Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

is a geographically diverse city in England. It nestles in the eastern foothills of the Pennines and 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 Sheaf may refer to: * Sheaf (agriculture), a bundle of harvested cereal stems * Sheaf (mathematics), a mathematical tool * Sheaf toss, a Scottish sport * River Sheaf, a tributary of River Don in England * ''The Sheaf'', a student-run newspaper se ...

, Rivelin, Loxley and

Porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., ...

. As such, much of the city is built on hillsides, with views into the city centre or out to the countryside. The city is roughly one third urban, one third rural and one third in the

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorla ...

. At its lowest point the city stands just 29 metres above sea level at

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 ...

on the Rotherham border, rising up to over 500 m in some parts of the city to a peak of 548m at

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 ...

on the Derbyshire border; however, 89% of the housing in the city is between 100 and 200 metres above sea level. Over 95% of the population resides in the main urban area. Sheffield has more trees per person than any city in Europe, outnumbering people 4 to 1. It has over 170 woodlands covering 28.27 km² (6985 acres), 78 public parks covering 18.30 km² (4522 acres) and 10 public gardens. Added to the 134.66 km² (33,275 acres) of national park and 10.87 km² (2686 acres) of water this means that 61% of the 362.38 km² that the city encompasses is greenspace. Sheffield also has more types 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 ...

than any city in the UK. As well as urban, parkland and woodland it has agricultural and arable land, moors, meadows and freshwater based habitats. Large parts of the city are designated as Site of Special Scientific Interest including several urban areas.

Location

Sheffield is located at . Historically, Sheffield was 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, before this, the Saxon shire of

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 "Hall ...

. This area is now part of the county of

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and metropolitan county, metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of City of Doncaster, Doncaster and City of Sh ...

, and borders on Nottinghamshire's forests and the

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 ...

. The city lies directly next to

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 ...

with the M1 designating much of the border between them. Although Barnsley Metropoliton Borough also borders Sheffield to the north, the town itself is a few miles further. Sheffield lies in the eastern foothills of the Pennines, between the main upland range and

Peak District National Park Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-d ...

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. The southern border is shared with

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 ...

. Over the past hundred years this has been moved south as the Sheffield urban area has grown to encompass formerly rural Derbyshire villages. The Sheffield metropolitan area includes 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 Di ...

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 Barnsley which makes up the county of

as well as the small towns and villages of neighbouring

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 populatio ...

and North

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 trad ...

that make up the

Sheffield city region 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 ...

which has a population of 1,811,701 in 2003. These include Eckington,

Worksop Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located east-south-east of Sheffield, close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, on the River Ryton and not far from th ...

Killamarsh Killamarsh is a village and civil parish in North East Derbyshire, England, bordering Rotherham to the north and Sheffield to the north-west. Killamarsh is surrounded by, in a clockwise direction from the north, Rother Valley Country Park, th ...

Dronfield Dronfield is a town in North East Derbyshire, England, which includes Dronfield Woodhouse and Coal Aston. It lies in the valley of the River Drone between Chesterfield and Sheffield. The Peak District National Park is to the west. The nam ...

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 ...

and

Bolsover Bolsover is a market town and the administrative centre of the Bolsover District, Derbyshire, England. It is from London, from Sheffield, from Nottingham and from Derby. It is the main town in the Bolsover district. The civil parish for th ...

. These areas all form an economic base for Sheffield.

Geology and mineral exploitation

The oldest rocks found in the area, formed around 320 million years ago, are of the Carboniferous Period (including Millstone Grit,

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 ...

and Coal Measures), when the region was tropical. Carboniferous rocks in Europe generally consist of a repeated sequence of limestone and/or

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 ...

, shale and

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 ...

beds. The Carboniferous coal beds provided much of the fuel for power generation during 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 ...

. (Another natural source of fuel in the area was

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient ...

, the neighbouring peat moors having started forming around 10,000 years ago). The South Yorkshire Coalfield, formerly in the West Riding of Yorkshire (of which Sheffield was traditionally part), was one of the chief sources of mineral wealth in the region. Several types of coal were present in the county, from bituminous (ideal for domestic heating) to "Thick Coal", of a semi-anthracitic quality, appropriate for use in iron-smelting and in engine furnaces. Associated with the Upper Coal Measures were valuable iron ore deposits, occurring in the form of nodules. Large quantities of locally occurring

fireclay Fire clay is a range of refractory clays used in the manufacture of ceramics, especially fire brick. The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines fire clay very generally as a "mineral aggregate composed of hydrous silicates of alumin ...

were also exploited, as well as

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 ...

(a clay used to make

refractory In materials science, a refractory material or refractory is a material that is resistant to decomposition by heat, pressure, or chemical attack, and retains strength and form at high temperatures. Refractories are polycrystalline, polyphase, ...

furnace linings).

Rivers and streams

The city of Sheffield derives its name from the

River Sheaf The River Sheaf in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, flows northwards, past Dore, through Abbeydale and north of Heeley. It then passes into a culvert, through which it flows under the centre of Sheffield before joining the River Don. T ...

, which until the 17th century was written as ''Scheth'' or ''Sheath''. Sidney Oldall Addy equates the origins of this word 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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''shed'' (as in '' water-shed'') or ''sheth'', which mean to divide, or separate. Historically, the Sheaf, along with

Meers Brook The Meers Brook is a stream in Sheffield, England and one of the main tributaries of the River Sheaf. The Meers Brook originates in Gleadless and flows downhill through Gleadless Valley and Meersbrook then, culverted, continues underneath Heel ...

and a minor tributary,

Limb Brook The Limb Brook is a stream in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It rises at the village of Ringinglow, flowing east through Whirlow and Ecclesall Woods into Abbeydale in the Beauchief area, where it merges with the River Sheaf. Near this ...

, formed part of the border separating the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms 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= , ...

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 ...

. Limb Brook rises at the village of

Ringinglow Ringinglow is a village in the western section of Sheffield, England. It is on the western border of Ecclesall Ward, and although it is within the boundary of Sheffield, it is self-contained, being entirely surrounded by open countryside. The ...

, flowing east to merge with the Sheaf and it was close to this point that part of the stream was diverted to provide the

goit A leat (; also lete or leet, or millstream) is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond. Other ...

for the

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 ...

millpond. The source of the River Sheaf itself is the union of Totley Brook and Old Hay Brook and its main tributaries are

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 ...

and

. (Totley Brook passes south of

Totley Totley is a suburb on the extreme southwest of the City of Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. Lying in the historic county boundaries of Derbyshire, Totley was amalgamated into the city of Sheffield in 1933, and is today part of the Dore ...

and meets Old Hay Brook at Needham's Dyke). The Sheaf flows northwards to join the River Don near Blonk Street Bridge in the city centre. This lower section of the River Sheaf together with the River Don, between the present Blonk Street and

Lady's Bridge Lady's Bridge is the oldest bridge across the River Don in the City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the central section of the city, linking the Wicker to the north with Waingate to the south. History The first bridge The original woo ...

, formed part of the perimeter of

Sheffield Castle Sheffield Castle was a castle in Sheffield, England, constructed at the confluence of the River Sheaf and the River Don, possibly on the site of a former Anglo-Saxon long house, and dominating the early town. A motte and bailey castle had been ...

. Porter Brook's source is just inside the

, to the west of the city, at Clough Hollow, also near Ringinglow. From here it flows eastward to meet the Sheaf, at a point now located underneath

Sheffield Midland 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 ...

The River Don rises in the Pennines and flows for eastwards, through the Don Valley, via

Penistone Penistone ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, which had a population of 22,909 at the 2011 census. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is west of Barnsley, n ...

, Sheffield,

Mexborough Mexborough is a town in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. Situated between Manvers and Denaby Main, it lies on the River Don close to where it joins the River Dearne, and the A6023 road runs through the town. It is contiguo ...

Conisbrough Conisbrough () is a town within the City of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is roughly midway between Doncaster and Rotherham, and is built alongside the River Don at . It has a ward population (Conisbrough and Denaby) of 14,333. ...

and Stainforth. The river's major tributaries are the Loxley, the Rivelin, the

, the

Rother Rother may refer to: General *Rother (surname) (also sometimes spelled Röther) *Rother District, a local government district in East Sussex, England *Rother FM, an independent local radio station for Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England *Rother Kup ...

and the Dearne. The sources of the Rivers Loxley and Rivelin lie to the north west of Sheffield, on the Hallam moors above

Low Bradfield Low Bradfield is a village within the Bradfield, South Yorkshire, civil parish of Bradfield in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated within the boundary of the city of Sheffield in the upper part of the River Loxley, Loxley Valley, 6¼ mile ...

. The Loxley flows eastwards through

Damflask Reservoir Damflask Reservoir is situated at grid reference five miles (eight kilometres) west of the centre of Sheffield in the Loxley valley close to the village of Low Bradfield and within the city's boundaries. The hamlet of Stacey Bank is located ...

and joins the Rivelin 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 ...

, before flowing into the River Don at

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 pa ...

, in Hillsborough. The rivers are relatively fast flowing, especially the Rivelin, being fed by a constant release of water from the nearby moorland peat. The Rivelin's flow was exploited for centuries as a power source, driving the water wheels of up to twenty industries (forges, metal-working and flour mills), the earliest of which dates back to 1600. The

Wyming Brook The Wyming Brook is a river in the City of Sheffield, England. Its source is the Redmires Reservoirs near the Hallam Moors. It flows in a north-easterly direction for over down quite steep terrain into an underground chamber where it joins the ...

is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

in the

. Its source is the

Redmires Reservoirs The Redmires Reservoirs are a group of three reservoirs in Fulwood, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They are fed from the Hallam Moors by various small streams including Fairthorn Clough. The three reservoirs are named Upper, Middle and ...

near the Hallam Moors. It flows in a north-easterly direction for over 0.6 miles (1 km) down quite steep terrain into an underground chamber where it joins the Rivelin tunnel before it flows into the lower of the

Rivelin Dams Rivelin Dams are a pair of water storage reservoirs situated in the upper part of the Rivelin Valley, west of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. The dams are owned by Yorkshire Water and provide water to 319,000 peoplePilsley near

Clay Cross Clay Cross is a town and a civil parish in the North East Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. It is a former industrial and mining town, about south of Chesterfield. It is directly on the A61. Surrounding settlements include North W ...

, and from there flows northwards through the eastern suburbs of Sheffield to its confluence with the River Don at Rotherham. Its main tributaries are the

River Drone The River Drone is a river which flows south from its source on the Sheffield, South Yorkshire, border. It flows through Dronfield, Unstone and Unstone Green in Derbyshire before merging at Sheepbridge to the north of Chesterfield with the ...

, the

River Hipper A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wat ...

and the

River Doe Lea The River Doe Lea is a river which flows near Glapwell and Doe Lea in Derbyshire, England. The river eventually joins the River Rother near Renishaw. The river contained 1,000 times the safe level of dioxins in 1991, according to a statement ...

. Being at the confluence of several natural waterways, the development of a canal system marked an important evolution in the city's transport network, initially for commercial use and, more recently, for leisure activities. The

Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation (S&SY) is a system of navigable inland waterways (canals and canalised rivers) in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England. Chiefly based on the River Don, it runs for a length of and has 27 locks ...

(S&SY) is a system of navigable inland waterways (

canals 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 ...

and canalised rivers) in Yorkshire and

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, 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-we ...

Natural history

Sheffield's beginnings

The village of Sheffield dates back to before the beginning of the last

millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...

. It grew around a fortified building (later a castle) located at the confluence of the rivers

and

. A number of hamlets and villages grew up in the surrounding area, many around the fledgling industries that utilised the area's five fast flowing rivers, along with locally mined

and

iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...

. Surviving examples of this early industry are now maintained as museums at

, which dates back to at least the 13th century, and

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 ...

. The villages steadily grew around this industry. By the 18th century Sheffield had become a thriving market town and was already the country's leading cutlery producer.

Industrial revolution

With the coming of 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 ...

, Sheffield became one of England's fastest growing towns. It grew over ten times in size to 400,000 within the 19th century. However, this expansion had a devastating impact on the surrounding area. Smog became a regular occurrence especially in the city centre that was at the bottom of a natural bowl. The River Don became one of the most polluted rivers in Europe. In his 1937 book ''The Road to Wigan Pier'' George Orwell said that Sheffield 'could justly claim to be called the ugliest town in the Old World'. However, in the 1930s Sheffield City Council and public benefactors such as J.G.Graves started buying rural land around Sheffield in order to protect it from developers. This was one of the earliest examples of

greenbelt 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 h ...

land.

Urban area

The residential areas cover the majority of the south and north-west of the city, the most affluent areas being in the south-west. A lot of the housing is post-

World War II 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 opposing ...

due to wartime destruction of housing by German bombing and post war

slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...

. This quite often took the form of large scale apartment buildings such as Park Hill, although some have since been demolished due to poor construction and high crime rates. Large parts of the city are industrial, mainly in the

north-east The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

. These areas saw a large decline during the 1970s and 1980s. The

Sheffield Development Corporation The Sheffield Development Corporation (SDC) was created in 1988 to oversee the urban regeneration of the Lower Don Valley area of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. History The area had been the major industrial region of Sheffield but had gone ...

was created to arrest this slide. However, most of the new developments, such as 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 ...

, are in the service industry. It was also the location for most of the venues for the World Student Games and now hosts the

English Institute of Sport The English Institute of Sport (EIS), established in May 2002, is an organisation which provides sport science and medical support services to elite athletes through a nationwide network of expertise and facilities, working with Olympic and Pa ...

. Although the vast majority of the green space is outside the main urban area, all the parkland and 14.00 km² (3459 acres) of woodland is within the urban area. The largest park is

Graves Park Graves Park is a large parkland area in the South of Sheffield, between the districts of Norton, Woodseats Woodseats is a district of Sheffield, South Yorkshire in the Graves Park ward. Historically, Norton Woodseats () was a village that ...

at 0.83 km², closely followed by

Endcliffe Park Endcliffe Park is a large park in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The park was opened in 1887 to commemorate the Jubilee of Queen Victoria. When travelling West from the city centre it is the first in a series of parks and gre ...

. The largest wood is

Ecclesall Woods Ecclesall Woods is an area of woodland in south-west Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, between Abbeydale Road South and Ecclesall. It covers approximately of mature semi-natural deciduous woodland which was previously used for timber and cha ...

at 1.35 km² (340 acres).

Areas

Sheffield is made up of numerous areas that vary widely in size and history. Many of these areas developed from villages or

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...

that have become absorbed into Sheffield as the city has grown. For this reason, whilst the centre of most areas is easy to define, the boundaries of many of the areas are ambiguous. The areas are largely ignored by the administrative and political divisions of the city, instead it is divided into 28 electoral

ward 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 pris ...

s, with each ward generally covering 4–6 areas. The 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, or other poli ...

, although due to a different review cycle the ward and constituency boundaries are currently not all conterminous. While the majority of the areas are within the main urban area of Sheffield some of the outlying areas remain separated by rural land. The largest such area is Stocksbridge and

Deepcar Deepcar is a village located on the eastern fringe of the town of Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire, England. It is in the electoral ward of Stocksbridge and Upper Don, approximately north-west of Sheffield city centre.Ordnance survey. 1:25000. c ...

, which contains around 13,500 people. The rural two thirds of the city contains under 3,000 people.

Climate

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 ...

. Between 1971 and 2000 Sheffield averaged 824.7 mm of rain per year, with December the wettest month (91.9 mm) and July the driest (51.0 mm). The average yearly high temperature is about 12 °C (53 °F), and yearly lows tend to remain around an average of 6.5 °C (44 °F). July was also the hottest month, with an average maximum temperature of 20.8 °C. The average minimum temperature in January and February was 1.6 °C. Due to the differences in altitude, the weather can be vastly different over various parts of the city.

and Stocksbridge tend to be among the first to receive snowfall and get heavier downpours. The high ground of the

to the west of Sheffield usually shelters the city from high winds in the prevailing direction, meaning the city is usually spared the worst impacts of intense storms in other areas of the country. In certain circumstances however, if the winds align perfectly with the river valleys, Sheffield can actually be disproportionately affected, as was the case with 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 ...

in 1962; four people died and 150,000 houses in the city suffered damage.

Pollution

The pollution problem was at its most severe in the 1960s, when Sheffield was one of the most polluted cities in Europe. Since that time, due to council measures started in the 1950s and an increase in efficiency in the steel industry, it has improved greatly. In a 2005 survey Tinsley (48 parts per billion (ppb) of oxides of nitrogen (NOx)) still came 9th in a ranking of the UK pollution hotspots, while the city centre (43 ppb of NOx) remained above the government's recommended level of 21ppb NOx. It is, however, important to evaluate several aspects of air pollution, and especially to take into consideration overall average values, rather than localized peak values sometimes cited. Th
UK National Air Quality Information Archive
offers almos
real-time monitoring
"current maximum" air pollution measurements for Sheffield (City Centre and Tinsley districts) as well as many other UK towns and cities. The

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

'
COST Action C11
(

COST In production, research, retail, and accounting, a cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something or deliver a service, and hence is not available for use anymore. In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in whic ...

- European Cooperation in Science and Technology) cites, in its conclusions o
"Case studies in Greenstructure Planning"
involving 15 European countries:- " ''Sheffield is fortunate to have one of the strongest green structures of any city in the UK. This green structure, which at its core is linked by watercourses, underlies the City. The effectiveness of the river system as the core of the green structure is supplemented by: the agricultural area, the moorland, the woodlands and water features which lie outside the built-up area. The public open spaces within the built-up area and extensive private gardens, which cover much of the surface of the City outside its core area, are also linked to this system'' ", and " ''All the features of the green structure in effect work together to make the City more environmentally sustainable: for example, together they act as a sponge to reduce flash flooding; they support a relatively high level of biodiversity, particularly because of the extent of the gardens and the existence of the natural corridors along the rivers; the valleys drain cooler air down from the hilltops towards the city centre and the industrial areas beyond, improving air quality and also temperatures in the summer in the built-up core'' ".

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 ...

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 in the Sheffield 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 green belt surrounds the Sheffield built-up area, avoiding particularly further sprawl towards the Peak District National Park. Larger outlying towns and villages within the borough such as

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 ...

Worrall Worrall is a small rural village in the civil parish of Bradfield, South Yorkshire, England, north west of Sheffield city centre. It has an area of 233 hectares, and population of 1,306 as of 2006, and borders the Sheffield suburbs of Wad ...

, Stocksbridge/

Wharncliffe Side Wharncliffe Side is a village in South Yorkshire, England, northwest of Sheffield and within the city borough. Wharcliffe Side is located on the west bank of the River Don, approximately northwest of Sheffield city centre, and northwest of ...

are exempt from the green belt area. However, smaller villages, hamlets and rural areas such as Totley Bents,

, Storrs,

Dungworth Dungworth (archaic ''Dungeworth'',) is a hamlet in the civil parish of Bradfield, west of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. The village also gives its name as a surname; a 'Dungworth' is recorded living at the nearby village of Storrs ...

Holdworth Holdworth is a small rural hamlet situated within the boundary of the City of Sheffield, England. It is located northwest of the city centre at an altitude of 280 metres above sea level, giving it extensive views south over the upper Loxley val ...

, Stacey Bank, Brightolmlee, Ewden Village, Plumbley, Midhopestones,

Bolsterstone Bolsterstone is a village in South Yorkshire, England, south of Stocksbridge, and 8.5 miles to the northwest of the City of Sheffield and within the city borough. It lies on the border of the Peak District national park. Bolsterstone had a pop ...

, Whitley, Butterthwaite are 'washed over' by the designation. Much semi-rural land on the city's fringes is also included within. The green belt was first adopted in 1983, and the size in the borough in 2017 amounted to some . A subsidiary aim of the green belt is to encourage recreation and leisure interests, with rural landscape features, greenfield areas and facilities including Shire Brook Valley, Beighton marsh, the prior RAF Norton Aerodrome area, The Oakes park and holiday centre, Totley rifle range, Sheffield Country Walk route, Balfour and Sheffield Tigers sports grounds and several golf courses, Beauchief Abbey and hall, Whirlow brook and valley, Bole Hill, Fox Hagg Nature Reserve and campsite, Whitwell Moor, Underbank with Midhope and More Hall reservoirs, as well as the toposcope near Ringinglow by

, by the Peak District boundary.

References

Case Study—Sheffield, UK
. Greenstructures and Urban Planning. (Accessed 27 September 2005)
Trees & Woodlands in Sheffield
Sheffield City Council (Accessed 11 August 2006)

European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research (Accessed 11 August 2006)

research by Calor Gas Ltd. (Accessed 2 September 2006)

The Met Office. (Accessed 27 September 2005)
Neighbourhood profiles
Population figures for Sheffield districts. (Accessed 27 September 2005)
Council website
Information of parkland and woodland. (Accessed 30 September 2005) {{DEFAULTSORT:Geography Of Sheffield