The changing face of Sheffield's Peace Gardens - and how it was once an 18th-century churchyard

The most recent layout for the gardens next to Sheffield Town Hall, with its five cascades representing Sheffield rivers, was created in 1997, replacing the formal gardens that had been in place since 1938. Before that the space was the graveyard of St Paul’s Church, which dated to the 1720s and was demolished in 1937.

The church was built as an overflow for Sheffield Parish Church – now the cathedral - when the congregation got too big. It didn’t open until 1740 because of a row between major donors.

The Peace Gardens was called St Paul’s Gardens but got its nickname from the 1938 Munich Pact, which was meant to appease Hitler, and it was eventually renamed. The St Paul’s name lives on in the area.

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