of which there are three.

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 ...

(located just to the North of the city centre) is located on the site of a 19th-century iron foundry and showcases the city's history of steel manufacturing and includes a range of important historical artifacts, including a preserved

Bessemer Converter The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel from molten pig iron before the development of the open hearth furnace. The key principle is removal of impurities from the iron by oxidation with ...

(which won an Engineering Heritage Award in 2004 from the

Institution of Mechanical Engineers The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 120,000 member ...

), munitions and mechanical components from WW2 aircraft (Including a crankshaft from a

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...

which, during the early stages of the war, could only be produced in Sheffield) and a fully functional 12,000 horsepower steam engine dating to the 19th century. The museum is an Anchor Point for the ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage. Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet (in the south of the city) is a Grade I Listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Shepherd Wheel Shepherd Wheel is a working museum in a former water-powered grinding workshop situated on the Porter Brook in the south-west of the City of Sheffield, England. One of the earliest wheels on the River Porter, it is one of the few remaining—and ...

(in the south-East of the city) is a former water-powered grinding

workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...

, Grade II listed and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Also there are

Sheffield Archives Sheffield Archives (located in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England) collects, preserves and lists records (or archives) relating to Sheffield and South Yorkshire and makes them available for reference and research. Sheffield Archives is a joint ...

. In August 2022 the Yorkshire Natural History Museum opened on Holme Lane in Sheffield. Many of the exhibits come from the collection of James Hogg and feature a collection of Jurassic marine life, such as Ammonoidea, ammonites, Belemnitida, belemnites, Plesiosaurus, plesiosaurs and Ichthyosaur, ichthyosaurs, many of which were collected from the Lias of the Yorkshire Coast. The museum has Europe’s first publicly accessible fossil preparation and conservation laboratory with ultrasonic preparation facilities, an acid preparation laboratory, 3D scanning, CT scanning and 3D printing. On the opening day palaeontologist Dean Lomax exmined one of the fossils on display and declared it to be the oldest example of a vertebrate embryo found in Britain and the oldest complete ichthyosaur embryo ever found in Britain.

Universities, colleges and UTCs

The city's universities are the

and

. The two combined bring about 60,000 students to the city every year.The University of Sheffield is the city's oldest university. It was established in 1897 as University College Sheffield and gained university status in 1905. Its history traces back to Sheffield Medical School found in 1828, Firth College in 1879 and Sheffield Technical School in 1884. The university is one of the original red brick universities and is a member of the Russell Group. Sheffield City Centre and station

Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a university on two sites in Sheffield. City Campus is located in the city centre, close to Sheffield railway station, and Collegiate Crescent Campus is about away, adjacent to Ecclesall Road in south-west Sheffield. Sheffield Hallam University's history goes back to 1843 with the establishment of the Sheffield School of Design. During the 1960s several independent colleges (including the School of Design) joined to become Sheffield Polytechnic (Sheffield City Polytechnic from 1976) and was finally renamed Sheffield Hallam University in 1992.

Sheffield has three main further education providers: The Sheffield College, Longley Park Sixth Form and Chapeltown Academy. The Sheffield College is organised on a federal basis and was originally created from the merger of six colleges around the city: Sheffield City (formerly Castle), Olive Grove and Eyre Street near the city centre, Hillsborough and Fir Vale, serving the north of the city and Peaks to the south. Launched by the Coalition Government 2010-2015, coalition government in 2010, the University Technical College program was designed to foster greater interest in STEM subjects amongst students aged 14 to 18. Sheffield currently hosts two UTCs, UTC Sheffield City Centre and UTC Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park. All UTCs, including those in Sheffield, are sponsored by the Baker Dearing Educational Trust, established by Kenneth Baker, Baron Baker of Dorking, Lord Baker. The two UTCs in Sheffield are also sponsored and supported by

. Whilst the UTCs are equivalent to regular secondary schools and sixth forms, their governance structure and curriculum are different, owing to their status as free schools and focusing on STEM, as opposed to a broader curriculum.

Secondary, primary and nursery

There are 137 primary schools, 26 secondary schools – of which 10 have sixth forms: (High Storrs School (Sheffield), High Storrs, King Ecgbert School, King Ecgberts, King Edward VII School (Sheffield), King Edward VII, Silverdale School (Sheffield), Silverdale, Meadowhead School, Meadowhead, Tapton School, Tapton, Notre Dame School (Sheffield), Notre Dame Catholic High and All Saints Catholic High School, Sheffield, All Saints Catholic High) – and a sixth-form college, Longley Park Sixth Form. The city's five independent private schools include Birkdale School and the Sheffield High School (South Yorkshire), Sheffield High School. There are also 12 special schools and a number of Integrated Resource Units in mainstream schools which are, along with all other schools, managed by Sheffield City Council.
All schools are non-selective, mixed sex schools (apart from Sheffield High School, South Yorkshire, Sheffield High School which is an all-girls school). The Early Years Education and Childcare Service of Sheffield City Council manages 32 nurseries and children's centres in the city.

Religion

Sheffield is home to a centre of multicultural events, institutions, and places of worship. Some of the city's most notable buildings include its main Church of England Diocese of Sheffield's Sheffield Cathedral, cathedral on Church Street and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hallam's Cathedral Church of St Marie, Sheffield, cathedral on Norfolk Row. The city also has other churches including St Vincent's Church, Sheffield, St Vincent's Church, St Matthew's Church, Sheffield, St Matthew's Church, St Paul's Church, Wordsworth Avenue, St Paul's Church, St Paul's Church and Centre, Norton Lees, Sheffield, St Paul's Church and Centre, Victoria Hall, Sheffield, Victoria Hall and Christ Church, Fulwood, Sheffield, Christ Church. Other places of worship include the Madina Mosque (Sheffield), Madina Mosque, Sheffield & District Reform Jewish Congregation and Wilson Road Synagogue.

Sport

Teams

Football codes

Sheffield has a long sporting heritage. In 1857 a collective of cricketers formed the world's first-ever official association football, football club, Sheffield FC, and the world's second-ever, Hallam FC, who also play at the Sandygate Road, world's oldest football ground in the suburb of Crosspool. Sheffield and Hallam are today Sheffield's two major non-league sides, although Sheffield now play just outside the city in nearby Dronfield, Derbyshire. Sheffield and Hallam contest what has become known as the Sheffield derby. By 1860 there were 15 football clubs in Sheffield, with the first ever amateur league and cup competitions taking place in the city. Sheffield is best known for its two professional football teams, Sheffield United FC, Sheffield United, nicknamed ''The Blades'', and Sheffield Wednesday FC, Sheffield Wednesday, nicknamed Sheffield Wednesday F.C.#Nickname, ''The Owls''. United, who play at Bramall Lane south of the city centre, compete in the Football League Championship and Wednesday, who play at Hillsborough Stadium, Hillsborough in the north-west of the city, compete in the Football League One. The two clubs contest the Steel City Derby, which is considered by many to be one of the most fierce football rivalries in English Football. In the pre-war era, both Wednesday and United enjoyed large amounts of success and found themselves two of the country's top clubs; Sheffield Wednesday have been champions of the Football League four times – in 1902–03 Football League, 1902–03, 1903-04 Football League, 1903–04, 1928-29 Football League, 1928–29 and 1929-30 Football League, 1929–30, whilst Sheffield United have won it once, in 1897-98 Football League, 1897–98. During the 1970s and early 1980s the two sides fell from grace, with Wednesday finding themselves in the Football League Third Division, Third Division by the mid-70s and United as far as the Football League Fourth Division, Fourth Division in 1980-81 in English football, 1981. Wednesday once again became one of England's high-flying clubs following promotion back to the Football League First Division, First Division in 1983-84 in English football, 1984, winning the 1991 Football League Cup Final, League Cup in 1991, competing in the 1992–93 UEFA Cup, UEFA Cup in 1992–93, and reaching the final of both the 1993 Football League Cup Final, League Cup and 1993 FA Cup Final, FA Cup in the 1992-93 in English football, same season. United and Wednesday were both founding members of the FA Premier League, Premier League in 1992, but The Blades were relegated in 1993-94 in English football, 1994. The Owls remained until 1999-00 in English football, 2000. Both clubs had gone into decline in the 21st century, Wednesday twice relegated to Football League One, League One and United suffering the same fate in 2010-11 in English football, 2011, despite a brief spell in the Premier League in 2006-07 in English football, 2006–07. United was promoted to the Premier League in 2019 under manager, and Sheffield United Fan, Chris Wilder. Despite being written off by most football pundits, and declared favourites for relegation from the Premier League, United exceeded expectations and finished in the top half of the table in the 2019–20 season. In the 2020-2021 season, United sat at the bottom of the Premier League table by the conclusion of the season and were relegated. Sheffield was the site of the deadliest sports venue disaster in the United Kingdom, the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, when 97 Liverpool FC, Liverpool supporters were killed in a stampede and crush during an FA Cup semi-final at the venue. Rotherham United FC, Rotherham United, who play in the Championship, did play their home games in the city between 2008 and 2012, having moved to play at Sheffield's Don Valley Stadium in 2008 following a dispute with their previous landlord at their traditional home ground of Millmoor, Rotherham. However, in July 2012, the club moved to the new 12,000 seat New York Stadium in Rotherham. There are also facilities for golf, climbing and bowling, as well as a newly inaugurated national ice-skating arena (IceSheffield). Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park (overview)

Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park (overview)

Sheffield Eagles RLFC are the city's professional rugby league team and play their matches at Sheffield Olympic Legacy Stadium. They currently play in the second tier of the professional league, the Co-operative Championship, Championship and won back to back titles in 2012 and 2013. Their most successful moment came in 1998, when, against all the odds they defeated Wigan Warriors, Wigan in the Challenge Cup final, despite being huge underdogs. The team then hit troubled times before reforming in 2003. Since then they have played their rugby in the Championship (second tier). In 2011, they made the playoffs finishing in fifth place. They made the Grand Final, by defeating Leigh Centurions, Leigh, who were huge favourites in a playoff semi final. In the final, they were comprehensively beaten by Featherstone Rovers. Sheffield also put in a bid to be a host city for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, but their bid was unsuccessful. Sheffield Giants are an American football team who play in the BAFA National Leagues Premier Division, the highest level of British American Football.

Ice Hockey and roller derby

Sheffield is home to the Sheffield Steelers professional ice hockey team who play out of the 9.300 seater

and are known as one of the top teams in the UK, regularly selling out the arena. They have the 28th highest average attendance rating in Europe, and the highest in the UK. They play in the 10 team professional Elite Ice Hockey League. Sheffield is also home to the semi-professional ice hockey team Sheffield Steeldogs who play in the NIHL. Th
Sheffield Ice Hockey Academy
also are based in Sheffield, and play out of IceSheffield, competing in th
EIHA
Junior North Leagues and have had one player, Liam Kirk (ice hockey), Liam Kirk, become the first born and trained British player to be drafted into the NHL, when he was drafted in the NHL Entry Draft 189th overall in 2018 by the Arizona Coyotes. The National Hockey League's Stanley Cup was made in Sheffield in 1892. Sheffield is also home to the Sheffield Steel Rollergirls, a roller derby team.

Facilities and events

Many of Sheffield's sporting facilities were built for the

, which the city hosted in 1991, including Sheffield Arena and the

international diving and swimming complex. Ponds Forge is also the home of Sheffield City Swimming Club, a local swimming club competing in the Speedo league. The former Don Valley Stadium, Don Valley International Athletics Stadium, once the largest athletics stadium in the UK, was also constructed for the Universiade games. Following the closure and demolition of Don Valley Stadium in 2013, The Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park was established and constructed on the same site, adjacent to the English Institute for Sport. The park is designed to a collaborative project with input from numerous stakeholders including both universities in Sheffield, the English Institute of Sport Sheffield, the NHS and private medical companies. A key part of this collaboration is Sheffield Hallam University's £14 million Advanced Well-being Research Centre (AWRC), which was established along similar lines to the University of Sheffield's Advanced Manufacturing Park, Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre's (AMRC's). The site also includes teaching facilities, a stadium and research & innovation facilities. The Sheffield Ski Village was the largest artificial ski resort in Europe, before being destroyed in a series of suspected arson attacks in 2012 and 2013. The city also has six indoor climbing centres and is home to a significant community of professional climbers, including Britain's most successful competitive climber Shauna Coxsey. Sheffield was the UK's first National City of Sport and is now home to the English Institute of Sport – Sheffield, where British athletes trained for the 2012 Olympics. Sheffield also has close ties with snooker, with the city's Crucible Theatre being the venue for the World Snooker Championships. The English Institute of Sport hosts most of the top fencing competitions each year, including the National Championships for Seniors, Juniors (U20's) and Cadets (U17's) as well as the 2011 Senior European Fencing Championships. The English Squash (sport), squash open is also held in the city every year. The International Open and World Matchplay Championship bowls tournaments have both been held at

. The city also hosts the Sheffield Tigers RUFC, Sheffield Tigers rugby union, Sheffield Sharks, American Football team the Sheffield Giants, basketball, Sheffield University Bankers Hockey Club, Sheffield University Bankers Field hockey, hockey, Sheffield Steelers ice hockey and Sheffield Tigers (Speedway), Sheffield Tigers Motorcycle speedway, speedway teams. Sheffield also has many golf courses all around the city. Sheffield was selected as a candidate host city by the The FA, Football Association (FA) as part of the English 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup bid on 16 December 2009.

was chosen as the proposed venue for matches in Sheffield. The bid failed. Sheffield hosted the finish of Stage 2 of the 2014 Tour de France. Within the City limits and located just from the finish, was the ninth and final climb of the stage, the Category 4 Côte de Jenkin Road. The one point in the King of the Mountains competition was claimed by Chris Froome of Team Sky. The climb was just long at an average gradient of 10.8%. The stage was won by the eventual overall winner, Vincenzo Nibali of Astana Pro Team. IceSheffield, an Ice Rink with 2 Ice hockey rink, Olympic sized rinks, was opened in May 2003, and is home to the Sheffield Steeldogs, Sheffield Ice Hockey Academy, and Sutton Sting amongst other teams. It is the host to the yearly EIHA Conference Tournament, EIHA Nationals, and Sheffield Junior Tournament. The Sheffield Half Marathon is held annually. It has thousands of participants every year.

Culture and attractions

Sheffield made the shortlist for the first city to be designated UK City of Culture, but in July 2010 it was announced that Derry had been selected.

Attractions

The Sheffield Legends, Sheffield Walk of Fame in the City Centre honours famous Sheffield residents past and present in a similar way to the Hollywood version. Sheffield also had its own Ferris Wheel known as the Wheel of Sheffield, located atop Fargate shopping precinct. The Wheel was dismantled in October 2010 and moved to London's Hyde Park. Heeley City Farm and Graves Park are home to Sheffield's two farm animal collections, both of which are fully open to the public. Sheffield also has its own zoo; the Tropical Butterfly House, Wildlife & Falconry Centre. There are about Listed buildings in Sheffield, 1,100 listed buildings in Sheffield (including the whole of the S postcode area, Sheffield postal district). Of these, only five are Grade I listed. Sixty-seven are Grade II*, but the overwhelming majority are listed as Grade II. Compared to other English cities, Sheffield has few buildings with the highest Grade I listing: Liverpool, for example, has Listed buildings in Liverpool, 26 Grade I listed buildings. This situation led the noted architecture historian Nikolaus Pevsner, writing in 1959, to comment that the city was "architecturally a miserable disappointment", with no pre-19th-century buildings of any distinction. By contrast, in November 2007, Sheffield's Peace and Winter Gardens beat London's South Bank to gain the Royal Institute of British Architects' Academy of Urbanism "Great Place" Award, as an "outstanding example of how cities can be improved, to make urban spaces as attractive and accessible as possible". In the summer of 2016 a public art event across the city occurred called the Herd of Sheffield which raised £410,000 for the Sheffield Children's Hospital.

Music and dance

A number of major music acts, including Joe Cocker, Ace (band), Ace, Def Leppard, Paul Carrack, Arctic Monkeys, Bring Me the Horizon, Rolo Tomassi, While She Sleeps, Pulp (band), Pulp and Moloko, hail from the city. Indie (music), Indie band The Long Blondes originated from the city, as part of what the ''NME'' dubbed the New Yorkshire scene. Sheffield has been home to several well-known bands and musicians, with a notably large number of synthpop and other electronic music, electronic bands originating from the city. These include The Human League, Heaven 17, ABC (band), ABC, Thompson Twins and the more Industrial music, industrially inclined Cabaret Voltaire (band), Cabaret Voltaire and Clock DVA. This electronic tradition has continued: techno music, techno label Warp Records was a central pillar of the Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass scene of the early 1990s, and has gone on to become one of the UK's oldest and best-loved dance music labels. More recently, other popular genres of electronic music such as bassline house have originated in the city. Sheffield was once home to a number of historically important nightclubs in the early dance music scene of the 1980s and 1990s, Gatecrasher, Gatecrasher One was one of the most popular clubs in the North of England until its destruction by fire on 18 June 2007. City Hall, Barkers Pool, Sheffield (geograph 2846119)

City Hall, Barkers Pool, Sheffield (geograph 2846119)

In 1999 the National Centre for Popular Music, a museum dedicated to the subject of popular music, was opened in the city. It was not as successful as was hoped, however, and later evolved to become a live music venue; then in February 2005, the unusual steel-covered building became the students' union for

. Live music venues in the city include the Harley Hotel, Leadmill, Maggie Mays, West Street Live, the Boardwalk (nightclub), Boardwalk, Dove & Rainbow, The Greystones, The Casbah, The Cremorne, Sheffield, The Cremorne, Corporation (nightclub), Corporation, New Barrack Tavern, The Broadfield Hotel, Redstone bar and nightclub, the Sheffield City Hall, City Hall, the University of Sheffield Students' Union, the Studio Theatre at the Crucible Theatre, the O2 Academy Sheffield and The Grapes, Sheffield, The Grapes. The city is home to several local orchestras and choirs, such as the Sheffield Symphony Orchestra, the Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sheffield Chamber Orchestra, the City of Sheffield Youth Orchestra, the Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus and the Chorus UK community choir. It is also home to Music in the Round, a charitable organisation that exists to promote chamber music. It describes itself as the largest promoter of chamber music outside London. Sheffield has a thriving folk music, song and dance community. Singing and music sessions occur weekly in many pubs around the city and it also hosts the annual Sheffield Sessions Festival. The

runs a number of courses and research projects dedicated to folk culture. The tradition of singing carols in pubs around Christmas is still kept alive in the city. The Sheffield Carols, as they are known locally, predate modern carols by over a century and are sung with alternative words and verses. Although there is a core of carols that are sung at most venues, each particular place has its own mini-tradition. The repertoire at two nearby places can vary widely, and woe betide those who try to strike up a ‘foreign’ carol. Some are unaccompanied, some have a piano or organ, there is a flip chart with the words on in one place, a string quartet (quintet, sextet, septet) accompanies the singing at another, some encourage soloists, others stick to audience participation, a brass band plays at certain events, the choir takes the lead at another. It is thought this tradition is now unique in Britain. The city is home to thirteen morris dance teams – thought to be one of the highest concentration of sides in the country. Nearly all forms of the dance are represented in the city, including Cotswold morris, Cotswold (Five Rivers Morris, Pecsaetan Morris, Harthill Morris, Lord Conyer's Morris Men, Sheffield City Morris, William Morris), Border Morris, border (Boggart's Breakfast), North West morris, North West (Yorkshire Chandelier, Silkstone Greens, Lizzie Dripping), Rapper dance, rapper (Sheffield Steel Rapper) and Long Sword dance, Yorkshire Longsword.

Festivals

Sheffield hosts a number of festivals, the Grin Up North Sheffield Comedy Festival, the Sensoria Music & Film Festival and the Tramlines Festival. The Tramlines Festival was launched as an annual music festival in 2009, it is held at Hillsborough Park (the main stage) and at venues throughout Sheffield City Centre, and features local and national artists.

Theatres

Sheffield has two large theatres, the Lyceum Theatre (Sheffield), Lyceum Theatre and the Crucible Theatre, which together with the smaller Studio Theatre (Sheffield), Studio Theatre make up the largest theatre complex outside London, located in Tudor Square. The Crucible Theatre, a grade II listed building, is the home (since 1977) of the World Snooker Championships, which sees most of Tudor Square and the adjoining Winter Garden used for side events, and hosts many well-known stage productions throughout the year from local, national and international performance groups. The theatre was awarded the Barclays 'Theatre of the Year Award' in 2001. Between 2007 and 2009, the theatre underwent a £15 million refurbishment during which time major internal and external improvements were carried out. The Lyceum, which opened in 1897, serves as a venue for touring West End theatre, West End productions and operas by Opera North, as well as locally produced shows. Sheffield also has the Montgomery Theatre, a small 420 seater theatre located a short distance from Tudor Square, opposite the town hall on Surrey Street. There are also a large number of smaller amateur theatres scattered throughout the city.

Greenspace

Sheffield has a reputed 4.5 million trees and is considered to be one of the greenest cities in England and the UK. There are many parks and woods throughout the city and beyond. Containing more than 250 parks, woodlands and gardens, there are around 78 public parks and 10 public gardens in Sheffield, including 83 managed parks (13 'City' Parks, 20 'District' Parks and 50 'Local' Parks) located throughout the city. Included in the city parks category are 3 of Sheffield's 6 public gardens (the Sheffield Botanical Gardens, the

and Hillsborough Walled Gardens, with the Sheffield Winter Gardens, Beauchief Gardens and Lynwood Gardens being the separate entities). The Sheffield Botanical Gardens are on a 19-acre site located to the south-west of the city centre and date back to 1836. The site includes a large, Grade II listed, Victorian era Greenhouse, glasshouse. The Peace Gardens, neighboured next to the Sheffield Town Hall, Town Hall and forming part of the Heart of the City project, occupy a site in the centre of the city. The site is dominated by its water features, principal among which is the Goodwin Fountain. Made up of 89 individual jets of water, this fountain lies at the corner of the quarter-circle shaped Peace Gardens and is named after Stuart Goodwin, a notable Sheffield industrialist. Since their redevelopment in 1998, the Peace gardens have received a number of regional and national accolades. Hillsborough Walled Garden is located in Hillsborough Park, to the north-west of the city centre. The gardens date back to 1779 and have been dedicated to the victims of the Hillsborough Disaster since the redevelopment of the gardens in the early 1990s. Sheffield Winter Garden, The Winter Garden, lying within the Heart of the City (development), Heart of the City, is a large wood framed, glass skinned greenhouse housing some 2,500 plants from around the world. Also within the city there are a number of nature reserves which when combined occupy of land. There are also 170 woodland areas within the city, 80 of which are classed as ancient. The south-west boundary of the city overlaps with the Peak District National Park, the first national park in England (est. 1951). As a consequence, several communities actually reside within both entities. The Peak District is home to many notable, natural, features and also man-made features such as Chatsworth House, the setting for the BBC series ''Pride and Prejudice''. Sheffield City Council has created a new chain of parks spanning the hillside behind Sheffield Station. The park, known as Sheaf Valley Park, has an open-air amphitheatre and will include an arboretum. The site was once home to a medieval deer park, latterly owned by the Norfolk Heritage Park, Duke of Norfolk.

Entertainment

Valley Centertainment, located in the Lower Don Valley, Don Valley, is the main out of town leisure complex in Sheffield. It opened in the 1990s and was built on land previously occupied by steel mills across the road from what is now Sheffield Arena. It is anchored by a 20 screen Cineworld complex which is the largest in the chain and contains the only IMAX screens and 4DX screen in Sheffield. Other features of the complex include a bowling alley, several chain restaurants, an indoor play area as well as indoor laser tag. Sheffield has five other cinema complexes, four of which are in the city centre and a one at Meadowhall - Odeon Sheffield, situated on Arundel Gate in the city centre, The Light Cinemas, The Light, located on The Moor and opened in 2017 as part of the regeneration project, and Vue (cinema), Vue, located within Meadowhall Shopping Centre, are the three other mainstream cinemas in the city. The Showroom Cinema, Sheffield, Showroom, an independent cinema showing non-mainstream productions, is located in Sheaf Square, close to

. In 2002 the Showroom was voted as the best Independent cinema in the country by ''Guardian'' readers. A Curzon Cinemas complex is based in the former Sheffield Banking Company building, located just off Arundel Gate. The cinema features 4K resolution projectors and was opened in January 2015. In 2020 a drive-in cinema opened at the Don Valley Bowl. Sheffield has a thriving poetry and spoken word scene: from Wordlife's events across the city to the sustained work of Sheffield Authors; from the vibrant monthly arts night, Verse Matters, at the Moor Theatre Deli to the longstanding work of The Poetry Business, there are always opportunities for new and experienced writers to get writing and to share their work.

Nightlife

Owing to its long history, Sheffield has a large number of pubs throughout the city. West Street, running through the heart of the West End, Sheffield, West End district of the city centre, is home to many pubs, bars and clubs and attracts many student visitors. Recent additions to the city's leisure scene include

, situated just off the northern end of West Street and Millennium Square, Sheffield, Millennium Square, which are home to several popular restaurants offering international cuisine. Aagrah, an Indian restaurant in the square which serves Kashmiri cuisine, has recently been voted "Best Restaurant Group in the UK" at the prestigious British Curry Awards.

Media and film

BBC Radio Sheffield, Shoreham Street (geograph 5844248)

Sheffield has two commercial newspapers, ''Sheffield Star, The Star'' and ''Sheffield Telegraph'', both published by JPIMedia, which took over the assets of Johnston Press, Johnston Press PLC. ''The Star'' has been published daily since 1897; the ''Sheffield Telegraph'', now a weekly publication, originated in 1855. Sheffield has its own TV station; Sheffield Live!, Sheffield Live TV, a not-for-profit company which began broadcasting on 23 September 2014. SLTV has been awarded a 12-year licence to provide the digital terrestrial broadcasting service. Regional broadcasters BBC Yorkshire and Yorkshire Television also cover the city. Five local radio stations broadcast in the city. The professional services are BBC Radio Sheffield, the independent Hallam FM and its sister station Greatest Hits Radio South Yorkshire. Sheffield is also home to two FM broadcasting, FM licensed community radio stations: Sheffield Live on 93.2, and Burngreave Community Radio on 103.1. Sheffield Hospital Radio (Hospital Broadcasting Sheffield) broadcasts a 24-hour service to the Royal Hallamshire, Jessop Wing, Northern General and Weston Park Hospital and also offers a dedicated patient visiting service. The charity is operated by volunteers from studios at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital and is provided free to bedside terminals via Hospedia and on medium wave 1431am from a transmitter at the Northern General Hospital. The films and plays ''The Full Monty'', ''Threads (1984 film), Threads'', ''Looks and Smiles (film), Looks and Smiles'', ''When Saturday Comes (film), When Saturday Comes'', ''Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?'', ''The History Boys'' and ''Four Lions'' are set in the city. ''F.I.S.T. (film), F.I.S.T.'', ''Kill List'', '''71 (film), '71'' and ''The Princess Bride (film), The Princess Bride'' also include several scenes filmed in Sheffield and a substantial part of ''Among Giants'' was filmed in the city. The documentary festival Sheffield Doc/Fest has been run annually since 1994 at the Showroom Cinema, and in 2007 Sheffield hosted the Awards of the International Indian Film Academy. The 2018 series of ''Doctor Who'', which features the Park Hill, Sheffield, Park Hill estate and other Sheffield locations, premiered in Sheffield.

Public services

Sheffield is policed by South Yorkshire Police (a territorial police force) whose headquarters are in the city. Sheffield constitutes one of its four District commands (Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham being the other three). The force polices an area of approximately and is the 13th largest force in Police forces in the United Kingdom, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Oversight of South Yorkshire Police is conducted by the Police and Crime Commissioner, Alan Billings. Medical services in Sheffield are provided by three NHS Foundation Trusts: *Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust *Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust *Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides healthcare to people (primarily adults) throughout Sheffield and South Yorkshire. The trusts title includes the word 'teaching' because it undertakes training of medical students at the

and has strong links to

as well. The trust has two campuses: The West Campus containing the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, the Jessop Wing (maternity wing), Weston Park Hospital (specialist cancer treatment) and Charles Clifford Dental Hospital. The Northern General Hospital is the second 'campus' and is a large facility in the northern suburbs of Sheffield, containing the city's A&E department. Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust provides healthcare for children within the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire and the UK as a whole. On 12 June 2020, 66 confirmed deaths caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, coronavirus were reported in the Burngreave (ward)#Fir Vale, Crabtree and Fir Vale district in the three months up to May 2020. The Office for National Statistics said this was the highest number of coronavirus deaths of any area of England and Wales. Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust provides mental health services, services for people with learning disabilities, substance misuse services, long term neurological conditions, as well as a consortium of GP practises. The Sheffield Institute for Motor Neurone Disease (also known as Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience – SITraN) has been developed by the University of Sheffield. Ambulances are provided by the Yorkshire Ambulance Service, which itself is an NHS trust. Fire services in Sheffield are provided by South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. For the purposes of fire-fighting and rescue, Sheffield is divided into East and West sub-divisions. Sheffield City Council is responsible for running thirty libraries (including the Hospital Library Service at Weston Park Hospital) within the city. The largest is

which is collocated with

On Surrey Street, in Sheffield City Centre. The Sheffield Central Library also contains the Local Studies Library with 30,000 items related to local history. Domestic waste services in Sheffield are provided by Veolia#Veolia Environmental Services, Veolia Environmental Services under contract from and on behalf of the council. Council owned/run buildings are maintained by Kier Group, Kier Group Sheffield in partnership with the council. Sheffield has a District Energy system that exploits the city's domestic waste, by Sheffield Incinerator, incinerating it and converting the energy from it to electricity. It also provides hot water, which is distributed through over of pipes under the city, via two networks. These networks supply heat and hot water for many buildings throughout the city. These include not only cinemas, hospitals, shops and offices, but also universities (

and the

), and residential properties. Energy generated in a waste plant produces 60 megawatts of thermal energy and up to 19 megawatts of electrical energy from 225,000 tonnes of waste.

International relations

The Sheffield International Linking Committee promotes Sheffield overseas, especially with five Town twinning, sister cities: *Chengdu, Sichuan, China *Anshan, Liaoning, China *Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany *Donetsk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine *Estelí, Estelí Department, Nicaragua A further four cities have a Friendship Agreement with Sheffield: *Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan *Kitwe, Copperbelt Province, Zambia *Kotli, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan-administered Kashmir *Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States - This is mainly due to both cities' link with the manufacturing of steel, with both cities being known as "

". Two roads in Sheffield have been named after sister cities; a section of the A6102 in Norton is named Bochum Parkway; and a road in Hackenthorpe is named Donetsk Way. Likewise in Bochum, Germany, there is a major road called the Sheffield-Ring.

Freedom of the City

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the City of Sheffield.

Individuals

* Grace (style), His Grace Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk, 15th Duke of Norfolk : 25 October 1899. * Frederick Mappin, Sir Frederick Mappin: 25 October 1899. * Sir Henry Stephenson: 25 October 1899. * Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, Rt Hon 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum : 13 August 1902. * Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted, Rt Hon Sir Sir Marcus Samuel : 10 June 1903. * Billy Hughes, Rt Hon William Morris Hughes : 26 May 1916. * Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Jan Smuts, Rt Hon Jan Christian Smuts : 10 October 1917. * Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe : 10 October 1917. * David Lloyd George, Rt Hon David Lloyd George : 13 August 1919. * Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, Sir Douglas Haig : 13 August 1919. * Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, Sir David Beatty : 13 August 1919. * William Massey, Rt Hon William Ferguson Massey: 10 August 1921. * Alderman William Clegg (footballer), Sir William Edwin Clegg : 21 April 1922. * William Lyon Mackenzie King, Rt Hon William Lyon Mackenzie King : 9 November 1923. * Stanley Bruce, Rt Hon Stanley Bruce : 9 November 1923. * Sir Samuel Roberts, 1st Baronet, Rt Hon Sir Samuel Roberts : 30 July 1924. * Alderman List of mayors of Sheffield, Robert Styring : 30 July 1924. * Alderman List of mayors of Sheffield, William Farewell Wardley : 30 July 1924. * Henry Coward, Sir Henry Coward: 24 March 1926. * Gordon Coates, Rt Hon Joseph Gordon Coates : 30 November 1926. * Ramsay MacDonald, Rt Hon James Ramsay MacDonald : 4 December 1929. * Alderman John George Graves : 4 December 1929. * Alderman Sir Henry Stephenson, 1st Baronet, Sir Henry Stephenson : 4 December 1929. * Cecil Wilson (politician), Cecil Henry Wilson : 4 December 1929. * R. B. Bennett, Rt Hon Richard Bedford Bennett : 29 October 1930. * James Scullin, Rt Hon James Henry Scullin: 29 October 1930. * The Right Reverend Leonard Hedley Burrows: 6 June 1939. * Robert Hadfield, Sir Robert Abbott Hadfield : 6 June 1939. * Harry Brearley : 6 June 1939. * Winston Churchill, Rt Hon Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill : 6 October 1943.

Military Units

* A Battery (The Chestnut Troop) Royal Horse Artillery 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery: 7 November 2001. * 38th (City of Sheffield) Signal Regiment (Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Volunteers): 7 November 2001. * 212 (Yorkshire) Field Hospital Royal Army Medical Corps, RAMC (Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Volunteers): 7 November 2001. * The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding of Yorkshire, West Riding): 7 November 2001. * 106 (West Riding) Field Squadron 103 (Tyne Electrical Engineers) Field Squadron: 6 March 2002. * The Yorkshire Regiment: 6 September 2006. * 64 (City of Sheffield) Signal Squadron 37th Signal Regiment (United Kingdom), 37th Signal Regiment: 18 October 2014.

References and notes

External links

* * * * * *
South Yorkshire Historic Environment Characterisation
{{Authority control Sheffield, Cities in Yorkshire and the Humber Populated places established in the 1st millennium Towns in South Yorkshire Unparished areas in South Yorkshire

Etymology

History

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Teams

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Ice Hockey and roller derby

Facilities and events

Culture and attractions

Attractions

Music and dance

Festivals

Theatres

Greenspace

Entertainment

Nightlife

Media and film

Public services

International relations

Freedom of the City

Individuals

Military Units

See also

References and notes

Further reading

External links