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Pitsmoor
Pitsmoor is a suburb of the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. It occupies parts of both of the S3 and S4 postcode districts of the city of Sheffield, and utilises the 0114 dialling code. Originally Pitsmoor was a small village situated on the outskirks of the city itself and it has a long and intriguing history. As Sheffield gradually began to expand throughout the industrial revolution Pitsmoor slowly became encompassed by the city and slowly changed to become the suburb that it is today. The Pitsmoor name is taken from the fact that the main industry in the area was the mining and transportation of ore in order to feed the increased demand throughout the industrial revolution. It is unknown what the original Roman name for the settlement would have been, however a large number of artefacts including coins and pottery have been discovered in and around Pitsmoor hinting at much earlier settlement than in the 19th and 20th centuries.
We have evidence dating from the late mediaeval period that indicates how the Duke of Norfolk owned a large portion of the land that is now Pitsmoor, as the lord of the manor the woods and the game within were his rightful property indicating that Pitsmoor was once an area of some prestige and wealth. The first coal mine was also opened in the area during this period, with the entrance on what now is Grimesthorpe Road. When speaking of the history of Pitsmoor it is important to mention the historic structures that still exist in the suburb to this day. Abbeyfield House is the most famous, and there is also a cottage where the keeper of the toll bar used to live that is still original and well maintained. The toll bar was a prime source of income for Pitsmoor throughout the 1800's as the village sat on a main transport route from Sheffield to other cities such as Leeds and Wakefield. Pitsmoor expanded greatly in the 1900's when more and more houses were constructed in order to house miners who worked at many of the newly opened pits and collieries.
Gradually more and more people flocked to the area and Pitsmoor began to establish itself as a suburb in its own right with doctors coming to work in local surgeries and teachers flocking to the area and working in local schools. Many new businesses and shops sprung up almost overnight and an article from the Sheffield Daily Telegraph in 1906 describes it as a "languorous and soothing suburb". In the early 1900's and large portion of land that used to be owned by the Duke of Norfolk's estate was purchased by Sheffield City Council and they turned the area into Abbeyfield Park and Devon Gardens. These new green public spaces were revolutionary when they were first instigated in the early 1900's as they allowed factory workers and miners to continue working their existing jobs whilst still enjoying access to greenery, countryside and fresh air. The final transformation of Pitsmoor took place after the Second World War when new housing was constructed and the older back-to-back housing was cleared away in order to make space for more modern and spacious accommodation.
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