Open up Sheffield castle remains!

[Greybeard 10]

Couldn't rebuild it. We would have to knock down a large part of central Sheffield. This castle was one of the biggest in the country. If you want an idea of size have a look at the area covered by Warwick or Windsor

 

A large part of central Sheffield is stretching it a bit - in fact it is little more than the current site of the Castle Markets.

 

The castle itself occupied the area bounded by Waingate, Castlegate, the pedestrianised part of Exchange street and the river Sheaf which now flows underground a little way down the open part of Exchange street.

 

The Outer Bailey, or Castle Yards, occupied a much larger area, from Exchange street down to Pond hill.

 

Any exposure of what remains of the castle will involve a lot of digging. The 1927 excavations found the bottom of the castle ditch 33 feet below the current level of exchange street !

 

It is certainly a worthwhile venture as there is plenty of archaeology to explore and it would put Sheffield on the 'Heritage' map. There is an earlier Norman wooden castle and also the remains of an Anglo-Saxon 'Hall'.

Edited May 5, 2010 by Greybeard

[duckweed 10]

I understood from what I read also includes Angel Street. the old coop buildings Primark.

[algy 11]

Maybe they could save the old town hall from ruin while they are at it and make a hertitage area there.

 

That raises an interesting question! The old Town Hall probably sits on part of the castle. So which do you preserve?

[Greybeard 10]

I understood from what I read also includes Angel Street. the old coop buildings Primark.

 

There is a plan of the castle and the outer bailey here -

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_Castle

 

Waingate, Haymarket, the bottom of Fitzalan square (used to be Jehu lane) look to be the western boundary to the whole complex.

 

And a plan of the 1928 excavations here.

 

http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/picturesheffield.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.refno=y00869

 

The old town hall stands on what used to be the castle green - Castle street used to be called Castle Green Head.

[BillyWhiz 10]

There is a small book on the history of the castle including the tunnels they found when building the shops. They have it in the shop near the Millenium Gallery. May have it in one of the museum shops. Theres a tunnel that runs all the way down to the river. Seems odd. If the besiegers of the castle had known they could have just gone up the tunnel and planted explosives.

 

Hi Duckweed, the 'tunnel' was a sewage outlet that went into the Don.

A team of 'miners' did attempt to dig a tunnel under the river to the castle but were thwarted by the alluvial rock under the Don. Alluvial rock is too porous to dig tunnels under rivers etc.

 

However, the Queen's Pocket Pistol soon relieved the castle into parliamentarians hands.

[BillyWhiz 10]

Couldn't rebuild it. We would have to knock down a large part of central Sheffield. This castle was one of the biggest in the country. If you want an idea of size have a look at the area covered by Warwick or Windsor

 

Hi again Duckweed, Sheffield Castle is a pet subject of mine. The castle's footprint is actually contained within the present footprint of Castle Market. The remains of the bastion tower and gate house are actually inside the market. The inner courtyard is one of the few remaining bits and is located at the rear of the market and can be visited on Thursdays. You need to look at Fairbank's maps of the 1700s to get a good feel of the size of the castle.

 

It's nice to hear that people are curious about it:)

Edited May 5, 2010 by BillyWhiz

[Greybeard 10]

I understood from what I read also includes Angel Street. the old coop buildings Primark.

 

Just thought....the old Co-Op buildings did cover the castle site, but these were the B&C Central Stores built on Exchange street in 1929. They suffered extensive bomb damage during in 1940 and Castle Markets were later built on the same site.

 

Photo here -

 

http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/picturesheffield.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.refno=s15487

[duckweed 10]

They said something about Burtons having remains underneath. Would that be where Primark was? and is the area next to it the Bullring?

[P00D0026 10]

I've stood outside castle market everyday for years waiting for the bus and never realised that there was a castle even with the massive clue in the name you learn something new everyday.

[P00D0026 10]

and yes I do feel a bit thick now

[duckweed 10]

I had a look at Fairbanks drawing, although the main part of the castle seems to be where the markets are in the fork of the Don and the Sheaf there seems to be fortification or ditch further along too along the Sheaf. At the back of Castle folds (presumably where they kept livestock) Then there is the Bull Stakes. Wasn't Ponds forge where they kept their fish stocks?

[Greybeard 10]

The 'Ponds' area would the manorial fish farm in medieval times. The Normans introduced fish farming and many large manors and monasteries had fish farms.

 

Ponds Forge is reputed to be the site of the 'Lord's Mill'. This was the corn mill driven by a water wheel and owned by the lord of the manor. The 'Town Mill' was at Millsands.