Timeline of Sheffield history facts for kids

Welcome to the exciting timeline of Sheffield! This page tells you about the most important events in the history of this amazing city in England. Sheffield started as a small village next to the River Sheaf a very long time ago, around the 500s AD. People have lived in this area since the last ice age, but Sheffield really grew into a big city during the Industrial Revolution.

Ancient Times

• Around 8,000 BC (Mesolithic Age): People from the Maglemosian culture lived in the Deepcar area of Sheffield. They were hunter-gatherers.
• Late Stone Age or Bronze Age: You can find signs of early people in Ecclesall Woods. They carved special 'cup and ring' shapes into stones.
• Iron Age: The Brigantes tribe built forts at Wincobank and Carl Wark. They also created a large earthwork called the Roman Rig dyke.
• Around 70 AD: The Romans built a fort at Templeborough.
• 1st or 2nd Century AD: Romans built a large farm, like a 'villa', at Whirlow Hall Farm. It was probably on an older Brigantian farm. Roman soldiers from the Sunuci tribe were given land near Stannington in 124 AD. Other Roman finds have been made near Walkley Bank Road.
• 9th Century: The Sheffield area became part of the Danelaw, which was ruled by Vikings. Many place names around Sheffield, like Lescar and Grimesthorpe, come from Viking words.
• Early 9th Century: The Sheffield Cross, an Anglo-Saxon stone cross, was carved. People think it stood where Sheffield Cathedral is today.
• 829: King Egbert of Wessex met King Eanred of Northumbria at Dore, a village now part of Sheffield. King Eanred agreed to Egbert's rule.
• 942: Edmund I of England took back control of the Midlands and reached Dore.

The Middle Ages (1000s - 1400s)

Early Norman Times

• 1069-1070: Any villages in the Sheffield area were likely destroyed during the 'harrying of the North'. This was when William the Conqueror punished people who rebelled against him.
• 1076: Waltheof, 1st Earl of Northampton, who was in charge of the Hallam area, was executed.

Building Sheffield's Foundations

• Around 1102: The Hallamshire area came under the control of Roger de Lovetot.
• Around 1130: William de Lovetot started a church where Sheffield Cathedral stands now. Around this time, Sheffield became its own church area, called a parish.
• Around 1150: William de Lovetot built a castle in Sheffield. He also built the first Lady's Bridge, a corn mill, and a hospital. He also started St Mary's church in nearby Handsworth.
• 1176 or 1183: Beauchief Abbey, a religious house, was built about 4 miles southwest of Sheffield.

Growth and Challenges

• Around 1250: Church House at Handsworth was built. Today, it's a pub called the Cross Keys.
• 1266: A group of barons, led by John de Eyvill, marched through Sheffield. They destroyed the town, burning the church and castle.
• 1270: Thomas de Furnival was allowed to build a strong stone castle to replace the wooden one that was destroyed.
• 1279-1281: Thomas de Furnival said he had the right to hold a market in Sheffield, to hunt, and to carry out the death penalty.
• Around 1280: A new church was blessed by the Archbishop of York, William II Wickwane.
• 1293-1294: Thomas de Furnival again said he had the right to hold a Sunday market and a fair around the time of Holy Trinity.
• 1296: On November 12, Sheffield was given a special royal charter. This allowed it to have a weekly market and a three-day yearly fair. This is also the first time Sheffield's Town Mill is mentioned.
• 1297:
  • "Robert the Cutler" is mentioned in a tax record. This is the earliest sign of cutlery (knives and tools) being made in Sheffield.
  • Thomas de Furnival gave a charter to the people of Sheffield, setting up the Burgery of Sheffield.

Early Mentions

• 1387: Geoffrey Chaucer, a famous writer, mentioned Sheffield and its metal industry in his book The Canterbury Tales. This showed how well-known the town was becoming for its metalwork.

New Buildings

• 1430: The church built in 1280 was taken down. A new building was put up, which is the main part of the current Sheffield Cathedral.
• 1434: A person called "Barker of Balme" is mentioned. He is thought to have built "Barker's Pool", Sheffield's first reservoir. Once a month, the gates were opened to wash the streets into the River Don.
• Around 1475: "The hawle at the Poandes" was built. Today, it's a pub called the Old Queen's Head.
• 1485: Lady's Bridge was rebuilt with stone. This bridge is still there today!

The Tudor and Stuart Eras (1500s - 1600s)

Important Houses and People

• Around 1500: Bishops' House was built.
• Around 1510: George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, built the Manor Lodge just outside the town.
• 1520: The Shrewsbury Chapel was added to Sheffield Parish Church.
• 1530: Cardinal Wolsey, a powerful church leader, was held at the Manor Lodge for 18 days after his arrest.
• 1537: Beauchief Abbey was closed down. Its land became the property of Sir Nicholas Strelley.
• 1554: A charter created the Twelve Capital Burgesses and Commonality of the Town and Parish of Sheffield. This group helped manage the town.
• 1570: Mary, Queen of Scots, began her 14-year imprisonment at Sheffield Castle and the Manor Lodge. She was guarded by George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury.
• 1584: Shepherd Wheel, a water-powered workshop, was passed down in William Beighton's will.

Trade and Conflict

• 1604: Sheffield Grammar School began teaching students.
• 1621: Carbrook Hall was built.
• 1624: The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire was formed. This group helped control the cutlery trade in Sheffield.
• 1630: Attercliffe Chapel was built.
• 1638: The Company of Cutlers built their first Cutlers' Hall.
• 1642-1651 (English Civil War):
  • 1642: People in Sheffield, led by Sir John Gell, took Sheffield Castle for the Parliamentarian side.
  • 1643: The castle was taken by the Royalist forces.
  • 1648: After a long fight, Parliamentarian forces took the castle again. An Act of Parliament was passed to tear it down.

The Georgian and Victorian Eras (1700s - 1800s)

New Ideas and Inventions

• 1700: Upper Chapel, the first non-conformist church in the city, was built.
• 1721: St Paul's Church was built. It didn't open until 1740 due to a disagreement.
• 1736: The first buildings in Paradise Square were constructed.
• 1740s: Benjamin Huntsman, a clock maker in Handsworth, invented a new way to make steel called the crucible steel process. This made much better quality steel.
• 1743: Thomas Boulsover, working in Sheffield, invented "Sheffield plate". This was a way to put a thin layer of silver onto copper.
• 1751: The River Don Navigation (a way for boats to travel) was extended to Tinsley.
• 1756: An Act of Parliament started to make the road from Sheffield to Chesterfield and London a turnpike road, meaning people paid to use it.
• Around 1769: Britannia metal was invented in Sheffield. It was a new type of metal alloy.
• 1771:
  • Paradise Square was finished.
  • The Sheffield Book Society was founded.
• 1773: Sheffield was given a silver assay office. This meant silver items made in Sheffield could be officially tested and marked.
• Around 1775: The Duke of Norfolk planned a new area to be built on Alsop Fields.
• 1779: John Wesley, a famous preacher, gave a sermon in Paradise Square.
• 1789: 769 metalworkers from Sheffield sent a petition to Parliament asking for the end of slavery.
• 1793: Another petition against slavery, with 8,000 names from Sheffield, was sent to Parliament.
• 1797: Sheffield Royal Infirmary, a hospital, opened.

A Growing City

• 1805: A new nave (the main part of a church) was added to the parish church.
• 1808: The small town hall was replaced with a new building.
• 1818: The Sheffield Improvement Act 1818 created a group to keep the town clean, lit, and safe. It also started the Sheffield Gas Light Company.
• 1819: Sheffield Canal opened, making it easier to transport goods.
• 1828: Sheffield Medical School was started.
• 1832:
  • A sickness outbreak, called cholera, caused 402 deaths. This is remembered by the Cholera Monument.
  • Sheffield gained representatives in the House of Commons as a Parliamentary Borough.
• 1836: Sheffield Botanical Gardens and Sheffield General Cemetery opened.
• 1838:
  • A new Cutlers' Hall was built.
  • The first railway station in Sheffield, Sheffield Wicker station, opened on October 31.
• 1843:
  • Sheffield officially became a municipal borough.
  • Sheffield School of Design was founded.
• 1845: Bridgehouses railway station opened.
• 1848:
  • The Roman Catholic Church of St Marie was finished.
  • The Wicker Arches were built.
• 1851:
  • Sheffield Victoria Station opened on September 15.
  • The Sheffield Female Political Association was founded.
• 1853: Sheffield Public Library was established.
• 1855: Bramall Lane opened as a cricket ground.
• 1857: Sheffield F.C., the oldest football club in the world that plays Association football (soccer), was founded.
• 1858: The Sheffield Trades and Labour Council was founded.
• 1860: Hallam F.C. was founded.
• 1862: A large crowd gathered at Wardsend Cemetery in the Hillsborough area because of worries about grave robbers.
• 1864:
  • The Great Sheffield flood caused huge damage and killed 270 people.
  • New rules were made to stop the building of back-to-back houses (houses joined at the back).
• 1866: The United Kingdom Alliance of Organised Trades, an early form of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), was founded in Sheffield.
• 1867:
  • The Sheffield Football Association was founded.
  • Sheffield Wednesday F.C. was founded.
• 1870: The Midland Main Line railway was extended to Sheffield, with a new station at Sheffield Midland station.
• 1873: The first horse-drawn trams ran in Sheffield.
• 1875: Weston Park and Firth Park opened.
• 1878: The first football match played under floodlights happened at Bramall Lane on October 14.
• 1879: Portland Works opened.
• 1885:
  • The Mappin Art Gallery opened.
  • Henderson's Relish was first made.
• 1888: Sheffield became a county borough.
• 1889: Sheffield United F.C. was founded.
• 1893: Sheffield was officially given the title of "city" by a Royal Charter.
• 1897:
  • The University of Sheffield was established.
  • A new town hall opened on Pinstone Street.
  • The Lyceum Theatre opened.
• 1899:
  • Hillsborough Stadium opened.
  • The first electric tram ran on the Sheffield Tramway.

The 20th Century (1900s)

Modern Sheffield Emerges

• 1901: The population of Sheffield reached 409,070 people.
• 1913: Stainless steel was invented by Harry Brearley while he was working in Sheffield. This was a huge invention!
• 1914: Sheffield became a diocese (a church area), and the parish church became a cathedral.
• 1919: Sheffield City Council started building council houses, mostly in the north and east of the city.
• 1925: The Sheffield War Memorial was unveiled.
• 1926: The Labour Party took control of the city council for the first time.
• 1928: Sheffield Repertory Theatre opened.
• 1934:
  • Sheffield City Hall was completed.
  • Sheffield Central Library and Graves Art Gallery were opened by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
• 1934-1935: Areas like Beauchief, Dore, Totley, Norton, and Woodseats became part of Sheffield.
• 1938: St Paul's Church was pulled down to make space for a town hall extension. The extension was never built, and the area became the Peace Gardens.
• 1940: The "Sheffield Blitz" happened. This was heavy bombing during World War II, which caused many buildings to be destroyed and over 660 lives were lost.
• 1955-1962: The Gleadless Valley housing estate was built.
• 1957-1961: The Park Hill flats were built.
• 1962: The city was hit by the Great Sheffield Gale, a very strong storm that killed four people and damaged many houses.
• 1965: The University of Sheffield Arts Tower was completed.
• 1971: The Crucible Theatre opened.

Modern Developments

• 1974:
  • The Local Government Act of 1972 led to the creation of the Metropolitan borough of Sheffield.
  • Sheffield Parkway was opened, improving road links.
• 1977: The "eggbox" extension was added to the Town Hall.
• 1979:
  • The Royal Hallamshire Hospital opened.
  • The Crucible Theatre hosted the World Snooker Championship for the first time.
• 1980: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Hallam was created, with the Church of St Marie as its cathedral.
• 1981: The film Looks and Smiles, which showed the city's economic challenges, won an award at the Cannes Film Festival.
• 1984:
  • The TV film Threads, which showed what a nuclear attack on Sheffield might be like, caused a lot of discussion.
  • The Battle of Orgreave took place during a miners' strike.
• 1988: The Sheffield Development Corporation was set up to help develop the city.
• 1989: The Hillsborough disaster occurred at Hillsborough Stadium, where 96 Liverpool F.C. fans sadly died.
• 1990:
  • The Meadowhall shopping centre opened.
  • The Don Valley Stadium opened.
  • Meadowhall Interchange (a transport hub) opened.
• 1991:
  • Sheffield Arena and Ponds Forge (a swimming centre) opened.
  • Sheffield hosted the World Student Games.
• 1994: The first part of the Sheffield Supertram network opened.
• 1995: Brightside railway station closed.
• 1997:
  • The Gatecrasher nightclub moved to Sheffield.
  • The film The Full Monty, set in Sheffield, was released and became very popular.
  • Sheffield City Airport opened.

The 21st Century (2000s - Present)

• 2001: The Millennium Galleries opened.
• 2003:
  • The Winter Gardens opened.
  • The English Institute of Sport, Sheffield opened.
• 2007:
  • The Gatecrasher nightclub burned down.
  • Flooding in June caused a lot of damage and two people lost their lives.
• 2008:
  • Sheffield City Airport closed.
  • The two remaining cooling towers near the Tinsley Viaduct were taken down.
• 2013: The Don Valley Stadium closed due to money problems.
• 2018: The Sheffield Supertram was extended to Rotherham Parkgate using special tram-trains.
• 2022: Thousands of homes in Stannington lost their gas supply for over a week during cold weather due to a problem with the local network.