In September 2007, ARCUS were commissioned by Urban Splash Ltd to undertake a desk-based assessment of Park Hill Flats, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (centred on SK 36129 87111). For the purposes of this report, the site has been sub-divided into three areas. The assessment included a site visit, along with documentary and cartographic research. During the medieval period, the site was part of the Great Park, a deer park created by the lords of Sheffield and is unlikely to have been the focus of settlement. By 1637, the northern part of the site was being leased for quarrying, although this appears to have ceased by 1736. At that date, the site remained largely undeveloped, although Quarry Lane and Park Street were shown in the vicinity of the present-day South Street Park and Duke Street. Development had begun within Zones 1 and 2 by 1795, with extensive urbanisation spreading throughout the site between 1808 and 1841. Each zone was dominated by domestic housing, although industrial and ecclesiastical premises, schools and retail and leisure outlets were also present within the site. Municipal demolition programmes had begun to clear the area during the 1930s but these were not completed until the 1950s, when the Park Hill redevelopment programme was undertaken. This involved the demolition and clearance of the majority of the areas 18th- and 19th-century structures, the removal of much of the road layout, the landscaping of the site and the construction of Park Hill Flats. Park Hill Flats are a Grade II* listed complex consisting of four blocks constructed between 1957 and 1951, to a fragmentary polygon design. The blocks vary in height from fourteen storeys at the north to four at the south, with a continuous roof level being made possible due to the steep incline of the terrain. Key features of the new development included the so-called streets in the sky, access decks located on every third floor; the Pavement shopping precinct; a number of public houses; and a school. The school and part of the shopping precinct have been demolished, while the majority of the flats are currently unoccupied, Depending upon the nature and extent of site clearance and landscaping works that took place in association with the construction of the flats, 18th- and 19th-century sub- surface archaeological features and deposits may remain in situ beneath areas such as car parks and landscaped lawns. The survival of sub-surface deposits is likely to greatest in Zone 3, which has remained largely undeveloped since the early 1960s. Further archaeological evaluation will be required in order to assess the extent of survival of sub-surface archaeological features and deposits throughout the site.
Stenton et al. (Mon,) studied this question.