Hollis Croft, Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Archaeological Excavation (OASIS ID: wessexar1-309354)
Emma Carter, Jenny Crangle, Milica Rajic, Ashley Tuck, 2020. https://doi.org/10.5284/1079016. How to cite using this DOI
Data copyright © Emma Carter, Jenny Crangle, Wessex Archaeology unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 3543
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1079016
- How to cite using this DOI
Introduction
In 2017 a team from the Wessex Archaeology Sheffield office investigated a site which tells the story of the city in miniature.
Located on the western fringe of the historic core of Sheffield, Hollis Croft was agricultural land for centuries, first open land – the ‘Town Field’– and then enclosed. However, its character became radically different when it was swept along by the changes of the Industrial Revolution. Historic maps from the late 18th century onwards show steelworks, various toolmakers' premises, workers' housing and pubs appearing and proliferating on the site. Occupied by Footprint Tools Ltd for much of the 20th century, this part of Hollis Croft is currently gaining a new lease of life thanks to the construction of a multi-million pound mixed commercial and student housing development.
Working in collaboration with the South Yorkshire Archaeological Service, archaeological advisors to Sheffield City Council, our early works involved undertaking historic building recording followed by a scheme of archaeological evaluation trenching. This discovered that substantial historic remains relating to the site’s steel working past survived beneath the modern buildings. Open area excavation revealed well-preserved industrial archaeology comprising steelmaking furnaces (cementation and crucible) and a network of brick-built flues. For the first time in Sheffield, it was confirmed that crozzle extended up the interior sides of the cementation furnece refractory chamber. Another apparently new observation is that of the impression of the ferrous bars in the surface of the crozzle layer. Along these, traces of the workers’ housing and their local pubs (The Cock, and The Orange Branch) were also recorded.
A wide range of finds was collected, indicative of both the technical details of the industrial processes taking place, but also the everyday lives of Sheffielders who lived and worked at Hollis Croft in the past.
Due to its proximity to Sheffield city centre, the site attracted a great deal of public and media interest. During the course of the excavations we were interviewed by ITV, BBC Radio 4, BBC Look North, BBC Radio Sheffield, and The Sheffield Star. Most importantly, members of the public were also able to see the site for themselves, thanks to a popular programme of tours and open days.
All our findings have been brought together in a final report. The physical archive (including finds) is deposited with Museums Sheffield under SHEFM:2019.13 and Sheffield Archives.
This archive accompanies an Internet Archaeology publication:
Tuck, A. and Rajic, M. 2021. Hollis Croft, Sheffield, South Yorkshire: Old site and new connections, Internet Archaeology 56. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.56.4
