![Shepherd Wheel April 2017 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Shepherd_Wheel_April_2017_01.jpg)
Shepherd Wheel is a working
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
in a former water-powered grinding workshop situated on 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 ...
in the south-west of the
City of Sheffield
The City of Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Sheffield, the town of Stocksbridge and larger village of Chapeltown and part of the Peak ...
, England. One of the earliest wheels on the River Porter, it is one of the few remaining—and effectively complete—examples of this kind of enterprise, one that used to be commonplace in the Sheffield area. Its 5.5 m (18 ft) diameter overshot
water wheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or buckets ...
is powered from a large
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...
stocked with water diverted from the Porter Brook. The workshops, dam, goit and weir are
Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
,
and the site is a
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
.
History and buildings
In 1584, William Beighton, a cutler of Stumperlowe left to his sons in his will
"all my interest terms titles and possession which I have in and upon one watter whele called Potar Whele which I have of the grant of the said Lord".
This is the earliest reference to a wheel on the site. The description of this wheel matches one that a Mr Shepherd held the tenancy of in 1794. There were no similar wheels in the area, which leads us to the conclusion that the references are to the same wheel. From the 1820s, the wheel was occupied by a family called Hinde. They worked there for over a hundred years until the end of Shepherd Wheel's working life in about 1930.
In William Beighton's time, the land was originally owned by
Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury
Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury, 7th Earl of Waterford, 13th Baron Talbot, KG (20 November 1552 – 8 May 1616), styled Lord Talbot from 1582 to 1590, was a peer in the peerage of England. He also held the subsidiary titles of 16th Baron ...
, who was Lord of the Manor of Sheffield. When he died, his estates passed to Thomas Howard, who became Duke of Norfolk. The land remained with the Dukes of Norfolk until 1900, when
Sheffield City Council
Sheffield City Council is the city council for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently under No Overall Contr ...
bought
Whiteley Woods
The Porter Valley Parks are a series of public parks and green spaces in Sheffield, England. Lying along the valley of Porter Brook, they run radially out from the city centre, providing a direct green-space connection to the Peak District nati ...
to make a public park.
Shepherd Wheel was included in this public park. Over many years, local historical societies campaigned for its restoration and the site was opened as a museum in 1962. After closure in 1997 the site was placed under the management of Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust in 1998.
The present buildings date from c1780, during the time that Edward Shepherd—after whom the site is now named—was the tenant of the wheel (1749–1794). Throughout the 19th century the wheel was held by the Hinde family, who operated it until its closure in 1930.
In 1900,
Sheffield City Council
Sheffield City Council is the city council for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently under No Overall Contr ...
bought the land surrounding the wheel from the
Duke of Norfolk
Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the county of Norfolk. The current duke is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk. The dukes ...
to make a public park. After a campaign by local history societies, the wheel was restored and opened as a museum in 1962. The museum was closed in 1997 and passed to the management of 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 ...
in 1998.
Museum
Since 1998, Shepherd Wheel has been run as a museum by 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 ...
. The museum includes a water wheel, two grinding hulls (rooms with multiple large grinding wheels, operated by the water wheel, built into the floor) and grinding wheels; there is also a collection of tools and equipment on display within the grinding hulls.
The Shepherd Wheel reopened (after a restoration project partly funded by a £500,000 Heritage Lottery grant) on 31 March 2012.
File:Shepherd Wheel.JPG, Buildings
File:Shepherd Wheel millpond April 2017 02.jpg, Millpond
File:Shepherd Wheel interior April 2017 01.jpg, Grinding wheels in a workshop
See also
*
Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet
Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet is an industrial museum in the south of the City of Sheffield, England. The museum forms part of a former steel-working site on the River Sheaf, with a history going back to at least the 13th century. It consists of ...
*
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 ...
*
Listed buildings in Sheffield
There are about 1,000 listed buildings in Sheffield. Of these only five are Grade I listed, and 42 are Grade II*, the rest being Grade II listed. The buildings vary from a listed facade to the largest listed building in Europe ( Park Hill).
...
References
Further reading
*Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust (2012) ''Shepherd Wheel - A Visitor's Guide''
External links
Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust — Shepherd Wheel Workshop
{{SheffieldStructures
Museums established in 1998
Grade II listed buildings in Sheffield
Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust
Scheduled monuments in South Yorkshire
Museums in Sheffield
Technology museums in the United Kingdom
Watermills in South Yorkshire
1998 establishments in England
Porter Brook