Ecclesall

Ecclesall Ward is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the southwestern part of the city. It covers an area of 9.4 square kilometres and includes the districts of Ecclesall, Greystones, Millhouses, Bents Green, and Ringinglow (The ward also includes part of Banner Cross). The population of this ward in 2001 was 18,600 people in 7,300 households. In the 2004 local elections Roger Noel Davison (2005 Lord Mayor of Sheffield), Ruth Kathryn (Kate) Dawson, and Sylvia Jane Dunkley—all Liberal Democrats—were returned as councilors for the ward. Ecclesall ward is one of the five wards that make up the Sheffield Hallam Parliamentary constituency.

Contents

1 Parks and recreation 2 Schools 3 Transportation 4 History 5 Districts in Ecclesall Ward 5.1 Ecclesall 5.2 Greystones 5.3 Millhouses 5.4 Bent's Green 5.5 Ringinglow 6 References

Parks and recreation

About half of Ecclesall ward is made up of rural areas, parkland, or woodland. These areas include a large portion of the 1.35 square kilometre Ecclesall Wood, an area of ancient woodland (it has existed since at least the 16th century) that is known locally for being a bluebell wood. In the north section of the ward is Bingham Park, Whirlow woods and the Mayfield valley, Millhouses park marks the wards southern boundary. The ward also includes some of Whirlow Brook Park and the Limb valley. The Sheffield Round Walk skirts the ward, running through a number of these parks.

Schools

There are two secondary schools within Ecclesall ward, High Storrs School and Silverdale School. The ward also includes Dobcroft Junior School, Greystones Primary School, Mylnhurst Convent School, and St Wilfrid's Primary School.

Transportation

Ecclesall Road is the main road (A625) from central Sheffield to the south west, at first following the Porter Brook, then running through Ecclesall and Dore. The road is a major shopping area. Attractions including the Sheffield Botanical Gardens and the Sheffield General Cemetery lie alongside it, as do two of the three campuses of Sheffield Hallam University. Abbeydale Road South (A621) is another major road that runs through the ward. The Midland Mainline railway line runs along the southern boundary of the ward, the closest stations are outside of the ward at Sheffield (city centre) and Dore—the former Millhouses and Ecclesall station was closed on 10 June 1968. The Sheffield Supertram currently has no routes through Ecclesall ward, but a planned extension to Dore would skirt the southern boundary.

History

Ecclesall ward was created in the redrawing of the city's ward boundaries in June 2004. It includes parts of the old Ecclesall, Beauchief, Hallam and Nether Edge wards. The boundaries of the ward include about half of the area that was historically known as Ecclesall Bierlow—one of the six 'townships' that made up the old Parish of Sheffield. Ecclesall Bierlow encompassed most of the land between the River Sheaf and the Porter Brook from The Moor to Ringinglow. It also included the areas of Broomhall and Crookesmoor to the north of Porter Brook. Though this area contained numerous small villages and hamlets, there was never a village called Ecclesall. In ancient times this area was part of the Barnsdale Forest that, together with Sherwood Forest, made up the forest of the Robin Hood legends. The River Sheaf marked the boundary between the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Deira (later Northumbria). In fact the earliest historical record of this area refers to the submission of the Northumbrian army to Egbert of Wessex at nearby Dore in 829.

The name Ecclesall (from 'Heeksel-Hallr' meaning the witches' hill) is not mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086—at that time Ecclesall was a part of the manor of Hallam. The name is first found about 150 years later in the name of Sir Ralphus De Ecclesall a knight of the realm who had settled in the area. The De Ecclesall family gave land to the monks at Beauchief and established a corn mill on the river Sheaf, which they subsequently also gave to Beauchief Abbey. Many of the buildings of Ecclesall corn mill can still be seen at the northern end of Millhouses park—the district of Millhouses taking its name from this mill. In payment for the mill the monks of Beauchief were to provide a canon to say prayers daily at the Ecclesall chapel, a small chapel that had been built in 1046. These services continued at the chapel until the Dissolution of the Monestries when Beauchief Abbey was abandoned. The chapel was restored in 1622 but was demolished when the present church was built nearby in 1789.

Until the 19th century Ecclesall Bierlow was very sparcely populated—in 1801 there were just 5362 people. This changed with the coming of the industrial revolution and the subsequent expansion of nearby Sheffield and by 1831 the population had increased to 14,239. In 1837 the Ecclesall Bierlow Poor Law Union came into being. As well as Ecclesall Bierlow, this encompassed Nether Hallam, Upper Hallam, Beauchief, Dore, Norton, and Totley. A workhouse was built on Cherry Tree Hill at Nether Edge. In 1929 the Ecclesall Bierlow Workhouse was renamed Nether Edge Hospital and it remained in use as a hospital into the 1990s. Historic sites within the ward include Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet and Shepherd Wheel (both now museums). Ecclesall Wood has many examples of white coal kilns and the grave of a wood collier who was killed here when his cabin burned down on 11 October 1786.

Districts in Ecclesall Ward

Ecclesall

The district of Ecclesall (Template:Gbmapping) is centred roughly on Ecclesall parish church (http://www.ecclesall.parishchurch.org.uk/) at the intersection of Carter Knowle Road and Ecclesall Road. The present church, dedicated to All Saints, was built in 1789 and has been altered several times since. Banner Cross Hall, also in the area, was built in 1820.

Greystones

Greystones (Template:Gbmapping) lies to the north of the district of Ecclesall. It is on a headland overlooking the Porter valley to the north and west.

Millhouses

Main article: Millhouses

Millhouses (Template:Gbmapping) lies to the south of the district of Ecclesall. Its origins lie in a small hamlet that grew around the Ecclesall Corn Mill.

Bent's Green

Bent's Green (Template:Gbmapping) lies to the west of the district of Ecclesall

Ringinglow

Ringinglow (Template:Gbmapping) is a village on the western border of Ecclesall Ward. Although it is within the boundariy of the City of Sheffield, it is self-contained, entirely surrounded by open countryside. It is focussed on the intersections of Fulwood Lane and Sheephill Road with Ringinglow Road. Ringinglow Road was constructed as a turnpike road from Sheffield to Hathersage in the 1790s—an octagonal former toll house built in 1795 still stands in the village along with an inn, the Norfolk Arms, which was built a few years later. The sources of the Porter Brook and Limb Brook, both tributaries of the River Sheaf, are near the village. The Norfolk Arms is often used as a staging-post by ramblers following one of these rivers out of Sheffield towards the Peak District National Park, the eastern boundary of which runs through the village. Historically, the Limb Brook marked the boundary between the Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. This remained the boundary between Yorkshire and Derbyshire into the 20th century.

References

• Harvey, Peter (1996). Abbeydale and Millhouses. Stround: The Charlford Publishing Company Limited. ISBN 0-7524-0732-5
• Hunter, Joseph (1819). The Township of Ecclesall Byerlow. In Hallamshire. The History and Topography of the Parish of Sheffield in the County of York, pp195–219. London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mayor & Jones. This book is out of print but can be purchased on CD-ROM (http://blunham.com/CDroms/Descriptions/Hallamshire.html)
• Vickers, J. Edward MBE (1999). Ecclesall. In Old Sheffield Town. An Historical Miscellany (2nd ed.), pp58–64. Sheffield: The Hallamshire Press Limited. ISBN 1-874718-44-X.
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