Version 11 Notes on completion Summary Name of your organisation Sheffield City Council Project title In no more than 15 words, please choose a title which you think best describes your project. This will be seen externally, on our website and by our decision makers so please ensure that you choose a title that you are happy for a wide range of people to see. Rediscovering Castlegate Sheffield Reference number HG-13-00745 Project summary In no more than 150 words, summarise your project. We will use this text to tell people about your project, including our decision takers. The project seizes a once in a generation opportunity to uncover what remains of Sheffield Castle in the city’s historic heart. It will allow analysis, conservation, display, interpretation and, where appropriate, reconstruction of the remains whilst revealing the larger story of Sheffield’s pre-industrial evolution told in an inviting new public space. It will allow public access and explanation of the collections of artefacts from earlier part-excavations of the castle. It will engage the strong local interest in the castle and Yorkshire's pre-industrial history creating opportunities for involvement of all ages and abilities from initial investigations in Development Phase through transformation of the site in Delivery Phase to long-term management of the new space. A wide range of civic, community, business and educational partners are already involved. The project will significantly enhance the image of the city while benefiting from complimentary regeneration strategies. Have you received any advice from us before making your application? Yes Please tell us who you received advice from. at the Leeds HLF Office Is this your first application to the Heritage Lottery Fund? No Please tell us the reference number and project title of your most recent application. Shepherd’s Wheel Restoration HG-07-0139 Page: 1 Version 11 Section one: Your organisation 1a Address of your organisation: Address line 1 Sheffield City Council, Howden House Address line 2 1 Union Street Address line 3 Town / city SHEFFIELD County Postcode S1 2SH 1b Is the address of your project the same as the address in 1a? No Enter the address of your project. Please use the post code look up button to find your address so that the Local Authority and Constituency information is generated in the boxes below. Address line 1 Castle Market Buildings Address line 2 Exchange St Address line 3 Town / city SHEFFIELD County South Yorkshire Postcode S1 2AH Local Authority within which the project will take place Sheffield Constituency within which the project will take place Sheffield Central 1c Details of main contact person Name Position Head of City Regeneration, Sheffield City Council Is the address of the main contact person the same as the address in 1a? Yes Page: 2 Version 11 Daytime phone number, including area code Alternative phone number Email address 1d Describe your organisation's main purpose and regular activities Local Authority 1e The legal status of your organisation Please select one of the following: Local authority If your organisation is any of the following, please provide the details shown: Company - give registration number Registered Charity in England, Scotland or Wales - give registration number Charity recognised by HM Revenue and Customs in Northern Ireland - give reference number 1f Will your project be delivered by a partnership? No 1g Are you VAT registered? Yes Please provide your VAT number 173548838 Page: 3 Version 11 Section two: The heritage In this section tell us about the heritage your project focuses on and why it is valued. 2a What is the heritage your project focuses upon? • The archaeological remains (Listed Grade 2) buried beneath C20th former Castle Markets including significant parts of the large stone castle of 1270-1644, also possible evidence of Saxon and Norman timber structures and many later buildings associated with the growth of the town. Whilst the superstructure of the castle is lost substantial lower parts of the great bastion gate and north ranges survive (see Appendix II) together with a large part of the moat containing artefacts from the whole period of castle occupation, probably waterlogged and well-preserved. • Records and finds from previous partial excavations associated with redevelopment in the 1920s and 1950s held by Sheffield Archives and Museums Sheffield. These have never been fully evaluated or displayed. • The historic topography and landscape of the castle site, including its strategic relationship to the rivers Don and Sheaf – largely obscured by subsequent culverting and over-building. The heritage is significant for the following reasons: 1) As a unique source of historic and cultural identity and belonging for a city and community which has experienced major post-industrial social and economic change 2) As a source of evidence about one of Yorkshire’s most important medieval castles about which little is known despite occupation by a succession powerful northern noble dynasties 3) As a window into Sheffield’s pre-industrial history and role in Yorkshire, Britain and Europe. Sheffield Castle was the centre of town, its largest building and a politically important stronghold for 4 centuries until demolition 1644-8. At several periods in history it was associated with prominent figures and events • Earl Waltheof, the premier Saxon Earl at the Norman Conquest in, who married the niece of William the Conqueror but was later beheaded for rebellion • the Norman dynasties of the de Lovetots and de Furnivals prominent in the crusades and baronial wars • John Talbot, commander of the English army for a significant period of the 100 Years Wars a feared warrior, celebrated in Shakespeare's Henry V • George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury 1473-1538, Henry VIII's Lieutenant-General of the North who headed the suppression of the Pilgrimage of Grace and invasion of France • George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury the wealthiest aristocrat in the Tudor North instigator of Sheffield's steel industry, Bess of Hardwick's husband and the reluctant jailer of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland and France and mother of James 1 who was imprisoned there for 17 years. This story continues to attracts huge popular literary and dramatic interest but its setting in Sheffield is unknown • The Dukes of Norfolk who inherited the castle site in 1680 and centred their successful northern business activities, (particularly control of markets and the coal trade) in and around it for over three hundred years Thus the project offers a rich source of public interest, education and research with contemporary relevance 4) A catalyst for the further regeneration of the Castlegate Quarter and wider City Centre. Which will in turn give much greater prominence to the heritage and support its long-term sustainability 5) A well-placed addition to Yorkshire's tourist and visitor offer, and particularly the immediately adjacent Sheffield central hotels, providing a highly visible focus for the city's pre-industrial heritage and links to other key destinations several of which have benefited from HLF support, including Manor Lodge, Sheffield Cathedral, Bishops House, Weston Park Museum, Kelham Island Museum, Norfolk Heritage Park, Hardwick Hall, Chatsworth, Wingfield Manor (see Figure 1 Appendix 1) Page: 4 Version 11 2b Is your heritage considered to be at risk? If so, please tell us in what way. The site will be cleared of buildings down to floor-slab level from October 2014. It is in Council ownership and will be fully secured post-demolition, but will thereafter be exposed to weather and without this project remains inaccessible to the public due to complex levels, voids and hazards. The heritage will be even more hidden than when the site was occupied by buildings The condition of most of the buried remains is unknown. The hydrology of the site is complex and changing. A cause for concern is that the water table in central Sheffield has been rising since the closure of local mines. The adjacent riverside area was affected by serious fluvial floods in 2007, which has led to the proposed deculverting of the River Sheaf within the Castle site by the Environment Agency. Given the proximity of the site to two main rivers this adds urgency to the need to expose and conserve the remains now, co-ordinated with the river works. Proposed deculverting of the River Sheaf could drain the lower levels of the moat, putting previously waterlogged deposits at risk. Full investigation and management of the remains is therefore urgently required. 2c Does your project involve work to physical heritage like buildings, collections, landscapes or habitats? Yes Tell us the name of the building(s), collections, landscape or habitat area Castle Site, Exchange St Castle collections held at Weston Park Museum and in storage. Records held in the Sheffield Archives Do you, or a partner organisation, own the building, land or heritage items outright? Yes Do you or a partner organisation have a mortgage or other loans secured on the property or item, or any plans to take one out? No For landscape projects, please provide an Ordnance Survey grid reference for your landscape 2d Does your project involve the acquisition of a building, land or heritage items? No Page: 5 Version 11 Please tick any of the following that apply to your heritage: Accredited Museum, Gallery or Archive Designated or Significant (Scotland) Collection DCMS funded Museum, Library, Gallery or Archive World Heritage Site Grade I