Sheffield Castle Excavation Reveals Undiscovered Steel Works – The Past

A previously undocumented steelworks dating back to the 19th century has been discovered in Sheffield as part of ongoing excavations which began in 2015 to uncover the ‘lost castle’ (THAT 351).

The ironworks would have formed one of three similar works on the Castle Hill site, where Wessex Archeology discovered a cement kiln in 2018. This originally operated alongside the newly excavated crucible kiln, which further identified the industrial nature of the site. The Crucible Kiln, located in a brick kiln cellar, is now viewed as a 3D model on Sketchfab: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/sheffield-castle-19th-c-crucible-furnace-1140f9fee7dc49a195ccd54d879d37c0.

Two notable finds reveal clues about the people who worked at Castle Hill: an ‘H’ scratched into the wall of the crucible cellar could be the initial of one of the workers and a small hiding place, perhaps used to hide a person. object, was discovered in masonry. “My first thought for the cache is that it could have been a tobacco cache, or maybe a clay pipe,” commented Ashley Tuck, lead archaeologist at the site, noting that such finds “encourage us to consider humans behind her, who, at least by modern standards, would have been working in an unpleasant and challenging environment.

Another structure found in the excavations was a 19th-century abattoir with a sloped tile floor intended to drain slaughtering filth into the river. Similar structures were discovered in excavations in 2018, demonstrating the variety of trades operating in Sheffield at this time.

Castle Hill Ironworks will be preserved in a new park as part of Sheffield City Council’s Castlegate regeneration project, overseen by Keltbray, due to open in 2026. Visitors will be able to see the site as well as the moat and gates from the medieval castle , in the outdoor space overlooking the River Sheaf.

Text: Rebecca Preedy / Image: Wessex Archaeology