A Walk Around Crookes (Sheffield) - Sunday 16th Novemer 2014

Crookes – ‘Crookes of the Past’

Sunday 16 November – 2.00 pm – 4.00 pm

A short walk around Crookes of just under 2 miles. Chris Hobbs will be leading the walk looking at Crookes’ Victorian & Edwardian heritage, how the district of Crookes has changed or in some cases not changed over the last 100 years. This circular walk will start and finish at the Grindstone pub (S10 1UA). 

 

·     Hallam Gate

·     Old Grindstone

·     Noahs Ark - 1865 Frederick Harrison beer retailer October 1868 election meetings 

·     

     St Thomas Church - "The district of Crookes, including Tapton, Steven Hills, Crookes Moor Side etc.at this time contains a population (which is rapidly increasing) of 1500 souls, nearly destitute of Pastoral superintendence and instruction. To provide for this lamentable destitution, a few friends of religion and The Established Church commenced a subscription for building a Small Church..." The trustees gave the Church the original £1,350 The church is a classic Victorian church with a square tower and gothic arch stained glass windows

The foundation stone for the Church which incidentally given by local quarry owners was laid on 30th August 1839 by a Henry Wilson of Westbrook. Local farmers did much of the work for free. The Church had a nave, south aisle and porch, short chancel and west pinnacled tower. St Thomas's Church and the adjacent Burial ground were consecrated on October 1st 1840 by the Archbishop of York and the Church soon began rectifying the "lamentable destitution" that had occurred in the Parish

    St Vincents – Tramsheds - Designed by F.E.P. Edwards the City Architect, construction on the sheds started prior to 1914 on the site of an old brickyard but, due to the onset of war, the work was not fully completed until 1919. Above the first gate on a Queen Anne Gable is the inscription "SCT1919" but in fact the sheds did not actually open until a year later.

·     

    Crookes Mount - Wesley Hall -

The Chapel had to be enlarged and re-developed several times as the work of the church grew. But it was still too small. Finally, in 1907 the foundation stones were laid for a completely new building, on a new site, that could accommodate up to 1000 people – Wesley Hall.

The new building was designed as an octagonal “Mission Hall”. As one reporter noted: “Wesley Hall looks more like the Hippodrome that a place of worship. And one is thankful for it … it is pre-eminently a place to worship in, to breathe and be glad in.”

Since the Wesleyan Chapel was first built in 1836, Crookes had been transformed from a village into a densely populated suburb. The vision for Wesley Hall was that it would be “a church where rich and poor, ignorant and cultured, would all be welcomed, and the Christian cause would be exalted.”

Masons Arms

·      
      Model Dairy -one at 140-142 Crookes and the other at Wesley Lane (Model Dairy Farm). I'm inclined to say that the one at 140-142 Crookes was the earlier one and was used by the horse and cart deliveries (selling un-pasteurised milk) whilst the newer one at Wesley Lane was a depot for the Archer Road site and sold pasteurised milk. It seems to have a tie-in with the S&E site at Millhouses

·  
      The Ball Inn - Open 1825 or even earlier - I think that the BALL was initially a farm that had a beer-house attached to it. The 1856 Sheffield gives Joseph Skelton as a Licenced Victualler of the BALL but the same address mentions a George Skelton as "Cowkeeper". This would be very much what you would expect - most publicans had more than one string to their bow. And Crookes was very much a rural farming village at the time - difficult to believe I know.

As an Inn is a "an establishment for the lodging and entertaining of travellers" they may well also have been stabling for horses etc. for Crookes was one of the routes out of Sheffield to the West. 

"Crookes - A History of a Sheffield Village" mentions that the BALL was kept by the Skelton Family but was once kept by John Johnson. He boarded apprentices and fed them poor porridge. They rebelled and threw their wooden spoons and bowls into the fire, The food improved" Skelton wrote a book the reference is below - Joseph Skelton "Books of Particulars 1826 - 1951" (Sheffield City Libraries REF MD2064 and Miss S Kelly)

Obviously the original farmhouse was demolished and replaced by the current building together with its bowling green. It is difficult to say when this occurred but I would estimate 1890-1900. Michael Liversedge in his A - Z just mentions that the BALL was one of Sheffield's "Bowling Green" pubs i.e it had a bowling green

·     
       Crookes House

·     Sheffield Mercury 14 Jan 1837 page 11b - MRS. SMITH begs leave to announce to her Friends and the Public, that she has removed, during the Christmas Recess, to CROOKES HOUSE, near Sheffield, late the Residence of T. Branson, Esq., Solicitor.

The Situation is peculiarly open and salubrious; the House very commodious, with Gardens and Grounds attached, calculated to promote the health and comfort of the Pupils, and commands one of the most interesting and extensive Prospects in the neighbourhood of Sheffield. The special regard shewn to the mental improvement and religious instruction of the Young Ladies entrusted to Mrs SMITH’s care, will, it is hoped, continue to ensure the confidence of Parents, and to secure to the Children the highest advantages, present and future.
A Wesleyan Chapel has been recently opened in the immediate vicinity.
The School will re open January 24th. They add: “Masters of acknowledged eminence [in their respective departments (1838)] attend the Establishment.”

 
Crookes Picture Palace - opened its doors on 2nd December 1912. The building was primarily a brick building with a cement frontage. Above the entrance to the cinema were some embossed decorations and the name "Crookes Picture Palace". The front of the building was flush with the adjoining shops and a blind alley ran down one side of the building to accommodate the queues waiting to see the films. From the small foyer a door on the right gave access to the stalls whilst a series of steps lead up to the rear of the auditorium. The auditorium was a single floor with the audience only sitting in front of the stage. A heavy red curtain covered the screen when not in use.  A raised section at the rear had a steeper rake than the rake in the stalls. The overall capacity of the cinema was 660.

The proprietors of The Picture Palace were Hallamshire Cinemas Ltd. In 1931 a Western Electric Sound System was installed. The cinema remained open until 2nd April 1960 when it shut its doors for the final time. The last film to be shown was the Brigitte Bardot classic "Babette Goes To War" and "Senior Prom" with Jill Corey.

 

·  Punch Bowl

·  St Lukes Wesleyan Methodist Church

Although conventional in plan, the detailing of St Luke's (1899-1900) makes it stand apart from the great mass of Methodist chapels. Samuel Meggitt Johnson, Chairman of the liquorice allsort manufacturers, George Bassett & Co, covered the £4,000 cost of the chapel and adjacent Sunday school and this generous funding gave Hale greater scope in preparing his designs. He took the PerpendicularGlossary Term style favoured by chapel architects at the beginning of the twentieth century and transformed it into something quite individual. The buttresses that flank the west window rise to form towers each with a pyramidal cap while the archGlossary Term over the window springs straight from them. The way in which the railings reflect motifs used in the porch window lintels and in the carvings on the top of the buttresses is typical of Hale's care in detailing. The church closed in 1985 and has been converted to flats under the name Hale Court.

· Old Heavygate Inn - The actual pub came into being in the nineteenth century, but the building prior to that may initially have been a farmhouse and then at the beginning of the eighteenth century became a place where tolls were collected. Above the doorway to the bars is this date stone stating the year 1696 and the initials of the owners. I seem to recall the E standing for "Ellis" On a Harrison’s map of 1637, Steel Bank is named and there's evidence of Heavygate Road already existing. The name could well predate this map and could be an ancient name that's survived. Certainly Crookes was connected to the village of Owlerton by the pack horse track which descended Walkley Lane and continued to Owlerton.

There has been a discussion over the years as to how the building/pub got its name.  One explanation is that it is related to the name of a field adjacent to the farmhouse, and the gate that secured it. Another is that it is named after the " heavy" gate was placed across the road where tolls were collected But my preference is for this explanation. 'Gate' probably doesn't mean gate here. It's more likely to mean 'road' from Middle English derived from Old Norse 'gata'. So a 'heavy' gate is a steep road. And 'Heavygate Road' is a tautology, and the pub sign is a misunderstanding. A variation on this is that heavy means muddy or hard going and gate means road. In the book "A Short History of Walkley" by Albert Stacey (1985) he states that.

"Later the road that went over Steel Bank became a turnpike road and a heavy gate was placed at the point where Heavygate Inn was later built. The first licensee of the Heavygate Inn was John Webster. He was keeper of the Tollgate. His family had farmed Steel Bank Farm years before. In the time before the Heavygate Inn was built in 1698 a survey was made by Harrison in 1637 and a view from Steel bank was mentioned where one could look down on the town of Sheffield....." Sadly he does not give a source, evidence or exact dates for the above statement and so I cannot use it as a fact. But he does indicate that the "Heavygate Inn was later built" which seems to infer that the Inn replaced an earlier building.

According to a 1855 map, the area is open countryside . But when the tolls were abolished in the mid-nineteenth century, it is thought that it was then that the Heavygate became a public house.

  Princess Royal

l   St Timothy’s Church - Origins in the iron chapel that stood on top of the Bolehills. a mission church from St Thomas, Bought a house and strip of land, Moved the iron chapel to the site and survived as a church hall until 1928. Foundation stone laid 1910 

·     
 Crookes Congregational Church – Springvale Road

Crookes Congregational Church opened in 1906. Octagonal, it was designed to ensure that everyone in the congregation could see and hear the preacher, vital in nonconformity where preaching was the focus of worship. There was a tradition of octagonal chapels within nonconformity, a number having been built in the eighteenth century and the idea was revived to a limited extent in the 1870s. Hale made full use of the sloping corner site, emphasising the mass of the building with battered (sloping) buttresses. The great open space of the interior was preserved in a skilful conversion to offices in 1989

Buttresses pass through some of the windows, a detail used by some of the most avant-garde architects of the day such as W. D. Caroe. As with St Luke's,Northfield Road there is carving of a Tree of Life and of pomegranates.

·         Westways School - Western Road Board School – Opened 6^th May 1901 – with woodwork, cooking facilities and even a science lab. November 1915 – military hospital – re-opened June 20^th 1919 – classes of 60

·         Wesleyan Chapel - School Road

 

A Walk around Burngreave Friday 14th November 2014 - The Zeppelin Attack on Sheffield September 1916

A 1.5 mile walk through the area of the Sheffield Blitz in the First World War. On the night of Monday 25 September 1916 a single Zeppelin dropped 36 bombs in a line between Burngreave and through Attercliffe to Darnall – looking at where some of the bombs fell, and what has become of the area now. Meet Chris Hobbs outside St Catherine’s Church on Melrose Road (S3 9DN). 

These are my notes from the walk

First bomb fell in Burngreave Cemetery where it demolished a boundary wall - two incendiaries, were dropped around 12.25 am and fell in Burngreave Cemetery, near to the Melrose Road entrance. Other than scorching some grass and a notice board no damage was caused.

Second bomb close to Danville Street where the first fatality occurred - killing 49 year old Frederick Stratford, who was struck by shrapnel whilst in bed. STRATFORD, Frederick (Boiler Fireman, age 49). Died at 11-1 Danville Street; Buried on September 30, 1916 in General ground; Grave Number 47, Section O2 of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.

Third bomb claimed the lives of two elderly women in a house in Grimethorpe Road -  bomb fell on No 112 and exploded killing 76 year old Ann Coogan and her 56 year old daughter, Margaret Taylor.

COOGAN, Ann (Widow, age 76).Died at 11 Grimesthorpe Road; Buried on September 30, 1916 in General ground; Grave Number 251, Section NN of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield. TAYLOR, Margaret (Wife of J Taylor, age 59). Died at 11 Grimesthorpe Road; Buried on September 30, 1916 in General ground; Grave Number 251, Section NN of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.

Fourth bomb - Corner of Petre Street and Lyon Road (73 Petre Street), Thomas Wilson, who had retired to bed, heard the exploding bombs and rushed to his bedroom window. His timing could not have been worse. As he looked out a bomb fell on a nearby outbuilding and exploded. He was struck on the chin by a bomb fragment and died instantly. WILSON, Thomas (Fitter, age 59). Died at 73 Petre Street; Buried on September 30, 1916 in Consecrated ground; Grave Number 542, Section BB of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.

Fifth bomb - 43 Writtle Street a 57 year old woman died from wounds and shock. - My Great Grandma, Elizabeth Bellamy (57) nee Pigott was protecting my mum who was 11 months old and in a cot at the same house" She got out of bed when the first bomb dropped and was passing across the room to get her grandchild when a bomb struck her in the back, tearing it open. Her body was nearly severed at the trunk. She died in hospital."(SDI 29.09.1916) BELLAMY, Elizabeth (Wife of W Bellamy, age 57). Died at 43 Writtle Street; Buried on September 29, 1916 in Consecrated ground; Grave Number 4544, Section JJ of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.

Sixth/Seventh bombs Two bombs fell in rapid succession in Cossey Road, the first of which demolished three houses in a row and penetrated the cellar of the middle one - 26 Cossey Road. 

Sixth bomb - landed on a block of three terrace houses comprising No's 26, 28 and 30. In No 28 Alice and Albert Newton were killed as they lay in bed. Luckily, their infant son was spending the night with his grandmother in a nearby street and was unharmed.

NEWTON, Albert (Labourer, age 28). Died at 26 Harleston Street; Buried on September 29, 1916 in Consecrated ground;  Grave Number 462, Section BB of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.

NEWTON, Alice (Wife of A Newton, age 27). Died at 26 Harleston Street; Buried on September 29, 1916 in Consecrated ground; Grave Number 462, Section BB of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.

George and Eliza Harrison lived at No 26 with their two daughters and two grandchildren. After the warning had sounded they were joined by their neighbours from No 24, William and Sarah Southerington. George and William stayed in the living room while everyone else took shelter in the cellar. All eight were killed in the explosion. The Southeringtons' house suffered only minor damage and had they stayed at home would probably have survived.

SOUTHERINGTON, John William (Carter, age 37).  Died at 24 Cossey Road; Buried on September 30, 1916 in General ground;  Grave Number 35, Section V1 of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.

SOUTHERINGTON, Sarah Ann (Wife of J W Southerington, age 47). Died at 24 Cossey Road; Buried on September 30, 1916 in General ground;  Grave Number 35, Section V1 of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.

Seventh bomb hit 10 Cossey Road killing a young couple Levi (23) and Beatrice Hames (22) and their baby son Horace William (1) as they lied together in bed.

Eighth bomb fell in Corby Street and claimed a further nine victims.  Corby Street ran parallel to the Atlas Steel and Iron Works and the Norfolk Steel Works but the works remained untouched. At number 136 Corby Street, seven people in the same family, the Tyler's, were killed, five of which were children. In total the bomb claimed a further NINE victims.

In Corby Street (now Fred Mulley Road) a high explosive bomb demolished No 142 killing Selina (41) and Joseph Tyler (45) and their five children Joseph Henry (14),Ernest (11), Albert (8), Amelia (5) and John (2).

TYLER, Albert (Son of J H Tyler, age 8).  Died at Corby Street; Buried on September 30, 1916 in General ground; Grave Number 1199, Section KK of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.

TYLER, Amelia (Daughter of J H Tyler, age 5). Died at Corby Street; Buried on September 30, 1916 in General ground;  Grave Number 1199, Section KK of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.

TYLER, Ernest (Son of J H Tyler, age 12). Died at Corby Street; Buried on September 30, 1916 in General ground; Grave Number 1199, Section KK of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.

TYLER, John (Son of J H Tyler, age 2). Died at Corby Street; Buried on September 30, 1916 in General ground; Grave Number 1199, Section KK of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.

TYLER, Joseph (Son of J H Tyler, age 14). Died at Corby Street; Buried on September 30, 1916 in General ground;  Grave Number 1199, Section KK of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.

TYLER, Joseph Henry (Cupola Tenter, age 44). Died at Corby Street; Buried on September 30, 1916 in General ground;  Grave Number 1199, Section KK of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.

TYLER, Selina (Wife of J H Tyler, age 41) Died at Corby Street; Buried on September 30, 1916 in General ground;  Grave Number 1199, Section KK of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.

The same bomb also killed 11 year old Richard Brewington of 134 Corby Street BREWINGTON, Richard (Son of M E Brewington, age 11). Died at 134 Corby Street; Buried on September 30, 1916 in General ground; Grave Number 101, Section G of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.

ALSO fatally injured Martha Shakespeare of 143 Corby Street, who died  later in the day in the Royal Infirmary, Infirmary Road. SHAKESPEARE, Martha (Wife of W H Shakespeare, age 36). Died at 143 Corby Street; Buried on October 2, 1916 in Consecrated ground; Grave Number 23, Section K5 of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.

The last casualty of the raid

A bomb in Princess Street demolished the Primitive Methodist Chapel. Further bombs exploded near to Washford Road bridge and in Woodbourn Road where a man was blown to pieces as he warned a household to put out their lights.

GUEST, William (Workman, age 32). Died at 9-1 Kilton Street; Buried on September 30, 1916 in Consecrated ground;  Grave Number 47, Section Z4 of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield.

The final few high explosive bombs fell near to Manor Lane, but did little damage. The Zeppelin then flew over Darnall and Tinsley Park Colliery where it dropped several incendiary bombs, before heading out to sea and returning safely to Germany.

The bombing had resulted in 24 fatalities outright. There was a further four fatalities in the days after the raid, leading to an overall total of 28. There were also 19 persons who received injuries in the raid. With regard to property, 89 houses were seriously damaged whilst another 150 suffered minor damage.

The Baltic Arms at 420 Effingham Road was damaged in the raid.

All but three of the victims were buried in Sheffield's Burngreave Cemetery. The exception were the Hames family who are buried together in Sheffield's Abbey Lane Cemetery

The grave of Thomas Wilson - Burngreave Cemetery (Sheffield)

One of the walkers on the Walk was a descendent of Thomas Wilson who was killed in the Zeppelin Raid of September 2014. Whilst walking through the Cemetery she asked me if I knew where his grave was. 

Fortunately I had the grave reference in my notes

"Fourth bomb - Corner of Petre Street and Lyon Road (73 Petre Street), Thomas Wilson, who had retired to bed, heard the exploding bombs and rushed to his bedroom window. His timing could not have been worse. As he looked out a bomb fell on a nearby outbuilding and exploded. He was struck on the chin by a bomb fragment and died instantly. 

WILSON, Thomas (Fitter, age 59). Died at 73 Petre Street; Buried on September 30, 1916 in Consecrated ground; Grave Number 542, Section BB of Burngreave Cemetery, Sheffield".

The section is right at the top of the cemetery and after a search (the numbering is rather difficult to follow) we found Thomas's last resting place - it was adjacent to the boundary wall

 
Thomas was "suddenly killed" on September 26th 1916

Armistice Day Service - Whitby Tuesday 11th November 2014

We have been away for three days during which we visited Whitby (North Yorkshire). Whilst we were there we attended

" The Armistice Day Service will be held at the new War Memorial on Dock End for the 1st time the Service starts at 10.30 approx and will incorporate the 2 minutes silence at 11.00 a.m.
Observation of two minutes silence at Whitby Cemetery - Whitby Cemetery, Larpool Lane, Whitby, North Yorkshire, YO22 4NA at 11.00am".

I am unsure as to why there should be a new War Memorial in Whitby and I'm not that convinced about the location. But what I can say is that it is a mighty fine memorial and it does the people of Whitby proud. The service itself was well attended and showed that people still care and remember those who lost their lives in past and present day conflicts.

 






  

A Walk through Crookes (Sheffield) - Friday 7th November 2014

Friday 7th November 2014, 1 to 3pm.  Meet outside the Grindstone pub (S10 1UA) and finish at the Walkley Cottage. A1.5 mile walk through Crookes exploring some of the remains of the areas earliest settlers, through to its transformation over the last century.  

Notes from the walk that became progressively wetter the nearer we got to the Walkley Cottage!

Crookes a word that may have been derived from the Norse word “Kokor” meaning a nook or secluded retreat was for many centuries dominated by agriculture and agrarian activity -  a collection of small hamlets and farms that relied almost exclusively on the traditional forms of land ownership and tenure. Cultivation was also traditional with medieval strip farming being super-ceded by the open field pattern of cultivation.

In AD 866 there was a large invasion by the Danes leading to the founding of settlements mostly on hill tops. These are easy to distinguish usually ending in ‘thorpe signifying a small farmstead. (Upperthorpe). Crookes and High Storrs would also be Danish settlements. The name Crookes derives from the Old Norse ‘Krkor”. meaning a nook or corner of land.

Crookes is situated alongside 'The Long Causey', a route dating from Roman times which runs from Buxton via Stanage, Redmires and Crosspool to Templeborough. Long after the Roman occupation the routes were still used for carrying goods across the Pennines.  Lydgate Lane (Hallam Gate) was, before the Glossop road turnpike was built in 1821, the main route to and from Lancashire. Millstones, lead, cloth, cheeses, metal goods, timber, grain and coal would be carried by wagon-team or pack animals.

Long Causeway or Long Causey was a medieval packhorse route in England, which ran between Sheffield in South Yorkshire and Hathersage in Derbyshire. In the past the route has been marked on maps as a Roman Road as it was believed it followed part of the route of Batham Gate between Templeborough and Buxton although in recent years some scholars have cast doubt on this.

In Medieval times, Long Causeway was the middle of three routes which left Sheffield to the west. It started in the Portobello area of the town beginning a seven mile journey with over 1100 feet of ascent to Stanedge Pole on the border between the manors of Sheffield and Hathersage. From Portobello the route continued by a series of rises and dips, climbing initially through Leavygreave and crossing the top of the Crookes valley and up Lydgate Lane (then called Hallam Gate) to reach which was then open moorland. The route then continued through present day Crosspool and followed the route along what is now Sandygate Road and Redmires Road, crossing the location of the present day Redmires Reservoirs before tackling the steepest ascent on the route up to Stanedge Pole. From the pole the route began its drop down to Hathersage

Although Long Causeway was never a Turnpike road, milestones were added in the 1730s due to the high volume of traffic. This was an exceptional happening as even the law of 1758 required milestones only to be added on Turnpike roads.

The route was used extensively in the Middle Ages by traders bringing salt to Yorkshire from the Cheshire salt mines by packhorse. By the 18th century carts had replaced many of the packhorses and were transporting many goods including, oil, hardware good, barrels of tar, hogsheads of treacle, glue from Manchester, lead (galena) and small grinding stones. Traffic on Long Causeway started to decline around 

1760 after the opening of an alternative route to the Hope Valley via Ringinglow.

The Domesday Book records Crookes in 1085 as one of a group of hamlets belonging to Waltheof, chieftain of Hallam, the area to the west of  Sheffield.

In Medieval times, Crookes became a part of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Ecclesfield.  There are a number of Medieval documents which mention people living in Crookes, usually in connection with the inheritance of land or fines.

1447 mention of Crookes from John de Crokes to Roger Myle regarding an inheritance.

1493, it is recorded that the hamlet of 'Crokes' consisted of a few scattered farms and villages,

1637 - John Harrison's survey of lands in the Sheffield area belonging to the seventh Earl of Shrewsbury, contains several references to Crookes -  the entries mostly describe tenanted pieces of land - arable, wood, or pasture (described as crofts)  - principal method of farming in Crookes was by the traditional open field system, where strips of land held by individuals were worked in the open field as part of a rotation system, with a fallow period for each field, when animals grazed and manured the land.

Harrison mentions numerous field names, include Little North Field, Raile Field, Stony Butts, Thruswell Field, Lidgate Field, 'a Shroggwood called rofts', Timber Field and Timber Lane (which seems to be on the site of Tinker Lane), Broomfield and Clow Field.  .

More land; pastures or crofts which were not a part of the open field system became more used Harrison describes the area now occupied by Toyne, Marston and Newbury Streets: Crookes was at this time surrounded by moor and common land; to the SE, Crookesmoor; to the South, Broomhill - as yet undeveloped and not considered as a separate location; to the South-West, Tapton Hill, which Harrison describes as a common, The Hagg to the West, also described as a common; and to the North, Peyham or Pegham Bank, where Walkley Bank now is.  Commonside to the North-East, has retained its old name,

Some farms in Harrison's Survey can be immediately identified, even today.  For example; 'Item a little croft lying between ye lands of William Wyles North and New Lane South'and Abutteth upon Crookes Street East.' New Lane was the old name for Newent Lane; thus Harrison must have been describing the farm which stood where the Co-op is now located.

1750 onwards century the traditional open-field system had become mainly obsolete and was often supplanted by enclosed fields with individual cultivation, as in modern times.  There was much pressure from those who wanted to buy land in order to 'develop' it, for residential or industrial purposes, as well as farming.  The Parliamentary Enclosure Act affecting Hallam was first proposed in 1787, but due to pubic opposition it was postponed and taken up again in 1791 when the field Enclosure Act was passed.  The pressure in favour of enclosure threatened the common land which, after the Act, could be divided up and owned by individuals to the detriment of those who owned no land using the commons to graze their cattle.  Parliamentary enclosure put an end to rights of commonage and almost all land became privately owned with the exception of pinfolds, public stone quarries, ring places and workhouses. 

1780 To assist in organising this massive transfer of land and ownership, surveys had to be made - sketch-maps drawn up by William Fairbanks the surveyor in the 1780s give us such a good picture of the lay-out of Crookes - 0, Crookes consisted of a small group of cottages on the one street, (Crookes).The road continued northward into Dark Lane (now Northfield Road) led into Heavygate Road towards Walkley Hall. Most of the houses on Crookes itself lay between the present Mulehouse Road and Bolehill Lane, but there was another group at the bottom of Lydgate Lane. The few dwellings larger than a cottage would be unpretentious houses, such as Crookes House.

Although the medieval strips had in many cases been enclosed by then, the old open field patterns were still in a remarkable state of preservation.  This can be clearly seen in Fairbanks' surveys.  The shape of traditional strips of arable land survived on both sides of Crookes street, and the broad shapes of the open fields were still obvious. ie of the old field names survive in street names, Truswell, Headland, Longfield, Northfield, Netherfield, Midfield.  Other  names, now fallen out of use, were perhaps named after the people farmed them - Lockwood Field and Laughton Steads.

At the north, west and south-east field boundaries, the lanes opened into drift-way outlets where stock may have spread on to the restricted common land beyond, where the inhabitants had ancient rights of grazing, which did not survive the Enclosures.. The field boundaries and drift-way outlets are matched by the course of the Crookes Road and School Road junction, and on a smaller scale at the Cocked Hat road fork overlooking Rivelin Valley. (Cocked Hat gets were so named because the shape of the land on which they were

St. Anthony's Well, (this is no longer woodland, but on the site of houses in St. Anthony Road).  The well was believed to have medicinal properties.  St. Anthony was the patron saint of swineherds, and the neighbourhood, with its predominantly oak forests, was ideal for feeding pigs.  It is said that there was a custom that one pig from each litter was vowed to the saint.

The land at Crookes was not altogether ideal, but by perseverance and hard work, the local population made farming reasonably rewarding.  The Directory of Sheffield of 1774 says: 'The land in the parish is not reckoned in general to be naturally good for the plough.  But through the vast quantities of manure which are laid upon it, (on account of its vicinity to so large a town), it is very fertile.'

Crookes stands on Upper Carboniferous rocks, 300 million years old.  Crookes, with its highest point at Mount Zion (Lydgate Lane) of 806 feet (245 metres), is situated on an almost shelf at 700 feet (213 metres) with the ground falling steeply away to the north and west and more gently southwards.  The landscape of stony uplands with, further down the slopes, abundant springs from the sandstone, provided fuel and water power for the cutlery along the valley bottoms.  The sandstone quarries scattered at Crookes not only provided an ideal building material, but grindstones for the cutlery industry.  COAL

Though there are no rivers or even streams of any size in Crookes long cast and south facing slope of Crookesmoor, rising from 450 feet (137 metres) at Conduit Road bottom to over 700 feet (213 metres). Bole Hills was, before development, a bare moorland with many sources springing from its roughly mile-square water-table.  On maps, there are wells, springs and troughs marked, and it was these that provided Crookes people with their water supply.  The wells had a habit of drying up, and then water had to be fetched in stoneware from Steel Bank lower down the hill

There were no mine workings on the Bole Hills, but there was quite a lot of quarrying for stone. The lead wasn't mined there, it was brought there from Derbyshire as ground-up galena along the packhorse routes. In J. H. Stainton's "The Making of Sheffield I865-1914" there is a mention that the council authorised the purchase of the Bole Hills in Sepember 1899

The Bole Hills are at the end of Rivelin Valley which funnels the wind making it stronger than it otherwise would be. The name “Bole Hill” derives from the practice of smelting iron ore. Bole Hills were always in exposed places because wind was needed to fan the furnaces.

BURIAL URN

In the spring of 1887AD not far away from Cocked Hat Cottages at the highest part of the hill was found a baked cinerary urn containing human bones, a small cup and a damaged bronze knife. They were not covered by a mound, and they lay from six to eight inches below the natural surface of the ground. The record says, “The remains lay within two feet of an old lane called Tinker Lane or Cocked hat Lane leading at right angles from the top of the village Street at Crookes and pointing towards the Rivelin valley.” The position of this burial site at the side of the road is worthy of note. In Sweden and Denmark, according to Vigfusson. monumental stones called “bautasteinar” (road-side monuments) These used to be placed along the high road, like sepulchral monuments of old Rome. Amongst the Romans, says Becker in his “Gallus”, “whoever could afford it selected a spot outside the city in the most frequented situation, as on the high-ways, and here a family sepulchre was erected.” Tinker Lane is an old highway and the urn is in Western Park Museum, it can be compared with many other urns of the same kind discovered in Derbyshire.(possibly welsh/celtic in origin)

Notes

The Sheffield and Rotherham Independent February 1876


The Sheffield and Rotherham Independent May 1887

Crookes A History of a Sheffield Village - 1982

Wikipedia