Fulwood, Sheffield

Fulwood is a residential suburb and ward of the City of Sheffield in England, it lies 5.5 km west-southwest of the city centre. Formerly an ancient settlement and village on the Porter Brook, it became integrated into the city in the 1930s. It is bounded by the suburbs of Lodge Moor to the NW, Ranmoor to the east and Crosspool to the NE. The open countryside of the Peak District lies to the west and SW. The sub districts of Stumperlowe and Goole Green are part of the suburb. The population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 18,233.^[1] Fulwood is located in the Sheffield Hallam constituency which, as of the 2019 general election voted Labour.

History

Fulwood was originally an Anglo-Saxon settlement, with the name originating from the Old English language “Ful Wuda” meaning a “wet, marshy woodland“.^[2] However other interpretations of the name are “foul, dirty wood” and “folks wood” from the Old English “folc”.^[3]

Prior to the

The Fox family built

The Nonconformist Fulwood Old Chapel was constructed in 1729 for the use of Unitarians. The Church of England did not respond to the growth of Sheffield as an industrial town until the late 1830s when Fulwood parish was one of 25 new ecclesiastical districts created as the ancient parish of Sheffield was divided and Christ Church on present day Canterbury Avenue was opened in 1839 as the parish church.^[7] J. & C. Walker's map of Yorkshire of 1836 shows “Fullwood” as an isolated settlement well outside the town of Sheffield, however from the 1830s onward many of the more prosperous of the town's inhabitants moved further west to build villas on the south facing slopes of Fulwood, Ranmoor and Ecclesall.^[7] By the 1870s Fulwood was described in John Marius Wilson‘s “Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales” as a village in a vale under Hallam moors, four miles wsw of Sheffield with a population of 1,801 and 368 houses.^[8] When Sheffield was made a City in 1893 Fulwood was still a tiny settlement and it was not until the 1920s and 1930s that large numbers of people were attracted to the area by cheap land and good transport links, prompting a large number of privately owned dwellings to be built.

Other Significant Buildings

Fulwood House on Old Fulwood Road is a large structure built in 1920 for the Wilsons, a well known local family involved in the manufacture of snuff. It was eventually purchased by the Sheffield Regional Hospital Board in 1948 and is now part of the headquarters of the Sheffield Health & Social Care NHS Foundation Trust, housing conference and training facilities and other meeting rooms. Two other adjacent buildings to Fulwood House are also part of the headquarters, these are the Vic Hallam Building and the 7 Storey Tower Block. The tower block is a significant landmark in the area and has caused some controversy as it is out of character with much of the architecture in the area.^[9][10] The Guildhall on Fulwood Road dates from 1824, it is thought that it was formerly part of the outbuildings of Goole Green farm before becoming the parish church hall. It is now a private residence.^[11] Stumperlowe Grange on Stumperlowe Hall Road is a large late 17th century house, which originally had 50 acres of land it was remodelled and extended in the 19th century by W.E. Laycock owner of Samuel Laycock and Sons, hair seating manufacturers, and Mayor of Sheffield in 1865. It has now been divided into two large private residences. Much of the Grange's land was sold off for house building in the first half of the 20th century^[12]

Stumperlowe Cottage is a former farmer's cottage with adjoining cruck barn which is now one large single storey residence. It was restored in the 1980s after falling into a ruined state and threatened with demolition.^[13] The Old School House on School Green Lane dates from 1736, it has a stone plaque above the door listing the benefactors. It became a private house in 1840 after a new school was built behind the parish church.^[10][14] The old stocks date from the early 19th century, they stand in front of Fulwood chapel but were formerly on the village green. The Sheffield Royal Hospital had an annexe at Fulwood off Brookhouse Hill overlooking the Porter valley, built in 1907 it closed in 1986 and is now a private housing development known as Mayfield Heights, it is rated as a building of Townscape Merit. The modern Hallam Towers is another significant local landmark.

Fulwood conservation area

An area based on the old core of Fulwood village has been designated a

The main areas of recreation in Fulwood are the linear parks along the valley of the Porter Brook. Whiteley Woods park covers an area of 11.5 hectares while Forge Dam is a rectangular green space with an area of 9.5 hectares and has a café and children's playground. Both parks are part of the Porter Valley Parks, a string of interconnected green areas along the valley which features a 4.5 km long footpath starting at Endcliffe Park and finishing at Porter Clough in open countryside beyond Fulwood.

There is an area of shops on Brooklands Avenue near its junction with Crimicar Lane and also a nearby retail area on Fulwood Road at Nether Green. The nearest secondary schools are located just outside the suburb at Notre Dame, High Storrs and Tapton. Fulwood is connected to Sheffield city centre by the 120 bus operated by First South Yorkshire, which runs every 10 minutes on weekdays with a slightly reduced service at weekends, the journey takes approximately 35 minutes.

The Sheffield Neighbourhood Health and Well Being Profile for 2012 gave Fulwood a population of 6,447 and stated that it is one of the least deprived neighbourhoods in Sheffield, this is backed up by the 2011 report “Deprivation in Sheffield” by the University of Sheffield which states “Ecclesall is the least deprived neighbourhood in Sheffield, followed by Fulwood, Bents Green, Crosspool, Whirlow, Abbeydale and Millhouses – all of which are within the 10% least deprived locations in England“. It also says Crime is significantly low in Fulwood and educational attainment and attendance is significantly better than average.^[16]

References