Nether Edge

Coordinates: 53°21′18″N 1°28′59″W / 53.355°N 1.483°W / 53.355; -1.483

Nether Edge
Shown within Sheffield
District:	Sheffield
UK Parliament constituency:	Sheffield Central
Ceremonial county:	South Yorkshire
Region:	Yorkshire and the Humber
Population (2001):	18,000
Councillors
Ali Qadar (Liberal Democrats) Colin France (Liberal Democrats) Anders Hanson (Liberal Democrats)

Nether Edge Ward—which includes the districts of Brincliffe, Carter Knowle, Nether Edge, Sharrow Vale, and most of Banner Cross—is one of the 28 electoral wards in the City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the southern part of the city and covers an area of 3.4 km². The population of this ward in 2001 was 18,000 people in 7,100 households. Nether Edge ward is one of the wards that make up the Sheffield Central parliamentary constituency.

History

Before the 19th century the area that is now Nether Edge was largely rural, the only clusters of cottages being the small medieval hamlet of Cherry Tree Hill and a small hamlet at Machon Bank. Much of the development of the area was undertaken by George Wostenholm, a local cutler who from 1836 onward purchased a large area of land east of Brincliffe Edge. Wostenholm modelled the estate on the town of Boston, Massachusetts and lined all of the roads with trees.

Wostenholm's home, Kenwood House, and the surrounding park (now the Kenwood Hall Hotel) took up a large portion of the land and the remaining portions were sold off for development. As a result many of the homes in the area are spacious Victorian houses that were owned by local cutlers and business men.

The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 (PLAA) allowed parishes to form unions, jointly responsible for the administration and funding of Poor Law in their area. By 1831 the population of the area had increased considerably and in 1837 the ‘Ecclesall Bierlow Poor Law Union’ (PLD or Poor Law District) was founded and Ecclesall Bierlow Workhouse, Cherry Tree Hill, Nether Edge was built. In 1929 the workhouse was renamed ‘Nether Edge Hospital’ housing a Gynaecology Unit established to serve the whole of Sheffield.

Many well-to-do people bought individual plots and had houses specially built but a great deal of the building in Nether Edge was speculative. Such men as John Firth^{[disambiguation needed ]}, Thomas Steade and John Law^{[disambiguation needed ]} were not builders by trade but made a significant contribution to the character of the area. Local builders James Sivil, Henry and Robert Brumby and John Thomas Johnson also helped turn this area from open fields to a very desirable locality for middle-class and self-made men. Improved transport, particularly the trams, made it possible for the better off to move their home out of the town centre and, for the first time for many, away from their place of business.

Much of tree-lined Nether Edge became designated a conservation area in September 2002.

Districts of Nether Edge ward

Nether Edge

Nether Edge (grid reference SK342847) is an established residential suburb in the southwest of the City of Sheffield, England.

Local facilities include a small shopping area at the junction of Nether Edge Road and Machon Bank Road near the where the tram terminus used to be (now a small Jacksons/Sainsburys supermarket and a garage). Two small theatres (the Merlin and the Lantern) also exist in the area.

Banner Cross

Banner Cross is a district of Sheffield centred on the intersection of Ecclesall Road and Psalter Lane. This district is split evenly between Nether Edge and Ecclesall Wards. Banner Cross Hall, an ancient esquire seat, was virtually rebuilt in 1820. The nearby Banner Cross pub gained infamy when the notorious criminal Charles Peace shot and killed Arthur Dyson in the passageway beside the pub on 29 November 1876. The base of an old stone cross still remained at Banner Cross in 1819.^[1] Addy (1888)^[2] suggested that the name derives from bæna kross, meaning the cross of prayers.

Brincliffe

grid reference SK333849

Carter Knowle

Carter Knowle or Carterknowle (grid reference SK335843) lies south of Brincliffe Edge, between Ecclesall Road and Abbeydale. A residential area, it is home to Sheffield College's Bannerdale campus.

Sharrow Vale

Sharrow Vale Road

Sharrow Vale (grid reference SK336858) is a district in the southwestern portion of Sheffield. It straddles the Porter Brook and Ecclesall Road (A625). Hunter's Bar, at the junction of Ecclesall Road, Brocco Bank, Sharrow Vale Road and Junction Road, was formerly a toll bar on the 18th century Sheffield to Hathersage Turnpike — the toll house is long gone but the toll gate can still be seen. To the north of this neighbourhood is the Sheffield Botanical Gardens, and the historic Sheffield General Cemetery lies to the east. To the west is Endcliffe Park, the first in a series of parks that follow the Porter Brook out of Sheffield.

References

1. ^ Hunter, Joseph (1819). Hallamshire. The History and Topography of the Parish of Sheffield in the County of York. London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mayor & Jones. pp. 204.  This book is out of print but can be purchased on CD-ROM.
2. ^ Addy, Sidney Oldall (1888). A Glossary of Words Used in the Neighbourhood of Sheffield. Including a Selection of Local Names, and Some Notices of Folk-Lore, Games, and Customs. London: Trubner & Co. for the English Dialect Society.  (transcription at Wikisource)

External links

• Nether Edge Neighbourhood Group
• History of Nether Edge Hospital
• King's Centre Church, Union Rd, Nether Edge