Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment, New Business District (South), Sheffield

In September 2008, ARCUS were commissioned by GVA Grimley Ltd to undertake a desk-based assessment of the New Buisness District (South), situated in Sheffield, South Yorkshire (centred on SK 3500 8650). For the purposes of this report, the site has been sub-divided into four zones. The assessment included a site visit, along with documentary and cartographic research. The desk-based assessment has revealed that the site was part of Little Sheffield Moor, a rural area used for stock grazing up until the late 18th century. Apart from the Bennett Wheelhouse and dam, which is known to date at least to the 16th century, it is unlikely to have been the focus of settlement during that period. During the late 18th and early 19th century, the site was part of the expanding city. Dwellings and other structures, built along the turnpike road (now the Moor), are evident by the late 18th century, and by the middle of the 19th century the area was largely infilled by residential housing in the back streets, and shops along South Street (the Moor). By this time the area also contained important elements of industry, notably the Vulcan Works rolling mill as well as government institutions, in the form of the Ecclesall manor court and debtors jail. The later 19th century saw a continuation of this pattern, with notable exceptions being the growth of the Vulcan Works, the infilling of the Bennett Dam and the building of Ellin Street. Significant changes to the neighbourhood are registered after World War II. Aerial bombing, followed by slum clearance schemes and urban planning initiatives drastically reshaped the site between the 1950 and late 1970s. The results of these events have meant a completely transformed neighbourhood of low-rise post-war retail and services overlooked by the multi-storey Manpower Services Commission Building erected in 1978. Key features of the current neighbourhood include a pavement pedestrian zone which affords access to a number of inexpensive retail chains. The archaeological potential of the site is considered to be variable. Subsurface archaeological deposits are likely to be in situ in areas of minimal disturbance, principally sealed beneath modern parking lots such as in Zone 1. Where low-rise buildings have been constructed, archaeological potential is considered to be low to moderate, as is the case in zones 1, 2 and 4. Where larger buildings with more significant basement foundations are believed to exist, such as in Zone 3, archaeological potential can be assumed to be none. Surviving remains are likely to be of local archaeological significance.