A TIMELINE OF SHEFFIELD
By Tim Lambert
c. 1120 The Lord of the Manor builds a castle at Sheffield. Afterwards a little town grows up in the shadow of the castle.
1266 Sheffield Castle is burned
1270 The castle is rebuilt
c. 1300 Cutlers are working in Sheffield
c. 1380 Chaucer mentions a Sheffield knife. The little town is already gaining a reputation for its cutlery.
1600 Sheffield is the main town outside London for cutlery
1603 Thomas Crowland leaves money is his will to found a grammar school
1617 A survey shows Sheffield has a population of 2,207
1624 A Company of Cutlers is founded
1628 A workhouse is built to house the destitute
1642 During the Civil War Royalists occupy Sheffield
1644 Parliamentary troops capture Sheffield
1648 Sheffield Castle is destroyed
1690 The population of Sheffield is about 5,000
1707 A boys charity school is founded
1721 Earl Gilbert's Hospital is founded
1756 The road from Sheffield to Derby is turnpiked
1758 The road to Leeds is turnpiked
1762 Assembly Rooms are built
1763 The first theatre in Sheffield is built. By now Sheffield has a population of over 10,000.
1773 Sheffield is given its own silver assay office
1801 Sheffield has a population of over 31,000
1818 Improvement Commissioners are formed to pave and clean the streets. The streets of Sheffield are lit by gas.
1832 Cholera kills 402 people. A dispensary opens where the poor can obtain free medicines.
1836 The first cemetery is formed. The Botanical Gardens open.
1843 Sheffield is given a charter
1851 Sheffield has a population of over 135,000
1856 Sheffield gains a public library
1864 Sheffield bans the building of back-to-backs (houses literally joined back to back). A dam bursts and the flood kills 240 people.
1873 Horse drawn trams run in the streets
1875 Ruskin Gallery is founded
1887 Mappin Art Gallery opens
1897 Sheffield Town Hall is built
1899 The first electric trams run
1900 The population of Sheffield is over 400,000
1905 Sheffield university is founded
1910 The first cinema in Sheffield opens
1916 Sheffield is bombed by zeppelins and 28 people are killed
1934 Graves Art Gallery opens
World War II Bombing kills 589 people in Sheffield
1959 Castle Market Shopping Centre is built
1985 The Fire/Police Museum opens
1990 Meadow Hall Shopping Centre is built
1991 Sheffield Museum of Popular Music opens
1994 The Sheffield Supertram begins running
1997 Sheffield City Airport opens
2001 Millennium Gallery opens. The population of Sheffield is 513,000.
2003 The National Ice Centre opens. The Winter Garden opens.
2006 Millennium Square opens.
2010 The population of Sheffield is 547,000.