Wisewood 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
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and situated north-west of the city centre. It is a residential suburb consisting almost exclusively of
council housing
Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...
, some of which has been bought by tenants under the
right to buy scheme
The Right to Buy scheme is a policy in the United Kingdom, with the exception of Scotland since 1 August 2016 and Wales from 26 January 2019, which gives secure tenants of councils and some housing associations the legal right to buy, at a large ...
. It is bordered by the adjacent suburbs of
Loxley,
Wadsley
Wadsley is a suburb of the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It stands north-west of the city centre at an approximate grid reference of . At the 2011 Census the suburb fell within the Hillsborough ward of the City. Wadsley was for ...
,
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 ...
and
Hillsborough (in whose ward the suburb is situated).
Location
The original location of Wisewood was in the
Loxley valley just before the river reached Malin Bridge and it is still shown as such on the 1:25,000 scale
Ordnance Survey
, nativename_a =
, nativename_r =
, logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg
, logo_width = 240px
, logo_caption =
, seal =
, seal_width =
, seal_caption =
, picture =
, picture_width =
, picture_caption =
, formed =
, preceding1 =
, di ...
map. The former industrial sites of ''Wisewood Forge'' and ''Wisewood Rolling Mills'' are situated in the Loxley valley as is Wisewood Cemetery. However, the name was adopted for a new housing estate built in the early 1930s higher up the hillside and overlooking the valley. People have questioned over the years why the estate was called Wisewood when it was closer to Wadsley. The houses on the lower part of the estate are close to the original location of Wisewood.
History
Prior to the 1920s, the Wisewood area was a rural location of mostly farmers' fields. There were scattered small cottages and farm buildings with the population employed as farm labourers, quarrymen, steelworkers,
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 ...
miners or in the manufacturing of
pocketknife
A pocketknife is a knife with one or more blades that fold into the handle. They are also known as jackknives (jack-knife), folding knives, or may be referred to as a penknife, though a penknife may also be a specific kind of pocketknife. A ty ...
s.
Wisewood was transformed in the late 1920s 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 ...
made the decision in 1928 to build a large housing estate there. At a council meeting on 4 April 1928 a
compulsory purchase order
A compulsory purchase order (CPO; , ) is a legal function in the United Kingdom and Ireland that allows certain bodies to obtain land or property without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for p ...
was issued to purchase just over of land for the building of the new council estate. Most of the land belonged to ''Tingle's Farm'' and ''Flander's Farm'', now both demolished.
The land was bounded by Ben Lane to the north, Wisewood Road and Hibberd Place to the south, Dykes Lane to the east and Studfield Hill to the west. A total of £17,300 was paid to the landowners as compensation. On 7 November 1931, the final house on the Wisewood estate was completed and handed over to the new owner. The estate consisted of 901 dwellings and was built at an approximate cost of £400,000.
[''"A Wisewood Diary"'', Joe Castle, No ISBN Gives history and details of amenities and landmarks.]
Amenities and landmarks
A site for a
primary
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Works
* ...
and
secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
to serve the estate was purchased by the council in 1927 at the junction of Ben Lane and Rural Lane at a cost of £1,350. Construction began in early 1929 with the junior school opening on 11 January 1932 at a cost of £17,000. The school originally accommodated 480 children; today it has a capacity of approximately 165.
[Wisewood Primary School website.](_blank)
gives details of the primary school. The secondary school was officially opened on 7 September 1933; it later changed its name to the ''Wisewood School and Community Sports College''. The school was closed in the summer of 2011 and demolished in March 2012; a new artificial grass pitch was built on the site of the school and has been integrated into the newly set up ''Wisewood Sports Centre''. 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.](_blank)
Gives details of school demolition.[Wisewood Sports Centre.](_blank)
Gives details of sports centre.
In 1930, a row of shops was constructed across the road from the schools on the site of a drained pond; these still serve the estate today and include a post office, grocers, etc. The foundation stone for Wisewood Methodist Church was laid on 4 April 1970; this church in a modern style has an adjoining community hall.
Dial House stands on Ben Lane; it was a country house for many years being so named because it had a
sun dial
A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...
over the front door. It became The Dial House
Social Club
A social club may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation, or activity. Examples include: book discussion clubs, chess clubs, anime clubs, country clubs, charity work, criminal ...
in the 1930s, finally closing in 2005.
[ Clubhistorians.co.uk.](_blank)
Gives details of Dial House Club. It is a grade II
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 ...
and has now been integrated into a new development of apartments and houses.
[www.dialhousecourt.co.uk.](_blank)
Gives details of Dial House Court.[Sheffield City Council website.](_blank)
gives details of listed buildings in Sheffield.
The only recreation area within Wisewood is the locally named Spider Park, a grassy area with very few facilities; the local community are lobbying the council to upgrade the park and provide improved amenities.
[ Friends of Spider Park.](_blank)
gives details of Spider Park. One of the largest structures in Wisewood, which often goes unnoticed, is a reinforced concrete covered
reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
just off ''Ben Lane'',
it holds 4 million gallons of water and measures .
References
{{Districts of Sheffield
Suburbs of Sheffield