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11 October 2006
Sheffield Cathedral's Master of the Radio
11 October 2006
Clergy Off the Shelf

History


There has been a church on this site since Saxon times.  Rebuilt and modified over the centuries, history is written in to its stones.  It has always been a parish church, and since 1914 it has been the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Sheffield.

9th Century
A Saxon cross (now in the British Museum) tells of over a thousand years of Christian witness on this site.
 
c. 1101
William de Lovetot built his church.  Stones from a Norman church, with their dog tooth pattern, can be seen set into the east wall of the Sanctuary.
 
c. 1280
Wickwane, Archbishop of York, dedicated an early English church here.
 
1430
A new church in the Perpendicular style was built with seven altars, a central tower and spire and a splendid hammer beam roof.  This part of the Church is one of the oldest buildings in Sheffield which is constantly in use.
 
c. 1520
George, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, had the Shrewsbury Chapel built as a family chapel with a burial vault beneath. This Chapel houses the magnificent Tudor memorials to the 4th and 6th Earls. The 6th Earl of Shrewsbury was the guardian of Mary Queen of Scots during her imprisonment in Sheffield (1570-1584).
 
1554
Queen Mary 1 granted the Charter to the Twelve Capital Burgesses, who became a corporation unique to Sheffield. 
 
1740s
The discovery of crucible steel by Benjamin Huntsman and others altered the landscape and population of the town. In 1743 there were said to be about 15,000 people living in the parish. By 1801 the population was over 45,000.
 
1777
The shed in which the Fire Engine had been kept was knocked down and a two storey building  fitted into the wall of the north aisle and the chancel. This space is now the site of St Katharine’s Chapel.
 
1779
John Wesley, having been denied the pulpit in the Church, preached to over 4000 people at dawn in Paradise Square.
 
1805
A diarist records that ‘ the church was then one of the most gloomy places of worship in the kingdom’.  It had become so seriously dilapidated that the nave had to be pulled down and rebuilt.
 
1880
The old galleries and pews were swept away and replaced by oak benches in the nave which was extended. A new west door and north and south transepts were built.
 
1914
The Parish Church was granted cathedral status with the formation of the new Diocese of Sheffield.  At the end of World War I, plans were made to enlarge the building.  These involved turning the axis of the church through 90 degrees, constructing a second tower and spire and building a new chancel and sanctuary on the north side of the old church, with the nave stretching out to Church Street on the south side.  The architect of this new work was Charles Nicholson.
 
1930s
All the work on the north side was completed, including the Chapel of the Holy Spirit, the Crypt Chapel of All Saints, the Chapel of St George, the Chapter House, the Song School and offices. The Chapel of St Katharine was rededicated and the Shrewsbury Chapel restored. 
 
1960s
The Nicholson plan having been abandoned in favour of a new design by Arthur Bailey, a narthex entrance was built, leading to an extended west end with a lantern tower.  In 1966 the enlarged Cathedral was rehallowed.
 
1998-99
The Lantern was repaired and new windows designed by Amber Hiscott were put in place.
 
 






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