Just been reading about Leeds being 800 yrs old yesterday, got me thinking about Sheffield, how old is it? my hubby says not as old as Leeds, but i thought it was older, any ideas folks :)

801..........

:hihi::hihi::

Dosent anyone know??

The area that is now the City of Sheffield has been occupied since at least the last ice age, but the settlements that grew to form Sheffield date from the second half of the 1st millennium, and are of Anglo-Saxon and Danish origin. In Anglo-Saxon times the Sheffield area straddled the border between the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that King Eanred of Northumbria submitted to King Egbert of Wessex at the hamlet of Dore (now a suburb of Sheffield) in 829.

Officially, about 1,200 years old.

The Romans who settled in the area that is now known as Templeborough, in the mid 1st Century CE, actually came from their previous posting in Palestine... awesome thought.

I believe the fort on Wincobank Hill is Iron-age.

A Sheffield Knife is mentioned in the Canterbury Tales, by Chaucer

Awww brilliant folks, knew it was older than Leeds :hihi:

Sheffield wasn't granted city status until 1893.

That puts a different slant on it, was it a hamlet before this?

this Leeds is so and so years old stuff is misleading as that was just the year when it got its charter...to get such a thing it was obviously already quite a significant place...in Leeds's case it can trace its roots back till at least Roman times (Leodis) and then there's Ilkley up the road (Olicarna)

Sheffield was founded in the early 12th century by the Lord of the manor, William de Lovetot. He built a castle on the site of Castle Market. In 1266 rebels burned the castle but it was rebuilt in 1270.

http://www.localhistories.org/sheffield.html - a brief history of Sheffield!

Sheffield got its Charter in 1297 and became a City in 1897 ... I think Leeds became a City about the same time. Queen Victoria did a tour round the North giving out Cityships like confetti, I think :D

oops: made a serious error. we both became Cities 1893! I should leave the facts to cgksheff to provide! :hihi: :blush:

this Leeds is so and so years old stuff is misleading as that was just the year when it got its charter...to get such a thing it was obviously already quite a significant place...in Leeds's case it can trace its roots back till at least Roman times (Leodis) and then there's Ilkley up the road (Olicarna)
Just quoting what i heard on the news and read yesterday about Leeds, it seems then that Leeds was a city long before Sheffield

I think that the comparable date is that when Sheffield was granted a royal charter in 1296.

Great question - my son asked this question last night and I was stumped

Here ya go, Mrs Hyde, a brief history of mucky L**ds for ya!

http://www.leeds365.co.uk/briefhistory2.htm

Just quoting what i heard on the news and read yesterday about Leeds, it seems then that Leeds was a city long before Sheffield

1893 for Leeds, 1893 for Sheffield. I think we had a bit of a problem getting the Town Hall finished on time for Queen Victoria to open, so we had to wait a few years until she was up this way again :hihi:

oops i made a mistake, we were made a city in 1893! :blush:

Here ya go, Mrs Hyde, a brief history of mucky L**ds for ya!

http://www.leeds365.co.uk/briefhistory2.htm

Thanks Rubydazzler, ive bookmarked the History of Sheffield to read later, you've just proved my hubby right, gawwwwwed :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :hihi::hihi:

Thanks for all your replies folks, very interesting, makes me want to know more mmmmm :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Thanks Rubydazzler, ive bookmarked the History of Sheffield to read later, you've just proved my hubby right, gawwwwwed :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :hihi::hihi:

I don't think there's anything in it really, that Leeds as an English mediaval settlement was founded within a year or two of Sheffield is true. The City status for either of us didn't come until hundreds of years down the line We're probably 800 years old as well - we're just not shouting about it ... we're too busy celebrating being home to the oldest football team in the world ;)

We have an Iron Age fort within our boundaries, I don't think Leeds has anything like that.

This made me giggle ....

By the standards of the time Sheffield was a large town. In 1768 it was described as 'very large and populous but exceedingly dirty and ill paved'.

nowt's changed much in 250 years .... :hihi:

We have an Iron Age fort within our boundaries, I don't think Leeds has anything like that.

Elland Road?

Leeds received its first market charter in 1207. The place itself is at least 1,500 years old, since it's mentioned by Bede.

The settlements that grew to form the town of Sheffield also date from sometime in the middle of the first millennium. (It was previously occupied by other inhabitants - so, very probably, was Leeds. Big rivers are nice places to live.)

At this distance, there's absolutely no way to tell which settlement was founded earlier.