Sheffield's lost castle was 'medieval stronghold' and 'deserves place in history alongside Tower of London'

Sheffield’s ‘lost castle’ has been identified as one of the most important strongholds in medieval England.
A CGI image by Sheffield University, showing how Sheffield Castle looked in medieval times. The Friends group says the gatehouse could be reconstructed.A CGI image by Sheffield University, showing how Sheffield Castle looked in medieval times. The Friends group says the gatehouse could be reconstructed.
A CGI image by Sheffield University, showing how Sheffield Castle looked in medieval times. The Friends group says the gatehouse could be reconstructed.

Archaeologists studying the castle, on the site of the old Castle Market complex, say the massive structure deserves a place in English history alongside well-known landmarks like those in Warwick, Dover and the Tower of London.

The castle site is in the centre of the city, at the confluence of the River Don and the River Sheaf, but the structure was demolished in the Civil War.

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The little that still remains of the structure was hidden for years beneath Castle Market.

The excavated walls and staircase at Sheffield Castle. Photo: Wessex Archaeology/PA Wire.The excavated walls and staircase at Sheffield Castle. Photo: Wessex Archaeology/PA Wire.
The excavated walls and staircase at Sheffield Castle. Photo: Wessex Archaeology/PA Wire.

But the site has been opened up by ongoing redevelopment of the area and archaeologists say there is strong evidence that more substantial parts of the castle walls may still be in place.

A spokesman for the University of Sheffield said a new assessment of all the excavations on the site “reveals how Sheffield Castle was among the most important political and cultural centres in medieval England, home to aristocrats who played major roles in local, national and international affairs”.

The team concluded that the castle “shaped the development and topography of modern-day Sheffield”.

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Castle Market in the 1990s.Castle Market in the 1990s.
Castle Market in the 1990s.
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Professor John Moreland from the university’s Department of Archaeology said: “Sheffield is seen by most people as the Steel City, but what our research makes clear is that the city has a deep history that dates right back to the Middle Ages.

“Unfortunately, since the castle was largely destroyed following the English Civil War and multiple developments have been built on its site ever since, this rich medieval history of the city has largely been forgotten or ignored.”

The University of Sheffield’s Castle Project began in 2014 and has now pulled together all the largely unpublished archaeological work on the site, dating back to the 1920s and including the latest dig, which started in 2018.

The team believes there is evidence of a classic motte-and-bailey castle from the Norman period but they found no evidence of a rumoured Anglo-Saxon use of the site.

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The medieval castle was started in 1270 and archaeologists think that the gatehouse – parts of which were excavated last century – consisted of two D-shaped towers, similar to Rhuddlan Castle in north Wales.

The castle’s curtain wall survives close to the gatehouse, with a further small section to the west.

The team says it is probable that large stretches still survive on the northern edge of the site, overlooking the River Don, and it is possible that some of the eastern wall also survives.

Sheffield Castle was a Royalist stronghold during the Civil War and Parliament ordered for it to be completely destroyed in 1646.

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The site was covered by the market complexes in the 1920s and 1950s but these were demolished five years ago after Castle Market moved to The Moor.

Much of the surrounding area is undergoing redevelopment and there are proposals for an urban park on part of the castle site, including a plan to reopen the River Sheaf – the river which gives Sheffield its name but which currently runs in a dark culvert under the city centre.

The Friends of Sheffield Castle, a group of volunteers, formed in 2013 and has worked to protect and promote the archaeological site of Sheffield Castle for the benefit of the people of the city. They have since formed a strong partnership with the University of Sheffield and with Sheffield City Council.

The University of Sheffield’s Castle project, led by Professor Moreland and Professor Hadley, began studying the castle’s remains and history in 2014, in collaboration with Sheffield City Council, the Friends of Sheffield Castle and Museums Sheffield.

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Martin Gorman, chair of the Friends of Sheffield Castle, said: “We are all looking forward to the release of the book with the castle, the site of the castle and the story of Sheffield now all being in one place. We hope to maximise the potential of this for future generations.”

Sian Brown, head of Collections at Museums Sheffield, said: “Sheffield Castle is a source of enduring fascination and this project has provided a fantastic opportunity to re-contextualise and reimagine the site.

"It’s been great working with the University of Sheffield and the project partners; as well as using the Archaeological Archives we care for to help shine a light on this often neglected part of the city’s history, we’ve also grown our own understanding of this important part of Sheffield’s museum collections.”

Sheffield Castle: Archaeology, Archives, Regeneration 1927-2018 is written by Professor Moreland, Professor Dawn Hadley, from the University of York’s Department of Archaeology, along with Ashley Tuck and Mili Rajic from Wessex Archaeology, which conducted the latest dig.

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The book, published by White Rose University Press, is the first time that findings from all of the major excavations at the castle – conducted in the 1920s, 50s and 90s – have been published in one place. It also contains the results of the most recent excavations of Sheffield Castle led by Wessex Archaeology in 2018.

It will be launched at the University of Sheffield’s Festival Of The Mind on September 26 and will also be available as a free download at doi.org/10.5284/1074899.

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