Peace Gardens
Encyclopedia
Inner city
The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
square in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It was created as part of the Heart of the City project by Sheffield City Council.
The Gardens themselves front onto Sheffield's gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
town hall
Sheffield Town Hall
Sheffield Town Hall is a building in the City of Sheffield, England. The building is used by Sheffield City Council, and also contains a publicly displayed collection of silverware. The current building, Sheffield's fourth town hall, is located on Pinstone Street. It was designed by the...
(not to be confused with the Sheffield City Hall
Sheffield City Hall
Sheffield City Hall is a Grade II* listed building in Sheffield, England, containing several venues, ranging from the Oval Concert Hall which seats over 2,000 people to a ballroom featuring a sprung dance floor...
, a popular concert venue), creating a spectacular view as shoppers and visitors sit in the gardens.
It has won many awards, and was one of the major sites responsible for Sheffield's first place in the Entente Florale
Entente Florale
The Entente Florale is an international horticultural competition established to recognise municipalities and villages in Europe for excellence in horticultural displays. Trophies are presented annually by tourist boards and horticultural societies of European countries...
2005.
History
The Gardens were first laid out in 1938, following the demolition of St Paul's ChurchSt Paul's Church, Sheffield
St Paul's Church, Sheffield, was a chapel of ease to Sheffield Parish Church.By 1700, Sheffield's population had reached 5,000, and a second Anglican place of worship was required to house a growing congregation. A site on the southern edge of the town was selected, facing on to Pinstone Lane...
. Originally named St Paul's Gardens, they were immediately nicknamed the "Peace Gardens", marking the contemporary signing of the Munich Agreement
Munich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
. The Gardens were originally intended to be replaced by an extension to the Town Hall, but due to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, this was never built. In 1985, the space was formally renamed the "Peace Gardens". The Sheffield gardens are a fine example of the network of similar gardens created between the two world wars and presage later gardens and community spaces in London and other urban centres.
Features
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
, which made Sheffield famous, and also the water of Sheffield's rivers, the Sheaf
River Sheaf
The River Sheaf is a river in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its source is the union of the Totley Brook and the Old Hay Brook in Totley, now a suburb of Sheffield. It flows northwards, past Dore, through the valley called Abbeydale and north of Heeley...
, River Don, River Rivelin
River Rivelin
The River Rivelin is a river in South Yorkshire, England.It rises on the Hallam moors, north west of Sheffield, and on the outskirts of Sheffield joins the River Loxley . The Rivelin Valley, through which the river flows, is a three and a half mile long woodland valley which includes the popular...
, River Loxley
River Loxley
The River Loxley is a river in the City of Sheffield South Yorkshire, England. Its source is a series of streams which rise some to the north-west of Sheffield on Bradfield Moors, and converge at Low Bradfield...
and Porter Brook
Porter Brook
The Porter Brook is a river in the City of Sheffield, Englanddescending over 300 metres from its source among the sedge grass on Burbage moor behind a small farm on Hangram just inside the Peak District National Park in the west of the city at Clough Hollow, near the village of Ringinglow...
, which were used to power the mills which drove Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
's industry.
The site contains several memorials for Sheffielders who served in wars, including in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
and another plaque commemorating Sheffielders who gave their lives in all conflicts, including the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. It also contains a memorial to Hiroshima
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...
, unveiled on Hiroshima Day, 8 August 1985, in the presence of three survivors of the atomic devastation. Other memorials include the Holberry Cascades, named for local Chartist
Chartism
Chartism was a movement for political and social reform in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century, between 1838 and 1859. It takes its name from the People's Charter of 1838. Chartism was possibly the first mass working class labour movement in the world...
leader Samuel Holberry
Samuel Holberry
Samuel Holberry was a prominent Chartist activist.-Early years:Holberry was born in Gamston, Nottinghamshire, the youngest of nine children...
, the Bochum
Bochum
Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area and is surrounded by the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten and Hattingen.-History:...
Bell, donated by Sheffield's twin city, and a set of standard measures.