HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Wadsley is a suburb of the City 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 ...
in
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. It stands north-west of the city centre at an approximate grid reference of . At the 2011 Census the suburb fell within the Hillsborough ward of the City. Wadsley was formerly a rural village which was engulfed by the expansion of Sheffield in the early part of the 20th century.


History

The origin of the name Wadsley is thought to come from a personal or mythological name, possibly Wad, Wadde, Wade or Wada, in conjunction with the
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
word “leah” which means an open space or glade in a wood. A
feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...
manorial Manorialism, also known as the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, sometimes forti ...
system existed in Wadsley in the
Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
under the control of Aldene.J. Edward Vickers, ''The Ancient Suburbs of Sheffield'', p.19 (1971) The
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- ...
estate of Wadesleah is recorded in the
Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of 1086 in its
genitive form In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...
of Wadesleia. 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, ...
Waltheof, the last of the Saxon lords retained
Hallamshire Hallamshire (or Hallam) is the historical name for an area of South Yorkshire, England, approximating to the current City of Sheffield local government area. The origin of the name is uncertain. The English Place-Name Society describe "Halla ...
of which Wadsley was a part; however he was beheaded in 1076 for rebellion against
William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
and his lands passed to his wife
Judith of Lens Judith of Lens (born in Normandy between 1054 and 1055, died c1090) was a niece of William the Conqueror. She was a daughter of his sister Adelaide of Normandy, Countess of Aumale and Lambert II, Count of Lens. Life In 1070, Judith married Ea ...
, with
Roger de Busli Roger de Busli (c. 1038 – c. 1099) was a Norman baron who participated in the conquest of England in 1066. Life Roger de Busli was born in or around 1038. His surname comes from the town now known as Bully (near Neufchâtel-en-Bray, mentioned ...
, first Lord of Hallamshire, holding power. Wadsley eventually became a manor under the control of the De Wadsley family; they were a knightly family of some power in southern
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
. The family had manorial rights and built a manor hall, a deer park and chapel within the parish of Ecclesfield. Their surname was first recorded in 1227,there are still Wadsleys today. The ownership of the manor of Wadsley changed many times over the following centuries. Eventually all indications of the former medieval way of life were slowly eradicated; the deer were removed from the park in 1621, Wadsley Hall was rebuilt in 1722 and the chapel was replaced by
Wadsley Parish Church Wadsley Parish Church is situated within the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It is located on Worrall Road, north west of the city centre in the suburb of Wadsley, which was formerly a village outside the city boundary. The church ...
in 1834. In 1790 Joseph Clay bought the manor of Wadsley from Michael Burton, upon his death in 1797 he bequeathed it to his daughter, Ellen, the wife of George Bustard Greaves, of Page Hall.Rotherhamweb.co.uk.
Gives details of Joseph Clay.
As Lord of the Manor, Greaves commissioned a survey of the manor in 1802, this was carried out by the Sheffield surveyors Fairbanks. The survey revealed 200 people as landowners within the manor and between them they possessed almost 2,400 acres. The largest landowner at the time was Samuel Turner who owned almost 650 acres, most individuals held smallholdings of between one and three acres."''Wadsley Church In Victorian Times''", Joe Castle, (Booklet) No ISBN Gives details of 1802 survey. From the 16th century up to the 1920s Wadsley’s main industry was cutlery manufacturing; at the end of the 19th century there were over 100 cutler's shops in the village. The industry declined as the small workshops of Wadsley lost business to the large cutlery works of Sheffield. It is generally believed that the last
little mester A little mester is a self-employed worker who rents space in a factory or works from their own workshop. They were involved in making cutlery or other smallish items such as edge tools (i.e. woodworking chisels). The term is used almost exclusivel ...
operating as a knife maker in Wadsley was Harry Horsfield who died in 1938."''A Wisewood Diary''", Joe Castle, no ISBN, Gives info on Anne Eliza Longden, almshouses and last cutler. In 1901 Sheffield extended its boundaries and part of Wadsley came within the city; a further expansion in 1923 brought the rest of the village inside the city boundary. The recent history of Wadsley has been its development as a residential suburb with many houses built, especially in the area between Wadsley Lane and Langsett Avenue, in the 1930s."''A History of the Manor and Parish of Wadsley''", H. Kirk-Smith, (Booklet) Gives historical details."''The Wadsley That Was''", Keith Savage, gives historical details. The original manor house that stood on Laird Road was controversially sold and demolished in 1958 to make way for the Laird Road Flats - after this happened the Wadsley conservation campaign ceased to be a coherent force. Over the next fifteen years most of the small old shops, houses and workshops of Wadsley were demolished virtually without opposition - culminating in the City Council's Wadsley redevelopment programme in 1968.


Historical buildings and eminent residents

Due to its former rural setting Wadsley has several country houses which are still standing within the now built-up suburb.


Wadsley House

Wadsley House () is a grade two
listed building 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 ...
which stands on a
cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet. The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology ...
called The Drive.
George Calvert Holland George Calvert Holland (1801–1865) was an English physician, phrenologist, mesmerist and homeopath. In later life he was active in politics and the railway boom. Life Holland was born 28 February 1801 at Pitsmoor, Sheffield; his artisan father ...
M.D. lived in the house in the mid-19th century; his writings include “The Philosophy of Animated Nature” and “Vital Statistics of Sheffield”. George Miller, a railway contractor who was involved in building the
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsb ...
bought the house in 1851 and lived there till his death in 1884. The house is now a social club with a bowling green attached."Street Names Of Sheffield", Peter Harvey, Page 99 Gives details of Wadsley House.


Wadsley Hall

Wadsley Hall, () which stands in Far Lane, is also a grade two listed building and a structure of some antiquity. It was probably built in the 15th century although it was substantially modernised in 1722 by George Bamforth, the then lord of the manor. Sir Robert Wadsley, Lord of the Manor, built a chapel on to the east end of the hall in the 15th century; this was partly destroyed in the reign of
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...
although not completely demolished until 1813."''The Church Above The Bridge''", David Maddock, Page 9 Gives details of Wadsley Hall Chapel. From 1812 it was the home of the Fowlers, one of Wadsley’s most famous families. Sir John Fowler (1817–1898) was a famous railway engineer who co-constructed the
Forth Bridge The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...
and completed many other railway projects around the world. William Fowler established the Sheepbridge coal and iron works near
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 ...
while Robert Fowler had a large solicitor's practice in
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
. There is also some speculation that the artist
Thomas Creswick Thomas Creswick (5 February 181128 December 1869) was a British landscapist and illustrator, and one of the best-known members of the Birmingham School of landscapists. Biography Creswick was born in Sheffield (at the time it was within Der ...
(1811–1869) was born at Wadsley Hall, although two other Sheffield locations are claimed as his birthplace."''Old Ordnance Survey Maps (Hillsborough 1902)''", Notes by Sylvia Pybus, , Gives Wadsley Hall as possible birthplace of Thomas Creswick. After
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
the estate was broken up with much of the surrounding land sold off for new housing.


Loxley House

Despite its name, Loxley House () is within the Wadsley area; it is also grade two listed and was originally built in 1795 by Thomas Halliday. The house was completely rebuilt it in 1826 by Thomas Payne.''"Old Sheffield Town"'', J. Edward Vickers, Gives info on Loxley House.


Wadsley Grove

Wadsley Grove () stands just off Worrall Road in a secluded situation being well screened by trees. It was the home of John Livesey who was vicar of St. Philip's Church, Shalesmoor in Sheffield between 1831 and 1870.The Story of St. Philip's Church.
Gives details of John Livesey.
In 1872 Wadsley Grove was purchased by John Marples, a wine merchant who acquired the "Wine and Spirit Commercial Hotel" on the corner of Fitzalan Square, Sheffield. Later known as the Marples Hotel, it was destroyed by bombing in December 1940 with much loss of life. Sheffield's first ever female Lord Mayor
Ann Eliza Longden Ann Eliza Longden (1869 – 12 August 1952) was a British politician, the first woman to serve as Lord Mayor of Sheffield. Living at Wadsley Grove, Longden joined the Conservative Party, and in 1904 she stood unsuccessfully to become a Poor L ...
, who was elected in 1936, lived at Wadsley Grove.


Wadsley Almshouses

The Wadsley Almshouses are situated on Worrall Road next to the parish church and across the road from the Sportsman pub. They are a collection of six cottages built on land then known as "The Meadows" purchased in April 1839 by Miss Hannah Rawson of Wardsend House,
Owlerton Owlerton () is a suburb of the city of Sheffield, it lies northwest of the city centre near the confluence of the River Don and River Loxley. Owlerton was formerly a small rural village with its origins in the Early Middle Ages; it became par ...
. They were constructed as a charitable project to be occupied by six poor widows of the Wadsley Church District. The total cost of the project came to £1,000 1s 5d. In June 1973 the almshouses were designated as a Grade II listed building.


Notable residents

The Victorian writer
Reuben Hallam Reuben Hallam (1818 – 1908), also known as Wadsley Jack, was an English carver, cutler, musician and author, from the Wadsley district of Sheffield, England, who wrote in the Sheffield dialect. He is best known for the autobiographical wor ...
, also known as "Wadsley Jack", was from the area. He is best known for the 1866 book, ''Wadsley Jack; or, the Humours and Adventures of a Travelling Cutler''. A pub, ''The Wadsley Jack'', is named in his honour. One of Wadsley’s more famous modern residents was the politician
Roy Hattersley Roy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley, (born 28 December 1932) is a British Labour Party politician, author and journalist from Sheffield. He was MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook for over 32 years from 1964 to 1997, and served as Depu ...
who spent his youth living on Wadsley Lane and then Airedale Road; this early part of his life is covered in the book, “A Yorkshire Boyhood”. His mother Enid was Lord Mayor of Sheffield in 1981. Professional cyclist and
Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
double gold medallist
Malcolm Elliott Malcolm Elliott (born 1 July 1961) is a former English professional cyclist, whose professional career has lasted from 1984 to 1997 when he retired and from 2003 up to 2011 when he made his comeback in British domestic racing. Known as a sprin ...
was brought up in Prescott Road, Wadsley. The tool collector and industrial historian
Ken Hawley Ken Hawley (born Kenneth Wybert Hawley, 29 June 1927 – 15 August 2014) was a British tool specialist and industrial historian: he was a tool retailer, collector of tools and authority on the history of Sheffield manufacturing trades. He amass ...
lived in Wadsley from the age of three until his death. The English
baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...
,
Peter Glossop Peter Glossop (6 July 1928 – 7 September 2008) was an English baritone who was the only Englishman to have sung Verdi's great tragic baritone roles at La Scala, Milan. He rose from humble beginnings in Yorkshire to become a leading perfo ...
was born in Wadsley.


Amenities

Wadsley has two schools, Marlcliffe Community Primary School on Marlcliffe Road and Wisewood Community Primary School on Rural Lane they are both for pupils aged between 4 and 11. Wisewood School and Community Sports College was closed in the Summer of 2011 and demolished in March 2012. The school was merged with
Myers Grove School Myers Grove School was a secondary school (11–16) in the north-west of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The school was bidding to become a businesses and enterprise college. It has now merged with Wisewood School & Community Sports Co ...
which was also demolished to form the new
Forge Valley School Forge Valley School is a secondary school and sixth form located in Sheffield, South Yorkshire England. It replaced Myers Grove School and Wisewood School & Community Sports College. The Headteacher is Dale Barrowclough. The school has its own ...
on Wood Lane at
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 ...
.Postcode Gazette.
Gives details of school demolition.
There are four
public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
s in the area, The Wadsley Jack (formerly called The Star) which has the original village
stocks Stocks are feet restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law describing ...
outside, The Rose and Crown (often referred to as The Top House) is 150 years old and was extended in the 1980s by knocking through into adjoining cottages.www.coffeebeer.co.uk.
Gives details of Rose and Crown pub.
The Horse and Jockey stands where the original medieval village green was at the top of Wadsley Lane. The Sportsman is on Worrall Road near the church. The few shops in Wadsley are of the smaller variety scattered across the village, the nearest main shopping area is in nearby Hillsborough.


Wadsley Common

Wadsley
Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...
() is a piece of land owned and held in trust by
Sheffield City Council Sheffield City Council is the city council for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently under No Overall Contr ...
which is a public open space used as an area of recreation and exercise by the general public. Combined with the adjoining Loxley Common it covers and is an area of heather, oak, silver birch, bracken and grassland which was declared a local nature reserve in 1999. The Wadsley section of the common is designated as
access land The freedom to roam, or "everyman's right", is the general public's right to access certain public or privately owned land, lakes, and rivers for recreation and exercise. The right is sometimes called the right of public access to the wilderness ...
under the
Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c. 37), known informally as the CRoW Act or "Right to Roam" Act is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament affecting England and Wales which came into force on 30 November 2000. Right to roam The Act imp ...
. Formerly there were four football pitches which belonged to Wadsley church on a section of the common but these are unused at present. To the north of the common is Hillsborough
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
club laid out in 1920. For a period of 130 years from 1784 the common was in private hands and was an area of mining and quarrying, with
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...
and
ganister A ganister (or sometimes gannister ) is hard, fine-grained quartzose sandstone, or orthoquartzite,Jackson, J. A., 1997, ''Glossary of geology'', 4th ed. American Geological Institute, Alexandria. used in the manufacture of silica brick typically ...
being mined and
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
quarried for building. There were two
drift mines Drift mining is either the mining of an ore deposit by underground methods, or the working of coal seams accessed by adits driven into the surface outcrop of the coal bed. A drift mine is an underground mine in which the entry or access is above ...
on the common, the Bower mine and the Top mine. The Bower mine was owned by the
Oughtibridge Oughtibridge ( ) is a residential village in the north of Sheffield within the bounds of Bradfield civil parish. The village stands north-west of the city centre in the valley of the River Don. The population of the village has increased si ...
Silica Firebrick Company and operated between 1890 and 1940 while the Top mine probably ceased production in 1943."''The Forgotten Mines of Sheffield''", Ray Battye, Gives mining information on Wadsley Common. In 1913 the common was given to the council by the descendants of the Payne family, who gave "seventy five acres of land at Loxley Common and Wadsley Common to be used by the public for the purpose of exercise and recreation, and to be known as Loxley Chase". The Common is managed by The Parks, Woodlands and Ranger Service who work for Sheffield City Council. The management plan was drawn up in consultation with local land owners, members of the public, representatives from the Wadsley and Loxley Commoners and local ecologists. The overall broad aim of the plan is: "To maintain and enhance the Commons as a wildlife, landscape, historical and recreational resource for the enjoyment of the local community and visitors alike."The Friends of Loxley and Wadsley Common.
Gives details of Wadsley Common.

Gives details of Wadsley Common.


References


External links

* {{Districts of Sheffield Suburbs of Sheffield History of Sheffield